Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2012

Admirers of Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi will get a detailed portrait of the pro-democracy leader in this dramatization of her life, her 15 years of house arrest, and the sacrifices made by her and her family. David Thewlis is excellent as Suu Kyi’s British husband, and Michelle Yeoh uncannily embodies the subject’s qualities. But action director Luc Besson is clearly out of his comfort zone in the biopic genre, and at best this is a sincere but pedestrian retelling of an inspiring story. I’m glad I saw it, but as it dragged into its third hour, I found myself wishing instead for a punchy, 90-minute documentary.