Whereas movies are made with the sole purpose of entertaining audiences, there are those select handful of films that aim to go beyond the value of being just satisfying pieces of entertainment with them carrying a strong political message, as well as serving as a reflection of our times. Some fact-based stories are compelling enough on their own right, that they make for genuinely compelling dramatization of actual events. That very much happens to be the case with Shaka King's Judas And The Black Messiah, with the film serving as being an explosively effective dramatization of the events surrounding the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther party and its chairman Fred Hampton. Though serving as being a reflection of a past era of civil rights, the story behind Judas And The Black Messiah feels both timely and relevant with the film working to maximum effect as being a powerful stamp on the combating racial injustice. For both its director and main star Daniel Kaluuya, the film proves to be a major triumph for the main duo with the film being brilliantly-acted and directed with a genuine feeling of authenticity and energy behind telling its thrilling story of the revolutionary political organization and its fearless leader.
Inspired by true events and real life figures, the story for Judas And The Black Messiah focuses on FBI informant William O' Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) infiltrating the Black Panther Party during their Illinois chapter after being offered a plea deal in exchange for gathering information on Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). The story of Fred Hampton and The Black Panther movement is one that's certainly worth telling, and is being touched upon at the ideal time given the current rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement mirroring that of the Panthers. With a story like Judas And The Black Messiah, the film was always going to hinge on the strength of its main star and their collaboration with the films director in bringing the latters vision to the big screen. With both Shaka King at the helm and Kaluuya in the main role as Hampton, their combined talents result in a film that's intensely engaging to watch from start to finish. Judas And The Black Messiah is a film that's powerfully told as well as feeling poignant in showing how one man dared to challenge the status quo, while showing how corrupt the FBI under the management of J. Edgar Hoover was in their efforts to dismantle Hampton's organization with them also committing an act of murder under the guise of serving the law. The films story is engrossing from start to finish with its overall presentation being one that's fearless in what it desires to show along with the message it wishes to convey. The film isn't just an extremely well-told and executed story, it serves a being a powerful experience for audiences that's absorbing along with being informative. Coming out of a year that was largely devoid of films, Judas And The Black Messiah is a gem of a film that demands to be seen and reflected on.
When it comes to the performances of the cast, the acting in Judas And The Black Messiah reaches levels of being terrific work with everyone playing their roles with a clear amount of enthusiasm and devotion to their characters. There isn't one performance shown that's lacking with everyone bringing their A game to the project. The strongest work comes from both Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield in the films key roles as Black Panther party leader Fred Hampton, and FBI informant William O' Neil. Kaluuya is fantastic and utterly compelling to watch in the part of fast-talking Hampton with the actor channeling the latters level of energy and charisma. When Kaluuya's on the screen, audiences can't take their eyes off him as his performance commands their attention. Along with Kaluuya's performance, Stanfield delivers an equally impressive performance as career criminal turned FBI informant O' Neil with Stanfield managing to hold his own and engage the audience when Kaluuya's not dominating the screen. Stanfield does a fantastic job of playing someone whose conflicted with meeting the terms of his deal with the FBI, which keeps him out of jail by providing valuable intel on Hampton with Stanfield also feeling a bit of loyalty to the Black Panther party he's infiltrating in addition to opposing the FBI's desire to murder Hampton in an effort to blunt the organizations movement. Both Hampton and Stanfield give top notch performances that command the audiences attention, along with making them understand both men's situations and perspectives. Dominique Fishback impresses and gives a strong performance as Hampton's girlfriend and Black Panther member Deborah, who at times keeps Fred grounded while pointing out how he can better get his message across without tearing down other black people who may disagree with his methods. She showcases surprising amounts of emotion in playing her character with both her chemistry and Kaluuya's being spot-on with the audience buying into their relationship. Her character shows strength as being a strong black female character in the story with much of it being attributed to Fishback's performance. Jesse Plemons is also likable as O'Neil's shady and untrustworthy FBI Special Agent Handler Roy Mitchell. Plemons does well with playing an FBI agent who struggles to do his job correctly, but receives intense pressure from his boss to find more information on Hampton through O'Neil with him ultimately participating in the latters murder. Plemon's also does well with portraying his character as being foolishly misguided in what he was taught regarding both racism as well as the Black Panther party in general with him considering the latter to be equally bad to that of the KKK. Martin Sheen delivers a scene-stealing performance as head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover whose determined to stop both Hampton as well as the Black Panther Party from gaining further influence on society due to blatant racism. The rest of the cast give notable performances with Ashton Sanders and Algee Smith as Black Panther members Jimmy Palmer and Jake Winters, Darrell Britt-Gibson as co-founder of the Black Panther Party Chapter in Chicago Bobby Rush, Lil Rel Howery as undercover FBI agent Wayne, Dominigue Thorne as Black Panther member Judy Harmon, and Amari Cheatom as Rod Collins, leader of the Chicago gang Crowns. The cast for Judas And The Black Messiah as a whole is strong and full of talented actors who turn in fantastic performances, which ultimately add to both the believability and realism of the story. The film wouldn't be as powerful as it comes across in delivering its message if it didn't have the strength of its cast backing it who play their parts with dedication as well as utter devotion in telling the story. As solid as the cast for Judas And The Black Messiah comes across as being, it's the performances of both Kaluuya and Stanfield that make the film compelling to watch with both characters serving as being the heart of the story.
