Emancipation

"A B-movie with delusions of grandeur."

"It’s not awful, it’s just disappointing."

"This is a strong, fierce, heartfelt movie."

"A hollow piece of genre filmmaking..."

"(Emancipation) casts (Smith) in a role that demonstrates his limitations as an actor — notably his difficulty with character roles and his aura of self-importance in serious moments."

"Emancipation never feels as if it’s truthfully telling the story behind the photograph."

"Emancipation is tough, and its sheer relentlessness can feel numbing at times."

"(Fuqua) hits this sensitive material with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, complete with pointless slow motion, glamorised kill-shots and crudely timed quips."

"While it has been built on the scarred back of a real man, the movie is too busy with the business of entertainment to focus on the “real” part for long."

"As shallow as a Louisiana bayou."

"Emancipation devolves into a confused jumble of messages."

"Emancipation isn’t Will Smith’s big redemption tour. It’s a B-movie about slavery."

"If there’s more left to say about the vileness of slavery... Emancipation doesn’t bother saying it."

"A relatively standard-issue, period-piece action film..."

"At times you’re left to wonder if the film isn’t being projected properly, or whether the colour grade has gone all wrong."

"(Emancipation) struggles to do its real-life survival story justice..."

"Emancipation may be well-intentioned, but it does a disservice to history..."

"Less nuanced and too narrowly confined in genre conventions than its real-life protagonist deserves."

"A blunt instrument, maybe, but a brutally affecting one too."

"(Fuqua and Collage) seem caught between noble intentions and their baser entertainment instincts..."

"Uneven..."

"A powerhouse Will Smith lifts the wobbly Apple TV+ action thriller..."

"The script leaves Peter a cipher, unimagined beyond the demands of the plot: suffer, fight alligators, seek a reunion with a family written as stick figures."