Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower (2017) User Reviews

Not surprised this won an Audience Award at Sundance

[asc85 · 8/10 · 23 August 2019]

I'd probably give this a 7.5 if I was able to break this down further, but as an American, this is a fascinating story that I knew very little about. It's the true story about a Hong Kong teenager leading the charge against China, and if this wasn't a true story, you would think that whoever made a story up like this was thinking up an implausible fantasy.

I saw this in August, 2019, and with all the news about what is going on in Hong Kong at this time, it was an extremely topical movie. Joshua Wong is mature far beyond his years, and I can see him winning the Nobel Peace Prize at some point in his life. Remember, I am writing this in August, 2019, so if he gets a Nobel Peace Prize sometime in the future, I obviously didn't know about it at this time of writing.

A young leader is born at the times of needs

[yimoyelv · 8/10 · 22 September 2019]

But for Joshua's efforts 5 years ago, the anti-ELAM movement would not exist in 2019. Brainwashing is sickening. His leadership is not perfect. But he learned from failures and improved. Looks what he has become of in 2019. Add oil, HK.

Full of biases

[AnTiVincent · 6/10 · 27 February 2022]

To understand Joshua, it would be better not only to hear the voice of pro-western voice, but also the voice of pro-government insiders. It's interesting to see this documentary director made this film from the beginning of Joshua's events.

Wonderful, thank you for making this Netflix, on behalf of the Hong Kong people!

[hkparent · 10/10 · 26 May 2017]

This documentary was absolutely breathtaking. Cinematography was 10/10 and the message behind it truly resonates with me. Having grown up in Hong Kong, and being half Hong Kongnese myself, what Joshua Wong stood up for is applauded by the millions of Hong Kongers living in Hong Kong. What he has achieved at such a young age is unbelievable, and I cannot wait to see how he will continue to change Hong Kong in the future for the better.

Inspiring!

[humphie · 9/10 · 25 July 2017]

Such an amazing piece of film. I never realised what the Hong Kong protests were truly about at the time because of what the media chooses to report on.

However, this was so eye-opening. The story is phenomenal and so thought provoking and it is documented in such a gripping way.

I have the utmost respect for the movement and those who shepherded it.

Fantastic documentary and well worth a watch!

Brought tears to my eyes.

[philpw99 · 10/10 · 13 June 2017]

The document is not only about David vs Goliath, Democracy vs Totalitarian, Freedom vs Oppression, but also about human nature, about the real sacrifices of some individuals for their movement.

Everyone in Hong Kong knows about TianAnMen, June 4th, 1989. and what Chinese government would do for any disobedience. Yet, facing the real grave danger, Hong Kong citizen stood up against the center government at 2014 and 2015, led by a teenage boy. It's truly a remarkable story to tell. This film documented from the beginning to the current situation in roughly chronological order. It explained in personal details about how Joshua and his friends became activists, later leaders of movements. It shows us why in 2014,2015 so many Hong Kong people occupied the street and joined the demonstration, and what is the "umbrella movement". It shows the incredible spirits of not only the leaders, but also the citizens of Hong Kong as a whole. As I watched hundreds of thousands of people waving their lights together, I cannot hold back my tears. Those are truly touching moments for me. I was from China, but I've never imagined peaceful demonstrations could have taken place there again.

The film is only the beginning. The struggle is continuing every day. Chinese government demonized Joshua and his friends. This film is no doubt banned in China. However, I hope more Chinese people would find this film and watch it, then judge by themselves who's right and who's wrong. This film tells the story from Joshua's angle. It's biased, but since the official condemnation was everywhere, it's very rare to be able to see it from this angle. As the old Chinese saying, "Listening to both sides and you will be enlightened".

Factual and impressive, and insightful.

[Chauveau-Lagarde · 10/10 · 16 August 2020]

When I first read in 2012 about Joshua Wong, I could not imagine how a small HK teenager could stand up against the History books rewriting by the Communist Party of China, out of nothing, and succeed.. This film shows very modestly all the process that lead these bunch of young kids. It gives also a small hope for the Chinese people to get rid of their totalitarian regime, one day... It is a great piece of work. In opposition to the column I have just read, of course there is a bias. It asks : where do you stand ? This film is a piece of history for Hong Kong. Thanks !

