Roughly half the top critics who’ve reviewed Will Smith’s “Emancipation” on Rotten Tomatoes have disliked it. Overall, the Antoine Fuqua film has a 59% so far from all critics, and is considered “rotten.”
This is all apart from the slap and Smith’s controversy from the last Oscars. It’s all about the merits of the movie.
Seems like Oscars will not be a part of this discussion after all.
LA Times: Even with a physically impressive production at his disposal, Fuqua’s filmmaking instincts are clumsy and prone to cliché.
Chicago Tribune: 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.
AP: Fuqua’s film is often harrowing and gripping but also less nuanced and too narrowly confined in genre conventions than its real-life protagonist deserves.
