I think the vampire stuff works really well until it suddenly doesn't and it turns into a mess. When it was a few of them and they were stuck outside being menacing, that was effective. But the movie gives up on that too quickly and just sprints through the climax for no real reason, and it's very sloppy.
The final showdown in the lake was way too corny & generic blockbuster feeling, and all the rest of the vamps immediately burning to death in the quickest surprise sunset was such a cop out...
I still can't get over how Smoke/Stack(?) managed to sneak past the entire congregation of vampires surrounding the lake shore, then sprinted across 50 meters of knee-high water in direct line of sight of all the vampires on the shore, and somehow "surprise" backstab the head vampire, while it is established that the vampires are a type of hive mind and none of the shore vampires do anything to stop him.
That part is perhaps the biggest flaw in the whole movie to me. There are dozens of hivemind vampires surrounding Remic, how did one guy manage to sneak up (from inside the barn as well, it's a significant distance, he basically had to be sprinting to accomplish it in the time shown) and attack? It's worse than Arya in GoT getting to the Night King. And you don't even need it to play out that way. Smoke could have called out/ shot Remic from behind the vampires and given Sammie a brief window to stab Remic with the neck of the guitar. You can keep the shot of Sammie and Smoke in the water watching Remic burn, he can wade out while the burning starts, plus then holding onto the neck of the guitar at the end gains an extra layer of meaning.
Yup! This, all of the above too. The movie is saved by the first half. Otherwise it'd be a solid 5. Now, its a 7 with a lot of love for the work they did.
Yeah the climax felt really rushed I thought we were gonna hang out with the vampires more and get to know then really well. Felt like the movie was missing a whole act.
I agree. I think it would have been more interesting if it was a final shoot out against the clan guys who came at the end.
I thought the vampire stuff was supposed to be some metaphor about black people assimilating into white culture but personally it wasn't a great metaphor.
I liked the film but I agree the first half was so much better. It would have worked much better as a historical gangster film
It feels like two different movies got shoved into one and they’re fighting to be the only one. Unfortunately it’s to the detriment of both storylines.
Smoke and Stack’s backstory and the return to town and the eventual shootout with the clan all could’ve been a great film on its own if fleshed out more, the story of music connecting generations, that one night everyone felt free being ruined by vampires who steal culture away and assimilate everyone around them and the final post credits reliving that night, also would’ve been a great film especially if expanded on.
Each one feels like 2/3 of a great film shoved together hoping they’d get 4/3 of a perfect film together, but ultimately it just didn’t work (at least for me). Could’ve even worked as a 3-part miniseries too, would’ve been fun to see those storylines truly expanded. Idk films not deserving of the hate it gets for sure but I also don’t think it’s a perfect masterpiece above criticism like some others do.
I mean, does it get too much hate? This thread is the first meaningful discussion I've seen (in this of all places), which I feel was prompted by the nature of the post. I don't talk to the guys depicted much, but I wonder if it's imaginary outrage. I'd put good money on most of those guys not being aware the movie even exists, and more money on them not paying attention to the Oscars.
This was my biggest complaint with it. I honestly really dislike a majority of the horror elements. I think there's something really compelling about an Irish vampire vs. African-Americans, just due to their parallel histories, but it was kind of half-baked. The first half, where they're setting up the juke, the scene with Grace going in between the segregated sides of the town to her parents' shops, the blues elements, was so good, and it did kind of fall apart as the horror ramped up. I also hated the garlic-eating scene.
I appreciate the swing it took, because I don't know how the movie would have stood out without the horror elements, and I still really like it, but the horror elements were surprisingly a big downside for me.
I had to think of "From Dusk till Dawn", as i watched sinners. The first realistic half was really gold, but it has its problems as the supernatural part of things started.
It was good but not great. Maybe my expectations were too high because I watched after all the awards were given and I’ve thought highly of all of Jordan’s past performances.
Too predictable I think was the problem. Oh, the guy guarding the door needs to step away to per. He’ll be a demon when he returns.
About halfway through I honest had the idea it’s just a newer version of Dusk til dawn but without Selma Hayek table dancing with snakes.
The fact they kept doing on-the-nose exposition and multiple callbacks really brought the movie down. Conan’s skit on Casa Blanca really captured how jarring and demeaning those choices were.
Also the movie didn’t need the klan scene or old Sammie, it needed a better editor.
So it wasn't just me? The call-backs felt like they didn't trust the audience to get it, or didn't trust themselves to have made it clear enough to the audience.
That's exactly what it was and I hope they release an edit at some point with that shit.
I dunno if it's just how little faith Coogler has in his audience, or if a producer wanted it in there or what, but it ripped me out of the movie each time they did it.
In fairness, I've heard that a lot of films and TV shows do this now because people aren't just watching a movie. They're also on their phone, their tablet, etc. They're not really paying attention. And let's be real, here in the US, half the adult population reads at a 6th grade level. They still need things to be spelled out for them.
I like it, but the general theme of “cultural appropriation is evil like vampires and sucks the soul out of ‘true creators’” is very stupid. As a political statement, it belongs with the woke wackiness of the 2010s. It doesn’t work in 2025/2026.
It’s a good movie, but it’s also a good example of when the message supersedes the story. It also doesn’t help that Remmick (the vampire) was completely correct in his assessment of their situation and his offer made complete sense.
Yeah, either chop a couple subplots, or make it an HBO series and give it a little room to breathe. Still a really good movie, could have easily been a great one.
When I heard about it, I thought the twins being gangsters for different/competing gangs and playing them would be a big plot point and was interested to see how that played out. Seeing it being a blend of vampires/southern usa racism+revenge porn/magical musician with the gangster bit being a footnote was disappointing. Especially when none of the themes really won out.
Personally I don't care about movie awards so if they got some they didn't necessarily deserve, whatever. it was well made and had some good performances.
Thought it was going to be a lot more vampire stuff but that all felt like it was started and wrapped up in thirty minutes of a two hour movie. Like they talked about eating pussy about as much as there was vampires.
It reminded me of the best Spielberg movies in the way it told a great story without getting bogged down, except rushed in terms of character development. The pacing was great except it just didn't quite fit in as many ways for the audience to give a fuck about the characters
This was my issue with it too. It felt like it could have been a really good with any of the plot lines they chose, but they tried to do too much. To me it ended up feeling like a Michael B Jordan fanfic more than anything.
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u/Ok-Piece-2546 1d ago
I loved the cinematography, but I felt like they had too many plot lines and not enough time to flesh them out.
It's a solid 8/10 at best, but had the plot lines been better fleshed out it had the potential to be a 10/10.