The reviews lean positive, though not by much, and nearly all of them agree on where the credit belongs. Will Smith’s performance is praised almost everywhere, for the charm, the intelligence and the sharpness of the impersonation, and several critics call it the chief reason to watch. The other point of agreement is the fighting: the opening sequence and the staging of the first Liston bout are singled out repeatedly as the places where Michael Mann’s control and ambition pay off.
The reservations cluster around what the film leaves out. Several critics find it narratively loose, too restrained, and short on insight into Ali’s inner life and politics, impressive to look at but shallow underneath. The spread is wide. The New Yorker calls it a unique achievement, while The Guardian offers only faint praise, and Slant finds it emotionally and politically thin. The Ringer, looking back years later, concludes the film cannot match the scale of the life it describes.