77
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyAs with his previous film, director Chang nurses a compelling drama from a multilayered cultural reality, at once intimate and unfathomably large in implications.
- 91Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerIt's really about the ways in which Chinese westernization clashes with the traditionalism of Confucian teachings. It's about competition versus piety.
- 80Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichIt's in between the lines that this movingly perceptive film scores a TKO.
- 80The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisIllustrating the film's rags-to-ring narrative with panoramic mountain views and compact shots of young bodies punching their way up the food chain, Mr. Sun straddles ancient and modern, tranquillity and turmoil, with equal sureness.
- 80VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangAs he did in his Three Gorges Dam documentary "Up the Yangtze," Chang examines how a particular strain of Western culture promises opportunity and prosperity for Chinese youth, even as it remains a continual source of intergenerational tension.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoChang doesn't pull his punches in this continuing look at a changing, out-of-control China.
- 70Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonIn the end, once we realize the title doesn't refer to these bantams' weight class but to their strength of heart, or something, the film feels blandly respectful and, oddly enough, apolitical.
- With observant fluidity and that grounding point of Qi's desire to fight once again, Chang roots the film in personal, individual stories, keeping larger metaphors for the nation at the edges.
- 63Slant MagazineSlant MagazineAlthough we never really get to know He or Miao, despite following them around vérité-style, director Yung Chang expertly captures the rays of Western culture bouncing off them.
- 63Washington PostWashington PostIts brutality is unacceptable to Buddhism and Confucianism yet is increasingly appealing to young men (and women). And in a country that still professes socialism, it's fiercely individualistic. There are no collective work groups in the boxing ring.