The New York Times by A.O. Scott
Wickedly absorbing.
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
New Zealand, Germany · 2003
Rated PG-13 · 1h 41m
Director Niki Caro
Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis
Genre Drama, Family
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Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
Wickedly absorbing.
Philadelphia Inquirer by Carrie Rickey
The rhythms of Whale Rider are hypnotic as the ebb tide, haunting as the song of the humpback sea mammal, bracing as the ocean spray. It's a movie that rewards the patient viewer.
Caro gives the fablesque story -- based on a 1,000-year-old Maori legend -- both a contemporary and timeless quality, anchored by newcomer Castle-Hughes' powerful and haunting performance.
There is magic here, enough to make Whale Rider worthy of the audience-choice awards it has earned at film festivals worldwide.
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
Evokes its spirituality with deft strokes and wonderful humor.
Dallas Observer by Gregory Weinkauf
Once in a while a film comes along that is as sound, smart, sweet and significant as can be, and Whale Rider is such a film.
Though there's a formula at the film's core, Whale Rider still has the good taste to make that formula go down easy.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
An inviting international audience-pleaser.
One may gripe that the tale at times seems familiar, yet that familiarity is also part of the movie's power: Here's a story from halfway around the world that somehow connects with the hearts of viewers of almost any culture.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
The genius of the movie is the way is sidesteps all of the obvious cliches of the underlying story and makes itself fresh, observant, tough and genuinely moving.
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