Imperial Dreams

The 2015 Oscars was a controversial affair. For the first time in over a decade, a cast of all- white performers competed for acting awards.

Next year, expect a slew of honors to recognize diversity.

Meet John Boyega, a future superstar in the making and protagonist of 'Imperial Dreams' – a likely candidate for award season attention.

Actor Michael B. Jordan was previously snubbed a nomination as Oscar Grant in his celebrated performance in Fruitvale Station, a similar film depicting former convicts struggling to reform in an unforgiving American system.

Both films won the Audience Award at the Sundance film festival.

However, Boyega is better, and so too is 'Imperial Dreams'.

Director Malik Vitthal portrays Los Angeles as a city devoid of any hope and opportunities, the bright promising rays of a California sun blotted out by ghettos dilapidated with poverty.

Bambi (Boyega) is a recently released gangster, devoted to living an ethical lifestyle for his young son Day (Ethan and Justin Coach). As he struggles to find work, he attempts to make a living as a writer, finding solace in his words to distract him from illegal persuasions of his past.

Badgered by his Uncle Shrimp (Glenn Plummer, excellent and reserved like a coiled snake, ready to strike with a venomous bite), Bambi is kicked out of the house unless he makes a drug run to Portland.

With nowhere to live, he is forced to live with his son in his car in a vacant parking lot.

He's stalked by detectives Gill (Sufe Bradshaw) and Hernandez (Maximiliano Hernandez), who are eager to pounce and arrest him after any misstep.

The trials and tribulations are predictable, and are similar to Will Smith vehicle 'The Pursuit of Happiness', but the low-budget production gives the film gritty realism and heart.

The movie belongs to Boyega. We feel his frustration with each failure, the struggle etching his face with pain and frustration. You root for his character, and his shortcomings break your heart.

Director Vitthal based the movie a true story. He screened the movie for the films inspiration and he hated the movie, but loved it after watching the audiences positive reaction at Sundance.

The film is scheduled for a December release weeks before Star Wars Episode 7, which also stars John Boyega.

Anticipate the actors name headlining movie posters in the future..

He's that good.

Saw this at the Leiden film festival 2014 (LIFF), where is was selected as part of the American Indie Competition. It offers a depressing view on what an ex-convict can expect immediately after his release. He can try to choose for an honest future, but all circumstances work against such a resolution. It is too easy to fall back on less honest work that however brings easy money on the short term. All the people around him, be it his wife, uncle, or mother, make it very difficult to stay on the right track. All this is demonstrated very well. We soon get the feeling what his dilemma's are all about.

I have only one minus point, but relatively trivial. The relationship between father and son is heart warming and powerful, but I have my doubts it's for real: normally a son would soon be fed up with moving around, and he should have protested at least once. I'm not sure this is realistic.

The actors performed very well and were convincing in their respective roles, even the less sympathetic ones were allowed to grow on us. Recidivism is is very well explained. From our comfy chair we can easily talk about starting with a clean slate, to continue along the line of the fresh starting position offered after being released from prison. The circumstances, however, do not always cooperate. Showing this in itself is a major contribution of this movie. It presented us a window on a part of society outside our view.

John Boyega stars as Bambi. He's fresh out of prison and, for the sake of his child, determined not to get sucked back into the old life of crime but you know how it is; when you're around the same people and places you were before, how are you going to change?

There's a reason this films poster image is Boyega. He is this film's biggest asset. He shows once again that he has charisma to burn, and he turns in a well-played portrayal of a young man who could easily be a leader, the man the other criminals would turn to, but a man who knows where that life leads.

The problem with the movie is that it is trying to do way too much. And the film does not have the time or the insight to deliver on all of those parts.

There's a strand straight out of a Ken Loach movie about how hard it is for a person to get a job and go legit when they're an ex-con.

There's a part right out of a John Singleton movie about the lure of violence in a community which is offered few other ways to make money.

There's a sub-plot right out of movies like "Good Will Hunting" about a man from the wrong side of the tracks with a talent that could get him out. (Bambi is an aspiring writer, recording life in the 'hood.) There's another strand that is all about the impact of environment on a child, and the efforts of a father to get the child away from all of that.

Any one (okay, maybe two) of these parts could have made a great movie but there's a feeling that writer/director Malik Vithal poured everything he wanted to say into this, his debut feature, and ended up saying too much, but not enough.

It's a shame because the direction is top notch. We get a real sense of the neighbourhood, and the walls that have been built around its citizens, not just the ones in prison.

John Boyega embodies this true character in every sense of the word. The acting from everyone, even the child acted as Ethan and Justin Coach. Acting and writing to me in a film is the most important because if it's done right, it can draw you in so much that you don't even realize you're watching the film, but feel as if you're living it. In this film, I absolutely felt that. The film in it's core is about how far a father will go to give his son a good honest life, even if that means going down the harder roads to get there. I don't have a great relationship with my father, so watching a film about a dad working so hard to be there for his son made me upset but that's because it was done so well and was so believable; which I loved. The story is a sad one as it's the struggle of a father who just got out of jail and has very limited options on how to get his life on track. You watch a man who tries so hard to get on track but because of the messed up system, it's almost impossible. I would compare this film to The Pursuit of Happiness(Yes that's how it's spelled) but I personally enjoyed this more. Ironically, this felt more real to me than The Pursuit of Happiness even though that's based on a real story. This film was so much more raw, real, and held up by acting more so than story that it's so incredible to watch. The film, being a drama, of course, is very sad. With everyone who worked on the film they really did a great job. It's a perfectly paced film and exactly what you would expect. Absolutely give this film a watch and hold high expectations because it's an incredible film. Thank you John Boyega!

This movie is something I haven't seen since the 90's. This genre of movie started with Boyz 'n the Hood and continued with Menace to Society, South Central, Juice and others. They were movies that chronicled the gritty and real life of the hood.

This movie, like its predecessors, is so bitter sweet. It's bitter because of the morose almost hopeless nature of the film that just weighs heavily on your conscious and your heart. But it's sweet because it was done so well... almost too well.

This is a movie that I have to be in the proper mood to watch. This is not a movie for mindless entertainment. No, I have to mentally and emotionally prepare myself for what I'm about to see. I have to do mental and emotional exercises because it's that heavy.

For those who are unaware of the difficulty of an ex-con trying to reform and go straight then watch Imperial Dreams. Bambi (John Boyega) is a felon that wants to now lead a normal life raising his son. He's met with one social or legal obstacle after the other in his daily struggle to be right and do right. It is an emotional roller coaster for the viewer as you witness his daily grind.

Boyega was good. Glenn Plummer--playing Bambi's uncle and no stranger to these types of movies--was fantastic. The script and plot was fairly simple but so poignant. Like I said, a heavy movie, so please sit in a reinforced seat before watching.