The Children of Huang Shi is an engaging story and the film is beautiful to look at.
Comment
06/06/08
The Children of Huang Shi (2008)
31
%
Tomatometer
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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
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Reviews for The Children of Huang Shi
As predictable as it is picturesque, The Children of Huang Shi is one of those international co-productions full of good intentions and blandly polished results.
06/06/08
Top CriticDirector 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.
06/06/08
Tells an engrossing story of a remarkable man, but nevertheless it's underwhelming.
06/06/08
Top CriticAn ill-conceived weeper that just won't say die.
06/06/08
High-minded and good-looking, but plodding and emotionally rather shallow.
06/05/08
The best thing about Children is the cinematography by Zhao Xiaoding (Hero, House of Flying Daggers), which is so distracting because it so out-classes the rest of the movie.
06/05/08
Top Critic[Rhys-Meyers's performance is] the perfect microcosm for the entire film: capable but bland.
06/03/08
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.
05/31/08
You can be 100 percent in favor of rescuing adorable orphans from war-torn zones and still find The Children of Huang Shi a tough haul.
05/30/08
Top CriticIn alternating between an epic remove and a pro forma romance, The Children of Huang Shi stints on the messy middle ground, where the unscripted human element resides.
05/30/08
With its clunky dialog and wooden acting, the film never rises above being a gorgeous tableau.
05/27/08
There’s a documentary on this very subject that’s much better.
05/27/08
Top CriticPeriod tale of real-life heroism doesn’t fully come to life.
05/26/08
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.
05/24/08
It's like Schindler's List crossed with The Sound of Music, and Roger Spottiswoode directs it in a stiff, lifeless, utterly dated style of international squareness.
05/23/08
Top CriticA TV movie in disguise.
05/23/08
Roger Spottiswoode directs with old-fashioned style, avoiding the saccharine with realistic depictions of a war-ravaged China (where he filmed) and a cast well versed in stiff-upper-lip.
05/23/08
Top CriticIt's a polished, beautifully shot story, and it acknowledges the messiness of real life. But like real life, it's often baffling and frustrating.
05/23/08
A gripping melodrama with great historical import that also manages to foreshadow the contemporary zeitgeist of our present day.
05/23/08
Latest News for The Children of Huang Shi
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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