The movies directing by Shaka King is surprisingly well-crafted and boasts confidence in telling its story. He does a great job of setting up the stories mood while allowing the actors enough freedom to play their roles effectively. King gives the stories time period a look and feel that's authentic, and instantly draws audiences back to the films 1960's setting in Southside Chicago. The films costume and set-design are both top-notch and go hand-in-hand in letting the audience become transported back to the era of the Black Panther movement. The cinematography is well-shot with the camera work beautifully replicating the visuals of 1960's Chicago with the film appropriately using closeups to capture the look and reactions on actors faces. One of the more interesting aspects that the film takes with its cinematography is the differentiating of the colors used between the scenes involving the Black Panther group and those involving the Federal Bureau Of Investigation. For the scenes involving the Black Panther party, the background carries a darkish green color that makes their presence more lively with the scenes at FBI headquarters carrying a brownish color in contrast to the Panthers with a touch of coldness added. The film also relies heavily on many scenes in the script taking place at night with those scenes being well-filmed and appropriately lighted. The editing gives the film a pacing that's slow-burning but feels absorbing with the story keeping the audience engaged as it unfolds. The music by Mark Isham works well with the jazzy tone fitting with both the time period and tone of the story. In terms of overall presentation, Judas And The Black Messiah is a well put together and masterfully crafted historical drama with Shaka King demonstrating strong craftsmanship as a filmmaker, along with a firm handling of the story. Considering that this is King's first feature film after directing a series of shorts, he does a remarkable job of helming a story with a historical setting while making it both a powerful and hard-hitting experience for audiences.
Written by both King and Will Berson with a story by Kenny and Keith Lucas, the screenplay for Judas And The Black Messiah tackles a wide variety of themes pertaining to racism, police harassment, activism, reform, and fighting against oppression with the story being shaped to focus on the perspectives of Fred Hampton and William O' Neil. With the former, the film explores the last year of his life as leader of the Chicago Black Panther party while exploring his relationship with Deborah. With O'Neil's character, the film opens and closes with clips from O' Neil's final interview regarding his role in the Black Panther movement/ Hampton's murder. The latters character arc in the story serves as being the heart of the film with O' Neil shown to be forced into gathering Intel on Hampton, while also being conflicted as he favors the Panther's intentions to improve the lives of blacks. The script does a fine job of balancing out both characters dynamics with the film also touching on the FBI's efforts to find any legitimate reason to halt the momentum of the Black Panther movement, with them even going to extreme measures such as imprisoning Hampton in order to do so before ultimately deciding on plotting his murder. What the writing does well is show the character of O'Neil becoming more conflicted with following the FBI's orders to infiltrate the movement with the more closer he grew to both Hampton and the organization as a whole. The script for Judas And The Black Messiah is well-rounded with the film breaking up into three core storylines regarding Hampton, O'Neil, and J. Edgar with strong side characters such as Deborah and FBI agent Roy Mitchell helping to flesh out the main characters in the story in a way that humanizes and makes the audience connect with them. The script for Judas has a great deal that it wants to say and does so in a way that feels natural and not overly preachy despite audiences getting that assumption judging by the films title. The screenplay is wordy but much of its dialogue is meaningful, and consists of lines similar to the title of the picture. The film highlights both the humanity and work that Hampton achieved in the final year of his life, while showing the perspective of his own Judas. Like the Netflix film The Trial Of The Chicago 7 that was released prior, both films play with themes and explore an era of activism that mirrors today's acts, though Black Messiah's handling of its themes and parallels feels less forced than the latter film. As far as scriptwriting goes, the screenplay for Judas And The Black Messiah is brilliant and well-deserving of its Oscar nomination in that category.
As a piece of entertainment, Judas And The Black Messiah is compelling work and ultimately keeps the audience engaged from start to finish. As a film that's meant to be informative and thought-provoking, it packs a powerful punch with its story desiring to be both a glorifying biopic of Hamilton, while simultaneously telling O' Neil's side of the story with the latter carrying a slight edge in regards to which of the two persons the story tilts towards with the film opening and closing with the real persons testimony in his final interview before tragically committing suicide. The film effectively shows how the U.S government both wrongfully and willingly labeled the Black Panther Party to be a national threat solely because of their stances on racial liberation, social, and economic justice with their efforts to undo systemic racism that's baked in American society and continues freely today. With all the recent news in the media regarding police brutality and Black Lives Matter, the timing feels perfect for the filmmakers to bring this story to the screen in an effort to show how the present hasn't really changed that much from the past with the government still attempting to control the population through the use of methods regarding both racism and capitalism. As a film that aspires to deliver that message without hammering it over the audiences head, Judas And The Black Messiah succeeds in doing so with it surprisingly enormously in both its style and quality in regards to storytelling. With the film, Shaka King establishes himself as being a promising young filmmaker with a strong skill for storytelling with both Kaluuya and Stanfield giving career-defining performances that bring their real-life counterparts to life while doing them justice. It may be longer than it needed to be with audiences being slightly confused with what message the film is trying to convey with the stories juggling of both main characters arcs, but for those who wish to learn more about the Black Panther organization as well as those unlearning all the misleading bits of information they were taught previously about the revolutionary group, Judas And The Black Messiah is a film to see, experience, and ultimately learn from.
Final Verdict: For history buffs and those wishing to learn more about black history, Judas And The Black Messiah is a must see film that will unquestionably fulfill audiences desires in that regard.
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