The Year of the Yao: Critic Reviews

100%

MovieWeb: 1 reviews

66%

RottenTomatoes: 33 reviews

« previous
1
2
next »
«
»

Julian Roman MovieWeb (Top Critic)

80

Easily the best basketball film I've seen in years.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly (Top Critic)

75

A skillful and winning piece of honest booster portraiture directed by James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Bruce Westbrook Houston Chronicle (Top Critic)

75

Win or lose, in an era of sports idols as rock stars, Yao is a breath of fresh air.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune (Top Critic)

75

Should be a natural for NBA fans and please non-enthusiasts as well.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Fred Camper Chicago Reader (Top Critic)

James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo's taut, engrossing 2004 documentary on Chinese basketball player Yao Ming's first year in the NBA offers insight into the game and its stars.
Full Review » 4 years ago
Tom Long Detroit News (Top Critic)

34

There appears to be much more to Yao than is captured here. That's where the movie drops the ball.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Joe Leydon Variety (Top Critic)

You don't have to be a hoops fanatic, or even a sports aficionado of any sort, to enjoy The Year of the Yao, slickly entertaining docu.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Geoff Pevere Toronto Star (Top Critic)

50

There's not much else of interest going on.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Liam Lacey Globe and Mail (Top Critic)

63

Sure, it's fun to watch big-screen close-ups of Yao battling with O'Neal, though it feels like another ESPN special.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Andrew Sun Hollywood Reporter (Top Critic)

Essentially a fluff job, designed to build a myth around their new icon, while leaving more sensitive issues like race, politics and money sitting on the bench.
Full Review » 8 years ago
Kevin Crust Los Angeles Times (Top Critic)

40

As bright and shiny as you would imagine something co-produced by NBA Entertainment to be, The Year of the Yao provides little insight beyond hanging out with its super-sized star.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Lewis Beale Film Journal International

By playing up the hoopla and glitz, the filmmakers have created a vacuum at its center.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Harvey S. Karten Compuserve

67

The film is happily as fast paced as the sport of basketball itself: there are no bearded, stuttering academics discussing any aspect of the story.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Don Willmott Filmcritic.com

70

there's plenty to see in this engaging film
Full Review » 6 years ago
Josh Larsen Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)

50

...a particularly crude sales job.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Boston Phoenix

Full Review » 7 years ago
Paul Sherman Boston Herald

63

Full Review » 7 years ago
Tim Grierson L.A. Weekly

[A] glorified infomercial.
Full Review » 7 years ago
G. Allen Johnson San Francisco Chronicle

75

A surprisingly layered portrait of a rookie with the hopes of a nation -- a big nation -- riding on his shoulders, and the frustrations and small victories that entails.
Full Review » 7 years ago
William Arnold Seattle Post-Intelligencer

59

Sporadically charming basketball documentary.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Cynthia Fuchs Common Sense Media

The movie's focus on Yao is limited by his lack of narrative abilities.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Rob Honzell Jam! Movies

80

From language barriers to international political barriers, Yao promises something most documentaries miss entirely -- insight and hope.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Laura Clifford Reeling Reviews

67

...while their subject is amiably charismatic, the filmmakers fail to fully get beneath his skin. Still...it's a sports documentary that can be enjoyed by anyone...
Full Review » 7 years ago
Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews

67

The excitement on the court and the banter and good-natured ribbing in the locker room is handled by the book by the behind the camera crew.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Eugene Novikov Film Blather

42

More of a promo than anything else: it sells us on the concept of Yao Ming, but has next to nothing to say about him.
Full Review » 7 years ago