Selma Review

2014 in film

Dec 23

Preview

PG13: For Disturbing Thematic Material Including Violence, A Suggestive Moment, and Brief Strong Language

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during my adolescence. Outdated language and talk might be seen in these old posts. Since then, my thoughts and values have grown. This review is being presented as they were originally written, grammatical errors and typos and all. Because to do otherwise would be that same as claiming this growth has never existed.

BACKSTORY: December 21st 2014, I’m sick, I don’t go to school but instead attend a night screening of Selma.

STORYLINE: The unforgettable true story chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in
President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his brothers and sisters in the
movement prompted change that forever altered history.

REVIEW: Selma is an amazing film that breaks brand new ground by being an epically directed Hollywood distributed biopic that never loses itself to cliched Hollywood tropes. What makes this amazing is that the film is directed by an African American woman, whos career consist of directed episodes of Scandal, but I’ll be damned she doesn’t direct another film. Ava DuVernay’s direction feels as if it was a combination of Spielberg and Zemekis that represents both power and fear in it’s characters expression. When the film began, it started off as your generic biopic, then by the third minute the film literally jump scares you by surprise. As the film goes on, you’re gripped by how intense the civil rights movement can be without cookie cutting the violent acts. It is also powerful how hard was for African Americans to resist violence from police which is a huge chunk of the film. Think about the intense sequences being as intense as 12 Years A Slave, but you’re mostly going to say fu#% the police than fu#% the slave masters. But the true moving force of the film is David Oyelowo whose Martin Luther King portrayal never gets over the top but gets very realistic. It’s not only the actions, but the dialect Oyelowo gives is so closely matched to the real Luther King. The whole ensemble of the film all have powerful performances (yes including Common, whose original song shared with John Legend is as powerful as the movie). Never was there any moments the film felt slow, especially for it’s run time.

LAST STATEMENT: Selma is a triumphant no hold barred and amazingly directed biopic, with a gripping depth in the story and strong performances all around especially from David Oyelowo.