JD Duran InSession Film Aug 16, 2024 B+

The performances are through the roof in this film.

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Nick Rogers Midwest Film Journal Feb 22, 2021 3.5/5

The director's cut is the best but any version of Michael Mann's film makes it clear: The rope-a-dope was something Ali perfected outside the ring, cobbled together as a combination move inside only after he reconciled himself to his singular status.

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Richard Brody The New Yorker Apr 6, 2020

It has the unsurpassable merit of its main character, Muhammad Ali, who is both one of the most serious people in the world and one of the funniest.

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Wilson Morales IndieWire Mar 31, 2020

Smith packed on the pounds, unleashed some great boxing moves, and displayed a level of emotional pull that compelled audiences to see him as The Greatest.

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Kaleem Aftab The List Apr 16, 2019 4/5

[Michael Mann] successfully recreates an era on screen and provides a great introduction to the fighter that is not clouded by sentimentality.

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PJ Nabarro Patrick Nabarro Dec 8, 2018 3/5

Will Smith takes the wise and sensible option of not trying to impersonate Ali per se, but rather tonally build an impression of Ali from his own natural register.

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Pat Stacey The Herald (Ireland) Oct 17, 2017

A flawed film, then, and a comparative disappointment. But because of Smith, the scrupulous recreation of the period and the general quality of the performances, I'll score Ali a narrow victory on points.

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Sean Axmaker Turner Classic Movies Online Mar 25, 2011

You can almost see him thinking his way through his fights...

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Nell Minow Common Sense Media Dec 21, 2010 5/5

Brutal fight scenes and frank racial issues.

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Rob Nelson City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul Aug 21, 2009

Mann vs. machine.

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Tim Brayton Antagony & Ecstasy Jun 26, 2009 5/10

More than competently mounted, with a hollowness just discernible in its core... feels like the first draft of whatever film Michael Mann set out to make.

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Leigh Johnson Hollywood.com Nov 20, 2008 3/5

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David Ansen Newsweek Mar 31, 2008

I respect it enormously, but it feels like an art film in search of a movie. Mann recognizes the importance of Ali as an entertainer, but he's in danger of forgetting how to be one himself.

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Joe Lozito Big Picture Big Sound Jul 14, 2007 3/4

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Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Apr 14, 2006 B-

The challenge of dramatizing the celeb's life is only partially met nby Mann in this flawed biopic that narrowly focuses one one decade (1964-74), while gliding over Ali's private life and negletcing crucial aspects of his turbulent yet fascinating life.

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Judith Egerton Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) Jun 25, 2004 3.5/4

Smith, who has a well-developed ego of his own, not only looks like the young Ali but also sounds like the brash Louisville Lip.

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Greg Maki Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) Jan 7, 2004 3/4

Smith's transformation is nothing less than astounding.

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