36
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 50The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyPulp without style: Shanghai has many of the staples of noir—back alleys, shadowy figures, hard-boiled narration, and more femmes fatales than a viewer could keep track of—but none of the atmosphere or cool.
- 50Washington PostMark JenkinsWashington PostMark JenkinsShanghai is an exercise in retro glamour, alluring decadence and tough-guy posing, all of which it delivers in sufficient quantities.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperChicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperThe mystery is muddled, the romance is tepid and scenes that should be electric with tension are almost dull.
- The spectacular international cast... bring a lot of life to the movie’s uncooperative story material.
- 38New York PostFarran Smith NehmeNew York PostFarran Smith NehmeHossein Amini’s script leaves good actors like John Cusack, Ken Watanabe and Chow Yun-Fat flailing.
- 30Screen DailyGraham FullerScreen DailyGraham FullerDespite its rich visual evocation of the eponymous port city as a simmering cauldron of vice, corruption, and barbarity, director Mikael Håfström’s film is undone by its tortuous plot, wooden characterisation, absence of narrative tension, and emotional nullity. It simply lacks conviction.
- 30Village VoiceSimon AbramsVillage VoiceSimon AbramsCusack's low-simmering performance keeps the drama at a tediously low boil.
- 30Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleUnder Mikael Håfström's visually clunky, rhythmless direction, it's a snooze of epic sameness: choppy action scenes, a blankly stern Cusack, and too many allegiance shifts to count or care for.
- 25Slant MagazineClayton DillardSlant MagazineClayton DillardEverything in Mikael Håfström's film is needlessly bloated to accommodate its status as an international, prestige production.