This is a joke

[flcmib007 · 1/10 · 9 September 2019]

This documentary is far from representing a fair point of view. How many HKers are suffering from these events held by the likes of Joshua Wong? Why did you only interview those who against China government? Did you report the violence created by the so called "peaceful protesters"? This documentary has became a tool of western propaganda.

Together we are one loud voice that cannot be silenced

[mitchel_bui · 10/10 · 6 March 2020]

It's 2020 and I began following the Hong Kong riots closely in the summer of 2019. Prior to that, I was always just about "oh they'll resolve whatever they got going on" but as it kept popping up on the news, and it's quite the eye opener. I recently bought Joshua's book, Unfree Speech, and I didn't know that there was this special on Netflix until he mentioned it in the book and I had to check it out right away. It definitely shows what he's written about and it puts what he wrote into perspective.

This was a great summary of how their protests began and how it develops into the Umbrella movement. They are teenagers, fighting for what they believe is right. As a father, I want my children to do the same. Fight for what they believe in. No Government is perfect and we have the right to talk about that. Governments are there for the people, not for themselves.

I checked other people's reviews and I don't know why they say it's biased, the title says 'JOSHUA: Teenager vs Superpower', not 'Hong Kong Protesters vs Superpower: Who is right?' Of course it's going to show only about Joshua and what they're fighting for. Plus will we really ever see the Superpowers intent? They even explained it that the Chief Executive answers to Beijing, not the people of HK. So it won't be easy to get an honest perspective of China without it being propaganda material. Best I can say is to google about the protesters and news about Hong Kong, and see what they have to say and make a stance of where you are at.

I hope more of these documentaries come into light. Their struggle is real, we live in a democratic society and they want it as well. Without someone speaking up, they can't get what they want, like the Civil Rights Movement, Women's Right To Vote, Internal Resistance Against Apartheid, and the list goes on.

Liberation For Hong Kong, Revolution Of Our Time!

The Littlest David vs. the Largest Goliath

[marsanobill · 9/10 · 30 May 2017]

Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower (in limited release but already on Netflix) is a compelling documentary, suspenseful even though the ending is obvious. Joshua is a skinny teenager who somehow manages to in-spire a mass revolt against the Chinese government. The Umbrella Revolution grew out of China's increasing violations of Hong Kong's promised self-rule, such as imposing 'National Education' (i.e., communist orthodoxy) on students and selecting the candidates for elections. This was no quickie protest; it lasted months, but if you remember Tiananmen Square, it was clearly doomed. (If you don't remember, China responded to the 1989 Tiananmen protests with tanks, murdering 2600 protesters with automatic weapons. Mere mention of the event is illegal in China, which set up a surveillance camera to keep one victim's mother from visiting his grave.) Hong Kong's repression never came to that, but the relentless beatings and tear-gassings won in the end. A salutary homework assignment: the Umbrella protesters take risks and have principles while American leftists are coddled by college administrators for denying free speech to any who disagree with them. Discuss.

Glory To Hong Kong

[Super_happy · 10/10 · 10 September 2021]

I live in China mainland, and I watched this movie in 2021. My roommate during my undergraduate study and I planned to go to Hong Kong to support the freedom movement and were proud of being members.

The COVID-19 is the biggest fig leaf for Communist bandits. Even if something big happened in Hong Kong, the domestic attention has been diverted. The population decline in the country and the deteriorating political environment have also been obscured by the national pride that the seemingly good isolation policy has brought about effective treatment of the epidemic. The banning of Apple Daily and the prohibition of demonstrations seem to sing hymns to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the party. However, the environment in mainland China and Hong Kong is getting worse. Although we are a little desperate for the current freedom movement, we still hope that the Hong Kong freedom movement will succeed so that some of the sleeping mainlanders will wake up and realize that they are being oppressed by the Communist bandits.

Thanks to Netflix for the great documentary, and I wish glory to HK.

