An average movie

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. It’s only after watching this movie that I discovered that Jeymes Samuel also directed ‘The Harder They Fall’. So, after directing a Western focusing on black characters, this time, he decided to deliver a biblical epic in a similar fashion which was definitely ambitious. Basically, the end-result felt like a mix of a Hood movie with a biblical drama which was intriguing. I think the idea I liked the most was that the popular common depiction of Jesus that we all know actually came from some random White dude who happened to be crucified around the same time period. Even if this approach was obviously satirical, since many people were crucified back then, it wasn’t such a crazy idea though. Above all, in such movies, you always get to see only White people when, in such regions, it would probably be more accurate to see more Black folks. Eventually, in such context, it isn’t such a crazy idea that Jesus might have been black after all. Anyway, it was an interesting and refreshing approach but, to be honest, I think it worked better with ‘The Harder They Fall’. Basically, in this movie, the characters kept switching between some period accurate language and some hood slang which was rather jarring. Eventually, it felt as if they never really figured out if it should be a serious thing or something satirical so it awkwardly remained between the two genres. Concerning the characters, there was a really interesting cast involved (LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, David Oyelowo, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch) but, except for Stanfield, all their characters were barely developed after all. Concerning the main character, I always had a weak spot for LaKeith Stanfield and he was once again really charismatic but, to be honest, the trajectory followed by his characters was too generic and predictable. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in an original biblical epic. 

6/10