Review of Amistad (1997) by Bruce N — 05 Jan 2014
Amistad does what any story about slavery and racism sets out to do: seek out political justice and have us dwell within the sympathy of its victims. It does it damn well, and its a true story so I couldn't say what was and wasn't necessary in the story, but it is your typical Spielberg fare and Hollywood nature.
The violence is emphasized, we get a bunch of powerful dialogue scenes, and of course there's the speech that has a bunch o0f random mumbo jumbo that sets to be so inspirational that leads to the freedom of the slaves and has us rooting 'hoorah!'.
The ending certainly overdid this aspect, gloriying the verdict of freedom. All of it is done well and it makes its point, but its glorified in a way that tries to suck us into its sympathetic nature.
The performances are great, and its a well made film, its just that its typicalness makes it ultimately formulaic. It's a good Spielberg film, but its a one-time thing only. Watch it, forget it, move on.
This review of Amistad (1997) was written by Bruce N on 05 Jan 2014.
Amistad has generally received positive reviews.
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