If [Stephen] Kijak's documentary hits a few familiar beats along the way, it's hard not to be moved by emotional footage of fans across the world finding solace and support in the absolutely unstoppable Yoshiki's life's work.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 7, 2022

Because of its informative avenues, We Are X becomes a fascinating documentary that will appeal to any music fan.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 15, 2020

Fascinating for Japanophiles.

| Jun 9, 2020

Although incredibly successful underdogs, We Are X undeniably grabs its audience and has them rooting for X Japan's final breakthrough.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 15, 2019

We Are X does well in showing how X-Japan became famous but like Yoshiki himself, is too mysterious and enigmatic that it keeps the viewer from arm's length, wanting to know more.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 1, 2018

X Japan's dedication to music remains admirable but Kijak's film places them on a similar pedestal to that of their swooning fans when it's a closet stashed full of skeletons that would've provided the braver and far more worthwhile material to inspect.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 28, 2017

What drives [director Stephen] Kijak's film, and adds a universal dimension to a singular band's narrative, is the drama inherent in a group of strong personalities who live for music attempting to create and perform it together.

| Sep 21, 2017

Splits, suicides, a brainwashing cult and industrial quantities of hairspray and make-up all play their part in the story, with the fragile Yoshiki fulfilling the role of tortured artist to perfection.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 3, 2017

Good anecdotes - but the film's willingness to indulge the band's rampant self-mythologising can get tiresome.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 27, 2017

Watchable and interesting - if a tad worshipful ...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 24, 2017

Much of the film's success comes from the editing of Mako Kamitsuna and John Maringouin who corral a barrage of archival footage, talking heads, observation, and performance into a compelling exploration of one of the world's great rock phenomenons.

| Original Score: B | Jan 3, 2017

A heart-wrenching portrait of a physically and emotionally fragile artist, and the band of equally vulnerable, tormented misfits he assembled around him.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 6, 2016

When it comes to chronicling their accomplishments on film, all they have to show for themselves is 90 flashy minutes' worth of rockumentary clichés.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 11, 2016

Even if you don't care for the band, Kijak's exuberant style which mirrors the music might win you over.

| Nov 7, 2016

This high-intensity group - resplendent in the plumage of a Sunset Strip hair band, and playing a kind of prog-metal - delivers the goods. In any language.

| Nov 3, 2016

A maddeningly vague primer.

| Nov 2, 2016

Yoshiki, the group's eccentric co-founder and drummer, gets most of the spotlight. No wonder. He's a real character, a rich and famous delicate dynamo who's also a designer and in constant pain from his art.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 2, 2016

The film is a rush, all right, but it's also a soulful look at Yoshiki, who although rarely without his dark glasses, still seems very revealing.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 27, 2016

Ultimately, it comes across more like a bonus disc than a feature film.

| Oct 27, 2016

The creation of capital A Art and the possibility of physical and spiritual salvation via the creative act is the heart and soul of both Kijak's stupendous doc, but man, X just flat out rocks. Prepare to be blown away.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 27, 2016