The Hollywood Reporter

Chen's direction is his most staid yet, but the riveting story speaks for itself.

The Hollywood Reporter by Maggie Lee

Chen's direction is his most staid yet, but the riveting story speaks for itself.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

In Sacrifice, about a father who loses his son to the power of the state, it is difficult to miss the parallels with Chen's own life.

San Francisco Chronicle

Ultimately, the film works because the doctor's relationship with the general - and both of their relationships with the doctor's young boy - is just as complicated as the action-packed coup.

The A.V. Club by Sam Adams

Chen can't seem to decide whether he's making a fable or something more down-to-earth, but Sacrifice works either way, if not both at once.

San Francisco Chronicle by David Lewis

Ultimately, the film works because the doctor's relationship with the general - and both of their relationships with the doctor's young boy - is just as complicated as the action-packed coup.

Variety by Leslie Felperin

Sacrifice is practically a chamber piece, and duly draws its strength from its performances, especially those of Ge and Wang.

Slant Magazine by Bill Weber

A historical melodrama that retains an ancient, elemental pull even as it insufficiently charts motivation and the self-denying values of antiquity.

The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis

It's tough to care about characters who spend most of their lives obsessing over the violent deaths of others.

Boston Globe by Mark Feeney

Sacrifice wants to have it both ways. It's willing neither to give itself up to the goofy sincerity of genre conventions nor to make the demands on viewers that serious drama requires. The sacrifices Chen's characters make would signify that much more if he'd made a sacrifice or two himself.

Los Angeles Times by Mark Olsen

Sacrifice is mostly a melodrama concerned with deception, betrayal and just what makes a family. It is handsomely done and well-acted, but it lacks real energy or purpose.

Village Voice by Nick Schager

Chen's attention to character over spectacle pays minimal dividends and is compounded by the fact that his battles - full of standard-issue slow motion and hacked-off limbs - are as dull as an overused blade.

Time Out by David Fear

The Fifth Generation filmmaker has aced such recipes before (e.g. The Emperor and the Assassin); this time, both the spectacular and the human elements have apparently been offered to the gods.