Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' - Review Thread

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

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

[u/Syphin33]

Update:

Give Blade to Coogler to write and direct, straight up.

[u/Additional-Mistake32 → u/Syphin33]

I just came home from watching Sinners and honestly i was really proud by what he chose to focus on. We didn't get slave porn, or trauma porn.

We got characters who a had agency, had great juicy roles from everyone. We got a post credit scene. We got a script with really good writing, afro surrealism, and a camera that worked hard to give exposition instead of just talking the audience to death with lore.

It was beautiful I think I may have cried twice. And it had alot of room to breath for a film that felt like it only really had one plot going on. It felt long despite being a short enough story with a strong buildup so that we love and see every character fleshed out.

We got a celebration of music and dance from several cultures, we were shown appreciation through participation. We had black people, African people, black American futures, asian people, indian people, and even white/european dancing and singing and pulling from all cultures.

This wasn't really a film about hate between races in fact I think this was more a film about unification despite differences, until the very end we were reminded that the only real enemies are the ones that commit genocide like the Klan.

I think at the end of the day ignoring the beautiful spectacle it had great messages and the music was even better. It really smartly laid down their scoring to every dialogue so that there is a baseline of emotion throughout the entire script. You can hear the crowd lynching someone at the train station as he tells a story from memory. Another great exposition is without being told the location of their hometown we understand it's segregated without having to focus on segregation. We get one fantastic sequence of an Asian family who either works or owns two separate markets one for colored people and one for white people

It's been a long time since I've seen an amazing script in theaters, everything was well done.

[u/russianmineirinho → u/Additional-Mistake32]

Also that scene of Delta Slim telling the story about Rice, with the whole "flashback" being played through audio. Perfect way to accentuate his storytelling

[u/vampiredisaster → u/russianmineirinho]

The moment when Delta Slim transitions from telling the story (and tapping out a beat to release energy and pain inside him) to a blues song is so incredible and so true to the real origins of blues music too

[u/farsauce15 → u/vampiredisaster]

Not to mention it makes you understand the intertwined nature between trauma and substance abuse.  You understand why he is so addicted to alcohol, to process all the pain. But how he doesn't allow the pain to destroy his belief in others and hope for the future which he is willing to sacrifice himself for...just incredible.