Judas and the Black Messiah

So let's start with the good. The cinematography and period setting is top notch and really puts you in the era. The acting is very good and helps with holding together a porous story.

Now for the bad. I really really wanted to love this movie. But...If you're looking for a biopic of Fred Hampton, this ain't it. Plain and simple. If you're looking for a movie that tells you more than you already knew about an understated important figure in black history, again this ain't it.

What you will get is a movie about an FBI informant who's motives are questionable at best, that happens to have Fred Hampton featured in it. If you're not versed in the names of people in Hampton's inner circle, you will be confused and have a hard time remembering who's who, as characters come and go constantly, with virtually no character development.

The movie is entertaining for the most part as the acting is quite good. But the story itself is all over the place and some scenes are longer than they need to be. You won't know much more about the great Fred Hampton, than you did before you watched this movie. It's too bad because I was waiting for this one.

People will trip over themselves to give this positive marks, but as a student of history and someone who loves a good drama in a period piece, this movie missed a great opportunity for sure.

I haven't written a review in awhile, but felt compelled to do so because numerous reviews complaining about the movie as some sort of failed Fred Hampton biopic... The movie is titled JUDAS and the Black Messiah, in which we should all be able to discern who's whom, and understand why the movie isn't just about Fred Hampton, so all of you with your fake woke-ness can stop talking about how shallow this movie is or how they didn't do enough, and then counterintuitively discredit this accomplishment of a film about an important part of the U.S. history!

The FBI, led by J. Edgar Hoover, is focused on taking down the Black Panther Party and other leftist movements. Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) pushes car thief Bill O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) to be his informant and to infiltrate the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. It is led by charismatic Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) who is trying to improve Chicago and battle the racist police force.

There is an obvious connection to today's events. It's of its time and the present-day time. It's definitely taking a point of view but one can't really argue against it. For sure, it's slanted. Roy Mitchell is the key to finding balance but Jesse Plemons doesn't give him enough depth. He has one fascinating talk about Emmett Till. That's an interesting road to go for that character but it feels like he stops short. He turns into just another callous racist cop when he could be deeper. As for the other characters, Stanfield is the standout and Kaluuya is the saint. Both are great in their roles. This is a very compelling story and its relevance makes it more powerful.

When I saw "The Trial of the Chicago 7" less than a year ago, I commented that there was likely a more interesting movie to be made about Fred Hampton. Well, here it is! This film avoids all the traps of traditional biopics. Its tight timeline and electric performances distinguished it from similar stories that wind up feeling like nothing more than historical dramatization. I knew how this movie would end. I knew the basic story of the main character. And yet I hung on every moment. Kaluuya is that good, and Stanfield is that good. More importantly, the filmmakers are smart enough to figure out that this could be a story of betrayal, advocacy, loyalty, and fear...something that transcended one person's story. What results is something both universal and uniquely relevant to the present day. This movie deserves whatever awards it wins.

Amazing acting n top notch cinematography.

From the beginning and as the synopsis suggest, we as audiences are already informed about the ending but the real deal is the way it happened in reality, that really shook me up man.

This movie aint par with The Trial of the Chicago 7 as far as entertainment is concerned but it is definitely very informative and made me read about the trials n tribulations the African Americans faced. These fellas are the true champions of everything in life.