When We Were Kings Reviews

Since I kept hearing many good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of boxing as a sport, I always had a hard time enjoying watching two grown men completely beating each other up, but I can’t deny the fact that there is still something quite dramatic about this sport which works very well with movies, in contrary to most other sports. Well, this fight must be one of the most famous fights that ever took place and everything about it was larger than life. Indeed, you had the young George Forman who was like this huge monster who seemed unbeatable and, of course, the legendary Muhammad Ali with his huge mouth and his unique charisma who was much older and who seemingly didn’t stand a chance. Eventually, the fight didn’t disappoint and, against all odds, with all Africa behind him, Ali won back his title which he lost not because he faced a better opponent, but because he didn’t want to take part in a war in which he didn’t believe in. Eventually, the whole thing was pretty fascinating to behold and you can see that even though ‘Ali’, starring Will Smith and directed Michael Mann, was a decent attempt, they never really managed to grasp the complexety and magnitude of this massive man. Here, they definitely succeeded and this flick is definitely worth a look.

I think Spike Lee sums things up during the film when he states ‘These kids today are missing a whole lot if they don’t know about the legacy of Muhammad Ali. No matter what era you live in, you see very few true heroes’. Here Ali charms a whole African Nation with his honesty and charisma. There is no boxer today that even comes close to him inside or outside of the ring. You don't have to love boxing to enjoy this film, it's so much more than that, it's also passionate about politics, personality, history, religion. If you do love boxing... then there's no greater fight. Take a journey back in time with two true legends of the sport you won't be disappointed.