Will Smith's Emancipation gets first reviews
Will Smith's new movie Emancipation has received rather mixed reviews from critics.
The drama is the actor's first movie since his controversial slap at this year's Oscars, the Apple TV+ film seeing him play an enslaved man who escapes from a Louisiana plantation in the 1860s as he makes his way to the Union Army in the north.
While Smith's performance has received much praise, there has been more criticism levelled at the movie's use of violence and questions about whether it has anything new to say on the topic of slavery.
Related: Emancipation's Antoine Fuqua defends release of new Will Smith movie following Oscars slap
Here's what reviewers have been saying:
The Telegraph
"Will Smith's new film was shot in the summer of 2021, long before The Slap was so much as a tingle in his palm. But if he had specifically sought out a project that would get the world to move on from the fracas at March's Academy Awards [...] he could have hardly found a more convincing one."
The Guardian
"Whatever his current travails, Will Smith brings a movie-star presence to this brutally violent civil war drama, with a physical stillness and defiantly steady gaze."
Empire
"Emancipation can't avoid the well-trodden hallmarks of slavery stories, nor offer a particularly fresh perspective on them. It's best when it leans into other modes — and when it centres on Will Smith's outstanding, understated performance."
Deadline
"These types of films are fine if there is something beyond the generic. Is there something new to expect from what the audience is going to see? Is there anything else besides seeing relentless violence?
"The story of Whipped Peter and the impact he had on the culture of war and American slavery live on to this day, but there has to be another way to tell these stories. There has to be another way."
The Hollywood Reporter
"Hampered by a spare and spiritless screenplay, Smith gives a performance marked by facial expressions, physical movement and a Haitian accent that struggles to shake its studied quality. A perpetual frown and scrunched eyebrows communicate the harshness of Peter’s life, while an erect pose displays an unwavering self-possession."
Collider
"Even though the brutality is seemingly never-ending, we never dull to the constant barrage of pain — both physically and emotionally. Yet when [director Antoine] Fuqua and [writer William N] Collage aren't focusing on the cruelty of this world, the film stops dead, lumbering through the motions, complete with derivative choices, characters, and dialogue.
"Emancipation, unfortunately, always seems like it's just a few alterations away from being a fascinating film about this monstrous period in American history."
Emancipation will be released in selected cinemas on December 2, before streaming on Apple TV+ on December 9.
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