Review of Che: Part One (2008) by Ruhan R — 20 Dec 2011

I guess critics of this movie would accuse it's fans of romanticizing Che, but whether one idealizes the revolutionary legend or not is not a huge factor in the quality of this film. Sure, one who has love for Che and what he stood for will find this movie more appealing, but even people who don't think he deserves his legendary status can't deny that Soderbergh put together a powerful film.

Sets, costumes and props were well taken care of in the production of this movie, everything looked absolutely brilliant and it really aided with making this movie look authentic. The combat scenes were brilliant, Soderbergh did a good job of capturing the essence of the guerilla warfare in Cuba.

The performances were pretty good overall. There were a few weak performers here and there, but Benicio Del Toro made a great Che and Javier Bardem was a good Fidel Castro too. The script really captured Che's character, from his immense passion for revolution & liberty to his staunch sense of justice, I really feel like the icon was properly honoured.

I liked how the script fluctuated between his later days and his rise to fame. I didn't think the Black & White effect was entirely necessary, but it was a good base idea. Overall I felt this was a powerful film that was expertly executed, really looking forward to watching the second part.