Sinners (2025)

As everyone knows, certainly everyone who grew up in the 1980s and was so educated by Footloose anyway, singing and dancing can be sinful. Some people would rather that we didn't do it, especially when we can instead spend time being thankful for the meagre morsels of happiness that life allows us. I was awaiting one such morsel when I sat myself down to finally see Sinners, a film I knew I wanted to see on as big a screen as possible, especially after that lovely video from Ryan Coogler that discussed both aspect ratios and his absolute love of film. The fact that I didn't love this as much as so many others shouldn't stop you from also going to see it on the big screen. It's certainly a spectacle, it's often a real audio and visual treat, but it's also apparent that there's ambition here unmatched by the final product.

William B. Jordan takes on two roles here, playing twins named Smoke and Stack. After making some money in Chicago, they have returned to their hometown to open a juke joint, where they will encourage people to drink and dance, accompanied by the music of Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) and their talented cousin, Sammie Moore (Miles Caton). The opening night looks to be eventful enough, with Stack being confronted by Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), Smoke reconnecting with Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), and Sammie hoping to get time to connect with the married Pearline (Jayme Lawson). It's going to get more eventful, however, when Remmick (Jack O'Connell) and a few cohorts turn up, looking to connect their fangs with the jugular veins of those inside the juke joint.

Written and directed by Coogler, Sinners is a bit of something for everyone. If you're a fan of Michael B. Jordan then you get double the Michael B. Jordan, and he's great in both roles. If you want some vampire action then you get it. If you want some energetic music sequences then, oh boy, you really get it. It's a shame that Coogler didn't just dive right into making this a musical. It comes very close to being one anyway, but you can tell that people seriously considered the balance of everything here. There's also some solid drama, as well as a comment on those who have been othered by society banding together to become stronger and less afraid. The problem that Sinners has is that Coogler doesn't quite get the mix right. This feels like an accomplished first or second feature, considering how much he tries to cram in to the film. There's even a coda that would have arguably worked better as an extra short provided as some supplementary treat when the film hits the home market.

It gets a lot right though, and delivers satisfyingly adult content in a world that seems intent on diluting every work of art in order to appeal to that mystical four quadrant demographic. Sinners is sexy, occasionally very sexy. It's intelligent. It's thoughtful. There are some good gore effects deployed when we get the vampire action. And it has a rhythm and bass thrum running through it that allows the score and soundtrack to help propel the narrative in a way I haven't felt since the equally-admirable-but-less-successful Babylon, which, interestingly enough, feels like it would make a nice bacchanalian pairing with this. There's one sequence that is already a strong contender for scene of the year, and I say that as someone who doubts that this film will make my own personal Top 10 when such things are due to be considered.

It helps that there isn't a weak link in the cast. Jordan easily holds his own alongside Jordan, and it was perhaps inevitable that in a film like this he would be the only one capable of matching his own cool and charisma. Caton, a young singer (and now also a guitarist, after learning it for this role) making his acting debut, stands out as a talent to keep an eye on, especially if he keeps getting roles that allow him to win over audience with his amazing voice. I always feel that Lindo is overlooked by too many directors out there, with the exception of Spike Lee, and I'm glad to see that he's typically great in a role that makes very good use of him. Steinfeld and Mosaku bring different ways of showing their strength opposite different Jordan characters, both getting at least one impactful emotional beat, and Lawson feels authentic in how she responds to the music and energy around her. O'Connell gets the most obviously fun role, which he does well with, and the rest of the cast includes Saul Williams, Yao (AKA Thomas Pang), Helena Hu, Li Jun Li, Omar Benson Miller, and David Maldonado.

Sinners wants to be so many things, including a decades-spanning epic in the style of at least one other sexy vampire tale I could mention. The fact that it doesn't hit every target that Coogler is aiming at doesn't make it a bad film, and doesn't make it a waste of your time. It's just a shame that it may end up leaving some people (like myself) a bit unsatisfied when thinking of the many ways the ingredients could have been adjusted to improve the end result. Although, having just said that, I was VERY satisfied with a certain moment that happened near the very end of the movie, something that felt cathartic and also clearly underlined a point about monsters not needing to be fanged and/or supernatural.

7/10

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Black Panther (2018)

Chadwick Boseman returns to play T'Challa (aka Black Panther), after making a great impression in Captain America: Civil War, and even the most casual film fan cannot help but notice that this film has made quite an impact, even when considered alongside the rest of the Marvel filmography. It's been the kind of success story that leads to one hyperbolic review after another, and then the inevitable contrary opinions. It's been called the best Marvel movie ever. It's been singled out as something having huge social and cultural importance. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between the extremes.

I'm not going to go into every plot beat here. Suffice to say, T'Challa is about to become King of his land, Wakanda, and he also has to consider how he wants to lead. Should Wakanda remain hidden away from the rest of the world, or should all be revealed in an attempt to start helping those less fortunate? There's also a fun villain to be dealt with (Andy Serkis), some extremely badass women (Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, and Letitia Wright), and someone who may just want to force Wakanda to change, whether the people want to or not (this last figure is played by Michael B. Jordan). All of these players do fantastic work, with Gurira and Jordan being standouts. Boseman is a solid lead, but not half as charismatic as many of those around him, nothing to be ashamed of when the cast also includes the wonderful Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Sterling K. Brown, and David Oyelowo, among others.

First of all, Black Panther is a solid Marvel movie. It's not great though, and it's certainly not the best of the lot, at least not in terms of simple entertainment value and superhero antics. The action beats are, for the most part, a bit understated, and this is a more thoughtful look at how best to use superpowers (be they physical or societal).

Director Ryan Coogler continues his hot streak, also teaming up with Joe Robert Cole to work on the script here, and his decisions transform what could easily have been a generic superhero film, with a different cultural flavour, into something that somehow remains focused throughout on both the superficial fun and also the issues that will encourage dialogue long after the end credits have rolled.

While I have already mentioned the notion of how power can be used, there's more to Black Panther than just that. Perhaps it's almost inevitable, given the natural resources that Wakanda has (it contains a huge amount of vibranium, apparently), that viewers are given comments on colonialism, both subtle and not-so-subtle. There's also the obvious element of representation and equality running throughout the whole thing, themes explored within the film that bleed beyond the edges of every frame and emanate out towards every viewer, for better or worse (in the case of idiots who view it as an antagonistic assault on their fragile egos).

While not the perfect modern classic that some might want it to be, the fact that Black Panther so expertly blends blockbuster beats with a relevance and social conscience for an audience demographic who rarely see representation on this level is well worth celebrating. I think that it IS an important film in the here and now, and I think it has been long overdue. But, most of all, I think that it's a good film. And that, as silly and shallow as it may sound, comes before everything else, and then allows everything else to work as well as it clearly has.

7/10

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