Ali - D+

Quick Hit: Slow, dull, and overfilled with unnecessary dialogue, Will Smith still somehow manages to make the movie watchable at times with his perfect Ali impersonation

I really wanted to enjoy this movie. I mean, it seemed perfect going into it: a movie about an amazingly interesting superstar athlete, played by Will Smith in his up-and-coming years (was he ever really up-and-coming? After the Fresh Prince hit, he always seemed a star to me). It also featured several other ​known actors, such as Jada Pinkett-Smith (now known to most as Fish Mooney on the usually good, sometimes great Gotham) and Jamie Foxx. Unfortunately, that star power is wasted, as the script and ​​the shots in this movie just…slow…everything…down…until…you…can…barely…stay…awake.

It’s an extremely historical movie. The fight scenes are spot on with the action of the real fights. Just for curiosity’s sake, I pulled up the fight first fight of the movie, Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston 1. It seems at times like they took the exact movements and punches of the fight and put them into the movie. That may seem easy, but the choreographers on the fight must have had quite a time doing that. I checked a couple of the other fights, and it seems like they all had that attention to detail. I also enjoyed how the camera angle moved around during the fights, just like a fighter would.
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After the first fight though, they start to seem rushed. It was almost like they were so busy trying to get back to the story of who Ali was outside of the ring that they didn’t want to focus on him in the ring. But that is like describing a penny and only saying that Lincoln is on it. There is so much more to him, and you can find that out by watching him in the ring.

However, the fights are the highlight of the movie, and little else is worth watching besides Smith. He’s excellent, portraying the exact tone and delivery that Ali so often had. You can tell that Smith either spent a lot of time practicing, or had grown up idolizing “The Greatest” (most likely, it’s both). But despite this performance, which got an Oscar nomination, the movie just isn’t very good. It’s slow 

moving and the camerawork is shoddy at times, purposely leaving people out of focus to make someone else the only thing that draws your eye. When this is done right, it can lend an intensity to scenes. However, here, it just distracted me and brought me out of the film.
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When historical biopics are done right, they can be entertaining. Ali was such a polarizing figure because he was so entertaining. The scenes where Smith is given free reign to run with dialogue, he excels greatly. But following Ali around with a camera doesn’t make a good movie. There’s little tension between other characters, even at tense moments (like the showdown with Jamie Foxx). This was the heavyweight champion of the world, with one of the biggest mouths on an athlete that sports has ever given us.

I’m pretty sad that I was so disappointed by this movie. Since Hollywood eventually reboots everything, I’m sure they will try to capitalize on the death of a great man and make a some money.

A man like this deserves better. RIP.

I can’t give this better than a “D+”.

For more on this film, check out IMDB.