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Reviews Counted:72
Fresh:22
Rotten:50
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: This beautifully photographed but dramatically flat war drama recounts an important chapter in history with little cinematic freshness.
Theatrical Release:May 23, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $652,604
Synopsis: Based on real events, The Children of Huang Shi is a story set against war-torn China in the 1930’s. The film centers on a young English journalist (JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS), an American nurse (RADHA... [More]
Starring: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Breathtaking photography, but Hollywood's view of history as usual, no matter where on the planet, as mere backdrop for the personal lives of glamorous white people. Casablanca meets the white man's burden, and doesn't amount to a hill of beans.
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There's a feeling of skimming the surface of a true story that would be better served by being grittier or more challenging. As well, the narrative deserves more than an obvious and improbable love story between two good-looking movie stars.
Chow actually gets saddled with the line, 'You have to tell the world what's happening here,' which was hoary back when D.W. Griffith was making movies.
It's a sturdy film, vivid if utterly workmanlike, that builds to a crescendo of personal sacrifice and misty noble uplift.
Director Roger Spottiswoode uses the children and action sequences to good effect, but a lack of chemistry between Rhys Meyers and Mitchell makes the love story fizzle.
What should be a moving story is ruined by hideous acting and sloppy filmmaking.
The Children of Huang Shi means well and actually has a solid story at its core. But what Spottiswoode and company do to that good story is unforgivable.
The Children of Huang Shi is so desperate to be the Asian Schindler's List, an example of atrocity draped in abject artistry, that it forgets to lay out the context.
Ah, white people. What can't they do?
Clearly made with the best of intentions but never anything but boring.
If you can get past the Eurocentric focus, there are worse ways to pass the time than to see The Children of Huang Shi, if only because the glimpse into the time and place are captivating and the images are gorgeous.
Top Critichistory as drivel, rebellion as Sunday-morning hangover
The characters in The Children of Huang Shi can conquer famine, war, disease, natural disasters and addiction but not a truly horrible script.
Though there are some powerful performances, notably those of Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat, and some sweeping visuals, the movie feels melodramatic and overheated.
Audiences tolerant of clichéd uplift may dab their eyes, but demanding moviegoers will look elsewhere.
With all the stories to be told about the war between Japan and China, it's hard to believe that this one was the most compelling or most in need of telling.
...an inspiring tale of a man answering a call to greatness even if he doesn't fully understand why it's fallen to him.
The real test of endurance is on the shoulders of an audience challenged to sit through more than two hours of predictable plot turns and recycled sentimentality.
January 17, 2009:
Breathtaking photography, but Hollywood's view of history as usual, no matter where on the planet, as mere backdrop for the personal lives of glamorous white people. Casablanca meets the white man's burden, and doesn't amount to a hill of beans. 
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January 13, 2009:
Breathtaking photography, but Hollywood's view of history as usual, no matter where on the planet, as mere backdrop for the personal lives of glamorous white people. Casablanca meets the white man's burden, and doesn't amount to a hill of beans.
More...
April 21, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review
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