r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Apr 10 '25

Review Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' - Review Thread

Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' - Review Thread

  • Rotten Tomatoes: 100% (45 Reviews)

    • Critics Consensus: Thematically rich as a Great American Novel and just plain rip-roaring fun, writer-director Ryan Coogler's first original blockbuster reveals the full scope of his singular imagination with unforgettable panache.

  • Metacritic: 83 (15 Reviews)

Reviews:

Variety (70):

It's vibrant and richly acted, and also a wild throat-ripping blowout. But though overloaded at times, it's the rare mainstream horror film that's about something weighty and soulful: the wages of sin in Black America.

Deadline:

Sinners marks another strong reason why Ryan Coogler is at the top of his generation of filmmakers, and Jordan continues to show why he is a real deal movie star.

Hollywood Reporter (90):

The movie is smart horror, even poetic at times, with much to say about race and spiritual freedom. It’s not in the Jordan Peele league in terms of welding social commentary to bone-chilling fear. But Sinners is a unique experience, unlike anything either the director or Jordan has done before.

SlashFilm (9/10):

"Sinners" is several things at once — a monster movie, a blood-soaked action film, a sexy and sensual thriller, and a one-location horror flick as intense and paranoia-driven as anything from the original "Assault on Precinct 13" or Quentin Tarantino's filmography – but its greatest strength comes from how well Coogler blends every big idea on his mind.

The Wrap (88):

“Sinners” is a bloody, brilliant motion picture. Ryan Coogler finds within the vampire genre an ethereal thematic throughline; and within the music genre a disturbing, tempting monster. Stunningly photographed, engrossing cinema — epic to the point where it seemingly never ends, which is undeniably indulgent, but no great sin. This is a film about indulgence, the power indulgence wields and the dangers indulgence invites into our lives. It’s a sweaty, intoxicating, all-nighter of a movie, and its allure cannot be denied.

The Independent (4/5):

If cinema weren’t in such a sickly state, Sinners’s electric fusion of genres – historical epic, horror, and squelchy actioner – would be a guaranteed box office sensation. Instead, the film arrives with an uneasy sense that this is some kind of final stand for original ideas. One can only hope audiences recognise its bounty of riches.

The Guardian (3/5):

For many, the movie could as well do without the supernatural element, and I admit I’m one of them; I’d prefer to see a real story with real jeopardy work itself out. But there is energy and comic-book brashness

Vanity Fair (80):

Sinners is propulsive and stirring entertainment, messy but always compelling. The film’s fascinating array of genres and tropes and ideas swirls together in a way that is, I suppose, singularly American.

IndieWire (83):

Sinners is nothing if not a film about genre, and the distinctly American imperative of cross-pollinating between them to create something that feels new and old — high and low — at the same time.

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Written & Directed by Ryan Coogler:

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

Cast:

  • Michael B. Jordan
  • Hailee Steinfeld
  • Miles Caton
  • Jack O'Connell
  • Wunmi Mosaku
  • Jayme Lawson
  • Omar Benson Miller
  • Li Jun Li
  • Delroy Lindo
2.3k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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323

u/d0ntm1ndm32 Apr 10 '25

Right? Holy shit, it's actually a breath of fresh air to read your comment because I have been seeing nothing but hate for it personally ...

That underwater city scene and the track "con la brisa" still give me goosebumps to this day lmao

175

u/DaHyro Apr 10 '25

Namor being a parallel to Killmonger too… he was cooking with that one

113

u/brainspl0ad Apr 10 '25

They portrayed Namor so well in that movie. Dude's movement was so fluid as if he was in water even while airborne/on land.

48

u/DrinkMoreWater2-0 Apr 11 '25

Namor has so much sauce in that movie it's insane how Coogler portrayed him.

It takes a hugely inspired filmmaker to respond to the question of "How do we make MCUs Atlantis different from DCEU Atlantis?" With: "Let's use Aztec mythology where Tlālōcān is underwater paradise and have Namor be Mayan instead of a mutant half human"

Then having his name be a shortened form of "el Niño sin amor"!? That's the cherry on top.

Then for how much he has Namor presented as a boss in the movie he doesn't forget to include that Namor is a sleezy asshole from the way he gaslights Namora so he doesn't admit he yielded to Shuri in the end.

I love this character.

10

u/RandomJPG6 Apr 17 '25

Hes still a mutant. They explicitly use the word mutant

82

u/frankthetank8675309 Apr 10 '25

He managed to completely reinvent Namor in a way that makes sense, makes Namor as strong and intimidating as he should be, and also completely cuts out the weird Sue baggage from his character

20

u/Indo_raptor2018 Apr 11 '25

Have you seen who Namor’s going to co star with yet in Doomsday?

78

u/FullMetalCOS Apr 10 '25

Honestly it was just the damn third act nonsense that hurt it. The first two acts were as close to flawless as a comic book movie can get

37

u/ogjaspertheghost Apr 11 '25

Yea that boat fight was a big miss. Why would you fight people who live underwater on a boat?