An elegy to the only civilized city in China

[yuxb · 10/10 · 29 August 2021]

The movie was undoubtably poorly executed with a simplistic narrative and Joshua is merely a symbolic figure. The complexity of the movement and of protesters was largely ignored.

I gave a 10 simply to toast to the little hero of our times.

It is biased

[zhaofei-29183 · 3/10 · 29 October 2017]

It is biased. Chinese government is notorious, but that does not mean whoever fight against is doing the right thing. Humiliating Chinese travelers is not democracy. Cursing them for buying out baby formula is not fair. If you are against Chinese government's policy, fight with the government, leave alone the travelers. As a documentary, this film didn't show the full picture. It only showed the view and voice of Hung, and purposely filtered others, including big amount of Hong Kong citizens are against him. The title is dramatically enough to catch eyeballs. It is just another kiss a** film.

Fantastic!

[jldivelbiss · 10/10 · 28 August 2022]

Joshua Wong (at the young age of 14), Agnes, Derek, Nathan and so many others fighting for their freedom in Hong Kong are my heroes! This was a fantastic watch. It is refreshing to see youth come in to make a change and do it!! So exciting, yet terrifying to watch. Go Joshua, go!

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Too many biases

[sunshine-21075 · 3/10 · 5 October 2019]

After I enough in China's brain washing news inside China, I tried to find a different view of the whole HK events and found this on Netflix. To be honest this can't be called a documentary, it only provides one side's opinion, too many biases through the film, it's no differences from China's brain washing news. In this time, people spreads and receives news that only flavors themselves, nobody cares about neutrality.

The narrativity is too simplified and explicit

[OctRad · 4/10 · 27 February 2020]

The documentary tells a story no more than its title. Joshua Wong, as a teenager activist, keeps fighting against China goverment for human rights of Hong Kong. As an audience, I expect to see more than the news and its metaphor years ago. I'm curious about how he became an activist, what motivated him, what the roles of his parents are, and also, in the social movements, what others did. Joshua is a Christian as it's shown in the documentary. It would be interesting to show his view of independent thinking and religion. His parents is under-presented iin the documentary too. As a Christian, his father actually protest against the rights of LGBTQ group. It would also be interesting to show their political differences. 50 years of keeping the original system is actually a source of anxiety of the teenagers in Hong Kong because it will be their middle age and they don't know what will happen then. I like the part showing how he protested the mandatory nationality education as a high school student. It's an issue of his group, he fought for his group, and he made it. But what did his allies do? Are Scholarism the only protesters? It's not a huge problem in this campain but it will be important in OCLP. OCLP is about democrcy of all Hong Kong citizens, and the highschool students are just part of it. I'd like to see more protesters interview instead of just about Joshua. Needless to say, the view of the other side is totally ignored. The enemey is the puppet HK goverment and China goverment. But where is the legislative concil? Where are the pro-gov citizens? What did they think? I'm not expecting an absolutely objetive documentary, which is impossible for sure, but under-representation of the other side makes the story less convincing. It reminds me of another docmentary about young activitists fighting for democracy in greater China, Our Youth in Taiwan. Like in Our Youth in Taiwan, young activitists decided to express their demand in the traditional systematic way, election. But instead of only one hero, Our Youth in Taiwan shows the path of different activitists, which enriches the documentary a lot.

propaganda

[leewilly · 1/10 · 13 October 2019]

Puppet movie, making joshua as hero to escalate more violence in HK

Would give 0/10 if I could

[hemiaoz · 1/10 · 5 June 2020]

The way that the movie portrays a teenage revolutionist is self-contradictory and misleading. Just look at its title, "teenager vs. superpower", sounds an unequal battle? The way it tries to gain sympathy and empathy from the audiences is itself pathetic. And the biased presentation of events like "umbrella movement" is a shame for it to be classified as a "documentary".

Propaganda Fake News Documentary!

[Dragon112 · 1/10 · 14 July 2021]

This documentary is full of fake news, this Vietnamese convict is a puppet of the west. He claimed that his party is peaceful, but it's full of lies!