ryko25 I watched this film when it came out as a child and enjoyed it. However, it doesn't stand up to rewatching in the 21st century due to the level of mawkish sentimentality - just how many times can Spielberg fall back on that cringe-inducing "character-slowly-salutes-another-character" device in one film? I think it happens FIVE times in this movie. It is perhaps the laziest and most nauseating device (at least to non-American audiences), and to use it so repeatedly in one film is unbelievable. Bale was undoubtedly a precocious talent but you can almost see the direction here, as if you can hear in EVERY scene Spielberg's voice "Ok, now look around the room in wonder, now take a step forward, now put out your arms, now turn around". It all seems so hilariously wooden, at one point I thought a chair and table were doing the best acting in the room. The character of Jim, watched as an adult, is also so unbelievably irritating that in moments when we are supposed to be feeling tension and hoping he doesn't get caught, I was actually hoping that he get swiftly bayoneted so hat the whole tedious film could be over.

jianbbao When the boy grew up, he realized it's an atrocity that the war brought about by the Japanese army. he felt repentance about Chinese people and his past view of war.After he made friend with Christopher Nolan who is good at time and space maneuvering, he decided returning back to 1937 of Nanking, China, and wanted to change to process of the war, but without any reason he lost all his batman's powers, and no gears with him too. he tried his best to save dozens of children in local church by his make-up skills which he learned from The Prestige's face disguise. and then director Zhang Yimou depicted in the movie Jin ling shi san chai, a.k.a. The Flowers of War.

SnoopyStyle While Japan is conquering China, foreigners live in the Shanghai International Settlement oblivious to the suffering. Jamie Graham (Christian Bale) is a spoiled British upper class schoolboy. In the chaos of the Japanese taking Shanghai, Jamie's parents lose him in the crowd. He goes home to find his servants stealing the valuables. He is found by Basie (John Malkovich) and Frank Demarest (Joe Pantoliano) who are also stranded in Shanghai. He is taken to an assembly center along with Basie who teaches him how to survive. In the camp, Jamie lives with the Victors.Spielberg is a master of a child's wonderment. That's what he does here. Despite the movie's subject matter, it never gets to be truly disturbing or ugly. He always pulls back a little earning its PG rating. Jamie can be an annoying spoiled brat. At times, he seems to be deliberately dense. Christian Bale does an amazing acting job. It is a wonderfully shot movie. Although it may not get the perfect sense of the reality.

CinemaClown For a film that brims with such a strong passion for flying, it's quite ironic that Empire of the Sun doesn't even manage to take off at any given point over the course of its runtime. Quite a chore to sit through, this coming-of-age war drama from Steven Spielberg is completely devoid of his usual flair, remains monotonous in tone from start to finish & is pretty much unsure of what it even wants to be.Based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, the story of Empire of the Sun is set during the Second World War in China and tells the story of Jamie; an English kid who after getting separated from his parents during the Japanese invasion of Shanghai ends up in an internment camp where he learns to survive despite the poor conditions & establishes a good living but when the war nears its end, so does his innocence.Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film opens on a fine note by wonderfully introducing all its characters and while there are various indications that the story might pick up anytime now, that moment never really arrives. The whole story feels like a compilation of many episodes sewn together without any clear idea of what Spielberg intends the film to be, plus whatever emotion it was trying to evoke from its audience simply falls flat.Most of the technical aspects are sound in its execution but that part is a default option in a Spielberg feature. Production Design team does a brilliant job in putting up some authentic- looking models & set pieces, Cinematography nicely captures the surroundings & unfolding events but it also lacks the immersive dimension that invites the viewers into the story. And while John Williams delivers an expressive score, it only works in bits n pieces.Editing is disappointing for the story is way longer than it needs to be, isn't properly paced either & its 154 minutes of runtime is severely felt. Also, some sequences that made its way into the final cut should've ended up on the editing room's floor instead. The only thing that saves Empire of the Sun from being a complete disaster is the magnificent performance by Christian Bale in what is his on-screen debut & he's finely supported by John Malkovich.On an overall scale, Empire of the Sun is possibly about the loss of innocence but it travels in so many directions that it ends up halfway on everything it was trying to be. Its motive is unclear whether one approaches it as a coming-of-age story or a war drama. The only good thing about the film is that it brought on screen a promising talent who would later go on to become one of Hollywood's most sought actors but apart from that, Empire of the Sun has nothing interesting to offer.