Diary entries forAli
Ali
Condense this into 2 hours max (could potentially be done by shrinking the build for the Foreman fight and some of the draft-dodging appeal) and this is probably a perfect Muhammad Ali film. As is, it's just the best biopic we're likely to get about him. Will Smith was definitely the right choice to star
Ali
86/100 He must be the greatest! I know about Ali and what he stood for but since I’m not an avid fan of boxing and have only recently got into some major fights, most of which have been shit, I haven’t gathered enough interest to look into past fights and the sport in general. Of course the biggest name in the sport is Muhammad Ali. Everyone knows Ali like everyone knows Michael Jackson and everyone knows Michael Jordan. You know people when they represent something bigger than themselves or when the others around them speak it for them so they don’t have to. But Ali is arguably the one that is known for the right reasons. Michael Mann puts us right into the action from the start, excellent starting point might I add. You see Ali seeing the world around him, practicing, quiet till he is ready to fight. That shows his focus to completing a task to his satisfaction after which he will open his well-known mouth. He speaks a lot but he doesn’t let his words go to waste which is why they are respected. The boxing sequences in this film are probably the best I’ve seen and I’ve seen a lot of boxing films. The timing of slow-motion, the music, the realism and the camera movement all make it so thrilling and entrap you as an audience member in the actually arena. I think Mann nails the first half of the film right when he gets into the suspension and his anti-war comments. The second half of the film albeit good falls short because of the wrong allocation of time to events and the pacing. Dare I say, they rushed it a lot in the second half. There is a 2-3 year hiatus after his loss to Frazier, his first loss ever and they just skip it all the way to his fight against Foreman, skipping the rematch against Frazier altogether, whoever made this creative decision is dumb, no other words. They should’ve made this 3 hours long because the content is there and no one would have any problems with watching an additional half an hour because the film is very well made. I had to search the year of the Rumble in the Jungle and I was like what the happened to the rematch which I had looked up after his loss to Frazier. Anyways, they ended on the right note, the sequences in Congo were excellent, I didn’t get the Idi Amin reference and there was no translation either. But the sole focus of this film was to represent Ali, not as his best self but his truest self and from what I’ve learned, I think they did a great job. Sure it lacks the punch or the sting at times but it showed him as a smart man, a scared man, a man willing to stand up to something wrong, a man willing to defend his beliefs, a man willing to accept he is not true to his beliefs because he is a womaniser. That is Muhammad Ali aka Cassius Clay, not the other way around. I’ve been chattering about Ali but it goes without saying, Will Smith truly brought him to life, I’m talking about what I saw in the film and what I saw was Will Smith being Ali, embracing every being of Ali, he was excellent. As of the rest of the film, I heard Jon Voight’s voice but saw a different man and then I looked up the cast and it was him! Good makeup and a good relationship and chemistry with Will on screen, he was like his on screen father and that was wholesome. Jamie Foxx man when is he never good, he is one funny man but with all the range. As of the ladies, goddamn were the two later sexy! Jade can fuck off, she wasn’t pretty anyway but the other two were beautiful. The whole cast really was just black excellence both visually and professionally. Mann did a good job, not his best work in terms of the creative decision-making of whole film but there are definitely glimpses of his genius. What is however the best part about this film is the score - oh man Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke know how to get you into the film, the song selection, the music, every single one was perfect, Homelander perfect!
Ali
Two things I learned while watching this: 1) Ali was a hoe. 2) Will Smith really likes yelling.
Ali
Where is the 4 hour cut of this? I know Mann has to have a super long cut somewhere. And I want it!
Ali
68/100 I liked it. Slow in some places but good overall.
Ali
Mid
