Metacritic reviews

This lavish period piece contains enough thrills, spills and moments of cinematic grace that not only manage to push it through the rough spots but allow it to put most American action films of recent vintage to shame.

The Taking of Tiger Mountain may not always be as grand as it should be, but its thrills compensate for its shortcomings.

The film’s strength really lies in its thrilling pace and robust action, elaborately choreographed and executed to involve a large ensemble of characters in a gripping way.

Boasts a handful of colorful, gonzo set pieces of the kind that made Tsui’s reputation at home and abroad.

Tsui will try anything once in 3-D. Splatters of blood travel in bullet-time, and the requisite ridiculousness — like action scenes with skis and zip-lines — characterize Tsui's work. But bookending the story with the 2015-set prologue and epilogue turns out to be his most inspired touch.

A straightforward spectacle motored by relentless high-octane action sequences between simplistic heroes and grotesque villains.

The movie has a nationalistic, didactic flavor and a tiresome devotion to spectacle. Even the climax is staged two ways.

Cheery and happily empty-headed, the present-day subplot adds little but sentiment to a film shot through with cliché characters, a predictable plot, and undisguised reverence.