
Critic Reviews
58
Metascore
Mixed or Average
positive
4(50%)
mixed
4(50%)
negative
0(0%)
Showing 8 Critic Reviews
Mar 14, 2018
80
As demonstrated by this exquisite documentary, the preparation of Japan’s national dish is an arduous affair, with the most celebrated chefs — variously referred to here as “ramen gods” and “ramen demons” — toiling fanatically to retain the color, richness, and viscosity of their dishes.
Mar 15, 2018
70
A good-looking debut that's as obsessive as it sounds, Koki Shigeno's Ramen Heads celebrates those for whom Japan's famous dish is anything but a simple bowl of noodles and broth.
Mar 15, 2018
70
For a movie designed to honor the unexpected depths of a cultural hallmark, Ramen Heads does achieve, to borrow the ultimate standard of ramen quality, enough satisfying slurpability.
Mar 16, 2018
70
Ramen Heads may be a tad lacking in visual excitement, but it succeeds in imparting the ineffable appeal of Japan’s national dish.
Mar 15, 2018
50
Over-narrated and self-serious, this documentary allows its good intentions to pave the way to a tepid tale.
Mar 20, 2018
50
Although Ramen Heads is an interesting glance at the craft of ramen, it ends up feeling lukewarm.
Apr 4, 2018
50
The film is arriving on these shores in the wake of such successful foodie nonfictions as “Jiro Dreams of Shushi,” a 2012 art-house hit about an 85-year-old master of raw fish. Like that film, Ramen Heads reaches for the lyrical with slow-motion shots of roiling broth and soaring classical music on the soundtrack. Unlike the earlier movie, it goes so far overboard in ladling out praise that viewers might wonder if they’re being sold a bill of goods.
Apr 11, 2018
40
Inelegant but not uninteresting, Ramen Heads is a bronze contender at best.