China Heavyweight
Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: July 6, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJul 1, 2012
As with his previous film, director Chang nurses a compelling drama from a multilayered cultural reality, at once intimate and unfathomably large in implications. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJul 6, 2012
It's really about the ways in which Chinese westernization clashes with the traditionalism of Confucian teachings. It's about competition versus piety. Read full review
80
VarietyJustin ChangJul 5, 2012
As 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. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJul 5, 2012
Illustrating 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. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith UhlichJul 3, 2012
It's in between the lines that this movingly perceptive film scores a TKO. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJanice PageSep 19, 2012
Where Wiseman excelled in respecting the broad rhythms and pure storytelling of the ring, Chang's new documentary focuses on the stories of three boxers and weaves them into a compelling narrative that rivals anything Hollywood could script. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. MusettoJul 6, 2012
Chang doesn't pull his punches in this continuing look at a changing, out-of-control China. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenJul 19, 2012
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. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonJul 3, 2012
In 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. Read full review
63
Washington PostMark JenkinsJul 26, 2012
Its 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. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineKalvin HenelyJul 6, 2012
Although 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. Read full review
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