Rating: 2/5
Synopsis:
Ryan Coogler’s follow up to “Wakanda Forever” is a period piece vampire thriller with a lot on its mind. The story is set in 1930’s Mississippi Delta, where twins Smoke and Stack return home after a period of living in Chicago. They want to leave the past behind and open a juke joint for the town’s black community. Drawn to the music of their club, a group of vampires come to visit. They realize that a greater evil lurks within their hometown, leaving the twins to defend their club and their home.
Positives:
“Sinners” is a story that has a lot on its mind. It manages to cover spiritual lore, culture, racism, the power of music, destiny, and so much more. I’ll give the film credit for having unique attributes and presenting a vampire story in a way never seen before. I was surprised at the interesting take on vampires and their connection to music and social harmony. Their bloodsucking tendencies were on full display but I was intrigued with the layered exploration of their history. The production design is impressive, fully immersing the audience in the time period and deep south. Miles Caton gives a solid supporting performance in his acting debut, belting some wonderful blues music for the audience to enjoy. Jack O’Connell is engaging as Remmick, playing the main vampire in the film. It’s a shame he got such little screen time. The cinematography is also impressive, conveying different moods based on the saturation of light and color in each scene. I always appreciate an original vision, and while I didn’t enjoy the film, I appreciate that Coogler got to make the film he wanted.
Negatives:
With the praise the film has been getting, I’m disappointed to say that the film didn’t work for me on many levels. In fact, this is probably one of the most overrated movies I’ve seen in quite some time. I again find myself unimpressed with Michael B. Jordan. His range seems limited to me, giving the characters he portrays a similar demeanor and set of expressions. It’s clear that Warner Bros. stepped back with their involvement in the film’s production, letting Coogler take the reins. This leads to some self-indulgent approaches to the runtime and presentation of themes. The sound mixing could use some work, where the loud pounding and surrounding sounds drown out some of the dialogue. The film’s pacing is strange, taking a while to get going. We get long periods that are a slog to get through, only picking up once the vampire storyline is introduced. It fluctuates between a drama, western, period piece, and horror movie. As a disclaimer, the film isn’t scary at all, largely focusing on the dramatic angles rather than the horror from the trailers. The genre blending is constant, never truly committing to any style. Genre combinations are a tricky task and I think Coogler tries to do too much here.
Because there are so many themes and so much genre blending, nothing gets enough exploration. The importance of music is probably the largest theme in the film, which gets little attention by the film’s conclusion. Sure, it is presented…but the mythological importance of it all and how it connects the vampires to those who have such a gift felt undercooked. There is a scene in the film that connects music throughout time that was extremely jarring. The execution was strange and felt forced into the scene. By the time the film concludes and the vampire’s motives have come full circle, Coogler’s message is perplexing. The vampire’s motives are intriguing, where relieving Smoke and Stack of the many troubles they’ve faced throughout their life (loss, prejudice, appreciation of their culture, etc.) is presented. Being that Smoke and Stack have muddled pasts, the more interesting conclusion would feature them joining the vampires and having a sense of belonging and acceptance. This would have been a fascinating twist, giving the film a stamp of creative independence. But the story abandons that possibility by giving audiences the standard bloodbath finale with an uninteresting ending we’d expect from a vampire flick.
There are some glaring plot holes and conveniences that I’m shocked many critics are overlooking. The ending forces some highly implausible scenarios where the vampire’s strength and intelligence are thwarted by a handful of untrained people from the community. Numbers were in their favor as they have a large group going against a few. But they manage to screw up their advantage because the plot needs them to fail. They also seem to lose their wits and forget that daylight isn’t good for them…gasp, leading to a predictable finale that favors an explosive ending rather than the thought provoking route. The ending I would have preferred would tie up the thematic analysis and rich ideas presented in a more effective way. Smoke also gets into a shootout towards the end of the film with a group of Klansman that feels like a Tarantino style ending. Since the rest of the film was largely grounded in its approach to situations like this, the conclusion just felt ridiculous. I’m disappointed that Coogler introduces such interesting ideas that feel explored at a surface level. Perhaps if he maintained some restraint and chose less themes to focus on, the film’s resolution would be more fluid. Instead, we get a hodgepodge of ideas that get little attention. What a shame.
Conclusion:
I’m genuinely perplexed by this one. I haven’t seen a film that got this much acclaim from other critics that I fail to resonate with. I’m curious why they are overlooking the film’s glaring issues that they’d quickly point out in other movies (and do often). Sure, “Sinners” has an elegant style and attention to the period, but the story is overstuffed with ideas. Nothing gets enough care to explore these themes to the degree they deserve. It’s almost as if Coogler threw the ideas out there hoping they’d stick because he had to cram in other themes he wanted to address. The film had such potential to leave audiences with lots to think about while subverting the vampire motive within the genre. But instead, there are some creative choices I didn’t resonate with at all, leaving me frustrated with the film’s resolution. I would say skip this one because the film is a mess. But I seem to be in the minority on this one, so go in with tepid expectation should the film be intriguing enough to see.
