| Film Review - Ali (24th February, 2002) |
| It's only fair when reviewing this film to mention a few personal biases right at the start to get them out of the way. I am a Muhammed Ali fan of sorts, and I am not a Will Smith fan. However, I tried to forget both these things when watching Ali, and to the film's credit I managed to do that. The film itself was entertaining enough that I didn't get too caught up in how accurate it was, and Smith acts well enough for me to forget who he was (meaning he's not the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, thank God). Ali covers a period of 10 years in Muhammed Ali's life, from the time he won the Heavyweight Championship belt for the first time, until his famed regaining of that title from George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle. Michael Mann seems to really enjoy directing these intense character studies/biopics (see The Insider), and he does a great job bringing Ali's life to the screen. The film has a very realistic quality about it, giving the impression of actually watching real events, not just actors. One interesting camera technique which helps achieve this is the "handheld" effect, which looks literally like someone just holding a home video camera, without having that annoying Blair Witch style motion sickness. He gets great performances out of his actors too, and in my opinion, that's really what makes this movie worth watching: the acting, rather than the life. Will Smith dominates the screen as the outspoken champ, recreating the voice perfectly, and managing to overcome any physical differences between himself and the real life Muhammed Ali (when I first heard of his casting I was a little confused because I didn't think Smith looked anything like him). The supporting cast is also very good, and surprisingly Mario Van Peebles does quite a convincing job as Malcolm X. One criticism to be made of the film is that it tends to bite off a little more than it can chew in some areas - many issues are dealt with here, and not all of them are as explored as they could be. However, it is still an excellently constructed film, and manages not to get too bogged down in intellectual dissection of Ali's life, but rather succeeds in staying entertaining throughout. The fight scenes are also quite noteworthy, and apart from Smith contain no actors, but real boxers (Smith also did all his own fights, full contact). Overall, it's quite an entertaining film, as a biography, a boxing movie and to some extent a historical study of America in the mid-twentieth Century. Ali is definitely worth a look. **** |