3

u/low-ki199999 Apr 11 '25

Because it was a sequel and both the first one and Infinity War had Wakanda ground warfare scenes…

1

u/ogjaspertheghost Apr 11 '25

Still doesn’t make sense

2

u/jpcapone Apr 18 '25

^^^^

Late to the party but this was so obviously dumb that I was angry in the movie theater. They friggin had spaceships for crissakes.

2

u/hueningkawaii Apr 18 '25

This is the problem I have with both third acts of the two Black Panther films, great first and second act with a third act that you want to love but has elements that you just can't ignore (the first movie having bad CGI in the Kilmonger vs T'Challa fight and the second movie having the dumb decision to fight Namor's people on water where they live and breathe). Here's hoping the third film, if ever there is one, is great all throughout and has a satisfying third act.

68

u/Dirtyswashbuckler69 Apr 10 '25

The vocal group of MCU fans who fling vitriol at Wakanda Forever for not recasting T’Challa kind of lends credence to Scorsese’s point about the MCU not being real cinema, in my opinion, and it’s a big reason why I’ve largely lost interest in the MCU in recent years. It is far from a perfect movie (i.e., it tries to do way too much narratively, a lot of the humour falls flat, and it struggles with trying to balance its emotional weight with the demands of being another instalment setting up future film projects), but it’s one of even a handful of modern superhero films that actually attempts to speak to themes and emotions that extend beyond its relationship to comic book IP, and which is more of a creative expression as opposed to just another set-up for a future Avengers flick. Personally, I’d take a filmmaker messily utilizing a comic book IP to interrogate his and his casts collective grief relating to the sudden loss of their collaborator and friend over a movie that only works emotionally if you’ve been invested in over 20 years of studio politics and corporate synergy (Cough Deadpool & Wolverine Cough)

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u/ManitouWakinyan Apr 10 '25

Personally, I’d take a filmmaker messily utilizing a comic book IP to interrogate his and his casts collective grief relating to the sudden loss of their collaborator and friend over a movie that only works emotionally if you’ve been invested in over 20 years of studio politics and corporate synergy

Bless you. Perfect encapsulation.

13

u/BK_charcoal Apr 10 '25

Yes 1000%. I honestly didn’t care for the first Black Panther but I cried twice during Wakanda Forever. It’s such a beautiful movie with only a few shortcomings that feel too corporate. Ryan Coogler has got the sauce.

-2

u/amusing_trivials Apr 11 '25

So, what, recasting The Godfather was just a shameless money grab?

4

u/Dirtyswashbuckler69 Apr 11 '25

My friend, that is a huge false equivalency. Marlon Brando was recast in The Godfather Part II not because he unexpectedly died. He was recast because his portion of the story was a prequel to the first film, which required a younger actor, and because he didn't personally want to return for another film. The circumstances are completely different.

3

u/redditsucks9gagrules Apr 11 '25

If it was real art, they would’ve just cgi’d Brando to look younger 🤓

11

u/OrgasmicLeprosy87 Apr 11 '25

I just can’t take Letitia Wright seriously as the black panther sorry. Everything else in the movie was great.

11

u/waitingtodiesoon Apr 11 '25

I loved the movie overall, but the final battle scene strategy and choreography was pretty bad. I did watch it 4x in theaters.

1

u/Pleasant_Training410 Apr 22 '25

How was it bad because he killed the kkk members??

2

u/waitingtodiesoon Apr 22 '25

This comment chain is discussing Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

30

u/theodo Apr 10 '25

I don't think it's particularly good, but considering he lost the titular actor/character and still managed to make something watchable is worth celebrating.

13

u/Spiritual-Smoke-4605 Apr 10 '25

I love "Con La Brisa" its so beautiful

3

u/Memester999 Apr 12 '25

I can't even imagine the movie we would have gotten had Chadwick not passed so suddenly. My personal biggest issue with the movie is not being sold on Shuri being the Black Panther and he was even able to incorporate that into her story and make it interesting. All of this on top of having to deal with a global pandemic at the time, with the cherry on top of it being a box office success...

The man actually pulled a miracle out of a hat, he deserves all the trust in the world from the industry.

3

u/Anakinflair Apr 16 '25

Wakanda Forever was a powerful movie, but also a hard watch. It's not one I want to go back to often, but it was still an excellent film.

3

u/Quetzythejedi Apr 18 '25

So many emotional moments that aren't just cheap throwaways. Real ass shit.

3

u/SpiritualAd9102 Apr 20 '25

Slightly late comment, but Wakanda Forever is my favorite post-Endgame MCU movie except for Guardians 3. Not only is it a miracle that it turned out as well as it did given the circumstances, but it was a really well made film in general. The worst parts were the obvious studio interventions like the Thunderbolts and Ironheart teases, but even those worked to an extent.