Review of Murderball (2005) by Alex W — 21 Jun 2013

MTV is a studio with a general attitude amongst the media which reflects crude language and immature behaviour, and since that's the studio that takes it upon themselves to finance Murderball, that makes it utterly perfect. The approach they take to Murderball is absolutely perfect because it displays the touching comedic side to the people involved and how they can still have fun with themselves without feeling like inferiors. That's the thing about Murderball, it looks at people with disabilities as humans rather than as damaged humans, and it displays a determination within them that's stronger than the determination of many people nowadays.

The people chronicled in Murderball are heroic human beings, and the audience engages with them in terms of sympathies as well as the fact that we can get along with them no problem because they act no different as human beings and take the same approach as everyone else, such as when Mark Zupan points ours how he doesn't want people to sympathise with him merely because he's in a wheelchair, and the angry temperaments the characters have are not injury related, but raw human emotion. That's one of the key things Murderball achieves, it bridges the gap formed by society between those who can walk and those who are wheelchair-ridden. Murderball is sympathetic and humourous, so the atmosphere is absolutely perfect.

On the side of the story that looks into the sport of Murderball, the film is inspiring and rich with the heart of a sports story which is emphasised through classic sports film norms including a mix of strong editing and energetic music.

Murderball chronicles a diverse range of real players and treats them as finely as possible with sophistication and the respect they deserve and emphasises what's important: their determination and fighting spirit which don't play second fiddle to the sentimentality of the insightful look at the characters, and that makes it a sophisticated and powerful story that isn't burdened with excessive attempts to tug at the heart strings. The sports side of Murderball is excellent and inspirational and has a terrific heart to it, and the directional work of Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro deserves absolute immense praise for his work.

Murderball beats out When We Were Kings as the greatest documentary I've ever seen, and it's one I would encourage any sports fanatic, medical student or troubled human being to witness, as well as anyone who generally enjoys an excellent film. This is the finest movie MTV have ever worked on, and the people should be honoured to have their story told so excellently.