51
Metascore
5 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70Film ThreatBradley GibsonFilm ThreatBradley GibsonWhat We Started achieves the directors stated goal of being an impressively comprehensive history of EDM. So much so that the film drags: unless one is a truly deep aficionado, 90 densely packed minutes of info about EDM is too much. It would work better with more music and less detail.
- 60VarietyAndrew BarkerVarietyAndrew BarkerThough it offers a decent enough primer on dance music history, it’s so eager to play all the hits that it never quite settles into any particular groove.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForePerhaps because it wants to play to both sides, the film's viewpoint is awfully muddied when it addresses conflict between traditional DJs — who know how to handle turntables, read a crowd's mood and do their thing for many hours at a time — and those who premix a whole set to a USB stick, hit play and just bounce up and down onstage.
- 50The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergWhat We Started appears to have been conceived with contradictory audiences in mind. On one hand, it tries to present an accessible history of electronic music, starting with its outgrowth from disco, house and techno and continuing through its commercialization and fusion with pop. On the other hand, a subcultural cliquishness creeps into the movie.
- 50Village VoiceCraig D. LindseyVillage VoiceCraig D. LindseyWhat We Started is a cute roundup of how EDM came to be, but much like the DJs it shines a light on, it only scratches the surface.