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Emperor (12A)

Drama, History, War

As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.


The critical consensus

Tommy Lee Jones is good value, but Fox has the look of a man who can smell his own movie.

***(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 29/09/2013

Webber brings the politics and intrigue to the fore in a gripping final act, but the overall impression is that a fascinating story from history has been lost in the telling.

**(*)(*)(*)Paul Gallagher, The List, 30/09/2013

Good intentions, vivid setting and TLJ on top form do not make up for a lack of anything truly compelling.

Ian Nathan, Empire Online, 30/09/2013

You are left longing for Tommy Lee Jones to come swaggering back and kick some life into this dreary affair.

**(*)(*)(*)Allan Hunter, Daily Express, 04/10/2013

The attempts at combining political analysis with romantic melodrama don't work at all.

**(*)(*)(*)Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent, 03/10/2013

A sleepy Sunday afternoon TV slot awaits...

**(*)(*)(*)David Jenkins, Little White Lies, 03/10/2013

The leads just about pull it through.

**(*)(*)(*)Ryan Gilbey, The Guardian, 03/10/2013

Fun when Jones is around, dull when he's not, it's all just a little bit of history repeating.

***(*)(*)Neil Smith, Total Film, 06/10/2013

Hokey monologues about the finger of historical blame are interspersed with perfume-ad flashbacks to idyllic days of love; you half expect Andrew Lloyd Webber to descend from on high to provide a few touching show tunes.

**(*)(*)(*)Mark Kermode, The Observer, 06/10/2013

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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