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Rize
Metascore
74 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
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  1. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    90
    Stunning, explosively moving.
  2. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    90
    Bursting with joy and throbbing with music, Rize has a tragic dimension too. When you see the clown cry, you'll be with him all the way.
    All this critic's reviews
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    88
    If the director had more gospel and less blues in him, it might have brought him closer to really understanding these talents. Still, I can't wait for "Rize 2: Electric Boogaloo."
  4. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    88
    There's a delicate balance here between expression and belligerence.
  5. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    83
    As long as it showcases the art of krump, underscoring the dancers with ominous hip-hop beats, Rize is such a vibrant eruption of motion and attitude that you can forgive the film for being disorganized and too skimpy on street-dance history.
  6. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Sheri Linden
    80
    Word-of-mouth should make it one of the best-performing nonfiction films of the year.
  7. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Bob Westal
    80
    It's the speed and intensity that makes the dance style remarkable.
  8. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    80
    The film soars when the camera is trained on its young subjects in action.
  9. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    80
    Fashion photographer David LaChapelle expands upon his award-winning short film "Krumped," introducing us to the new dance forms popular in South Central Los Angeles via the charismatic "ghetto celebrity" known as Tommy the Clown.
  10. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    José Cancella's original score complement the tremendous wit, vitality and sensuality of the dancers.
  11. Variety
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    80
    Eye-popping lensing and an appreciation of social complexities combine for an entirely satisfying experience.
  12. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    75
    There's no way to take your eyes off it.
  13. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    The most remarkable thing about Rize is that it is real.
  14. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Sid Smith
    75
    A compelling, bittersweet hybrid of a movie.
  15. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    75
    The result is an eye-opening social portrait in the tradition of "Paris Is Burning," the landmark 1990 documentary that introduced drag balls and ''vogueing'' to the mainstream, but it lacks the earlier film's structure and focus.
  16. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    75
    Exhilarating.
  17. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    75
    Rize shows how clowning led to krumping, and argues that its practitioners' fierce dedication to dance has saved countless kids from drugs, crime and gangs.
  18. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    75
    Riveting.
  19. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    75
    A touching story of hope, vitality and art rising from the bleakest conditions.
  20. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    75
    The Clowns and the Krumpers have a rivalry that parallels the Bloods and the Crips battle for the neighbourhood, but fought out in moves, not bullets.
  21. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    75
    It's the pushiest film around - "in your face" is still in-your-face, even if the dancers are in white-face.
  22. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    70
    Rize eventually gets a little preachy and sentimental, but a little sermonizing seems a small price to pay for such an industrial jolt of kinetic electricity.
  23. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ed Halter
    70
    Highly entertaining but underdeveloped documentary.
  24. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    70
    Indeed, the movie sometimes has trouble living up to the richness of its subject, or keeping up with the dances' rapid spread and evolution.
  25. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Clare Croft
    70
    Worth seeing both for its visual beauty and its insight into a little-known form
  26. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    67
    With a running time of only 84 minutes, Rize frequently feels padded. However, there's no denying the fascination of watching these bodies in motion, and perhaps the ascendency of a new, American-born art form.
  27. Empire
    Reviewed by: Dorian Lynesky
    60
    For all its flaws, it's thrilling viewing whenever LaChapelle opts to show rather than tell.
  28. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Bill White
    50
    Although entertaining, Rize is a somewhat duplicitous undertaking.
  29. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    50
    Emotionally charged but not entirely honest documentary.
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 23 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 15
  3. Negative: 4 out of 15
  1. [Anonymous]
    0
    This was one of the worst films I have seen in years! They look like dancing chickens!
  2. BrandonF.
    10
    It wasreally exciting and it was hard to stay in my seat because it had a lot of ation dancing and i liked it a lot.
  3. JohnN.
    9
    Whoever says Rize, is a complete waste of time. You do not understand what this dance does for L.A and other Gangbanging Cities. Rize introduces a way of not resulting to violence when your mad, but result to dancing. Release all of your anger into the dance, not in the fight.… Full Review »
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