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The strongest part of Sinners is definitely Michael B. Jordan's dual performance as the twin brothers Smoke and Stack, truth is that they are not that different from each other say like on The Accountant with Affleck and Bernthal as the brothers but Smoke and Stack had different temper, plus Smoke is more into the ruthless side and Stack keeps him on cool down. Smoke is the more cautious one, always thinking ahead and being careful about every move they make, while Stack is the flashy one who takes more risks and has that smooth talking charm that gets them into trouble. Jordan doesn't rely on cheap tricks or exaggerated manners that differentiate each other but instead he uses subtle changes in posture, voice and facial expressions that make you believe these are two separate individuals with their own personalities and motivations, plus the shaky hand that Smoke has every time he feels under pressure. The supporting cast is also really solid with the so beautiful Hailee Steinfeld bringing bravery energy to her role as Mary and Miles Caton playing Sammy absolutely nailing the musical scenes that are not overated and different as musicians from past and future are show up every time he plays. Delroy Lindo shows up as this drunk blues pianist and steals every scene he is in, he's one of those actors who can elevate any movie just by being present, putting up an accent and the chemistry between all these characters feels real as the movie develops, it was needed specially when they were left cornered inside the Mill. The production is just beautiful to create this authentic 1930s Mississippi atmosphere, specially the colors and lighting they use to make things look vintage during certain scenes like is part of an old film. The juke joint itself becoming almost like another character in the story and you can tell that Coogler put a lot of thought into making everything feel historically accurate while still being visually striking. The blues music is goes into the story in a way that feels organic rather than forced and there are some musical scenes that make it felt like blues was a character, without it there was no movie.
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The movie starts to lose me when the vampire really take center stage and it's not because the vampire stuff is necessarily bad, it's just that it feels like such split or cracked from everything that made the first half so engaging with the brothers backstory. The movie spends over an hour building up these characters and their relationships, establishing the historical context and the cultural meaning of what they are doing, then suddenly we are in full vampire mode and all that careful character development gets pushed aside for action sequences and supernatural horror. It reminded me a lot of From Dusk Till Dawn in how it completely shifts gears halfway through, Sinners feels like it is trying to have it both ways and I think it doesn't succeed at either. The vampire lore is pretty standard stuff, nothing innovative or surprising just the usual rules about garlic and stakes and not being able to enter without an invitation, and even the invitation part took me off guard because then how did they really get in? I dont remember anyone telling them to get in?? anyways. The pacing also becomes an issue once the vampires show up, because suddenly the party slows down and we are rushing through plot that probably needed more time to shift into the horror part. There is also some CGI in the vampire sequences that took me out of the moment, particularly in some of the flying scenes that looked a bit too digital for a movie, they even cut it off when Mary gets bitten who was the first one, they should have made it more special for been her and been the first one getting bitten from the twin's group.
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The movie is also long at over two hours and while I didn't mind the pacing in the first half because it was building something interesting, the two hours at some point becomes heavy weight as the second half starts feeling repetitive with its vampire action sequences. There are multiple scenes of vampires trying to get into the juke joint and the characters having to figure out how to keep them out and after a while it starts feeling like the same thing hit over and over again without much reason behind it. The movie also gets very gory its violence, there were a few sexual scenes too but nothing that I think was too much, very soft to be honest, isn't necessarily a problem but might caught part of the audience off gurad expecting something more mainstream or family rated although its a horror movie. To the same topic of mainstream content, there is the thick southern accent in some casees, specially towards the secold half with the involve of the vampires and how their voices change too, mostly because of their teeth have change now, so it becomes hard to understand what they saying. The ending tries to tie everything together but it feels a bit disconnected from the main story so its like the movie gave us two endings, not only they kill the vampires but the movie also had Smoke do a second final action scene that felt a bit too short, its like they try to put the cherry on top. Even with these issues there's enough good stuff in Sinners to make it worth watching, especially if you're a fan of period pieces or vampire movies just don't expect it to keep up the pace and quality the entire two hours.
Sinners is a genre blending movie and there are moments where director Coogler actually made it work but it feels like a movie that's more ambitious than it is successful. The first half is excellent moviemaking that had me thinking this could be one of the best movies of the year, with strong performances, beautiful landscape and a really intreagying story about family, culture and the power of music to bring people together, specially during times of slavery. Michael B. Jordan proves once again that he is one of the most talented actors of his generation and his work here playing twins is some of the best I have seen from him, he goes beyond just the physical demands of playing the twins from different face expression, one been more aggressive than the other, one been more ruthless and the other flashy, such contrast. My problem with the movie is that second half really does feel like a different movie, one that's more interested in vampire action than in the characters and themes that made the first part so engaging, it's not terrible it's definitely a step down from what came before. The movie ends up being good rather than great which is disappointing when you consider how strong it started but there's still enough here to recommend it to people who enjoy either period dramas or vampire movies. I still give Sinners a solid 8 out of 10, I know it sounds too much but the movie is really cool, it's definitely worth watching for Jordan's performance and the beautiful first half, just be prepared for it to lose some steam once the vampires come out and maybe drop two shifts from your expectations if you're going in based on all the critical scores online.
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