On the plus side - the movie is great to look at. Some of the images created are very good, a simple one with a Mustang pilot waving for example. Malkovitch is very good but that's his usual. Has he ever given a bad performance? So there are a couple of good things going for it. On the bad side, Spielberg just can't resist making the 14 year old boy the wonder-kid, who can through a crowd and without stopping for a breath, immediately understands how to defuse a potentially deadly situation with some guards. The adults just stand around while the kid doesn't need to think. Sorry but this type of thing just detracts from the movie. It's the kind of movie you want to lose yourself in, forgetting you are watching a movie - then somethings like that are thrown in and you are jarred awake, oh yeah this is just Spielberg being Spielberg. It's funny how the kids are so smart in his movies, at one point do 14 year old boys become stupid adults? When do you lose your spark of intelligence? I know, this is a bit overstated but it's like Peter Pan in a Japanese prison camp, it just doesn't fit.
Review of Empire of the Sun
