‘Decoded’ Review: John Cusack Supports Large-Scale VFX in Rah-Rah Chinese Espionage Drama
variety.comCarlos Aguilar The work of British filmmaker Christopher Nolan, past and recent, merits even greater appreciation when compared to Chinese director Chen Sicheng’s ambitious but saccharine and mostly dull “Decoded,” an adaptation of the 2002 novel of the same name by Mai Jia.
This cradle-to-grave portrait of fictional character Rong Jinzhen (Haoran Liu), a prodigious orphan turned valuable government asset in the 1940s, chronicles how his unique skillset ultimately helped clear the path for China to establish its own nuclear weapons program.
While the magnitude of his task and its global repercussions might immediately induce comparisons to Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” if one takes “Decoded” as “China’s answer” to the recent best picture Oscar winner, the moniker must come with the caveat that this means it’s a toothless film as it relates to moral ambiguity.
It’s not a dissident work of art made to question the pursuit of such armament, but a state-supported effort where patriotism is exalted throughout — quite literally until its very last frame.
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