Selma: Average Guy Movie Review

Selma tells the story of Martin Luther King Jnr. and his involvement in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches. The movie stars David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jnr., Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Common as James Bevel (the organiser of the marches), Tim Roth as Alabama Governor George Wallace and Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King. Oyelowo's performance is excellent, you can really see how hard he worked to capture King's essence. Not only does Oyelowo sound like King, he brings his gravitas and the weight of his words to the screen. Unfortunately King's speeches had to be rewritten for the movie because the Martin Luther King Jnr. estate had licensed the movie rights to his Civil Rights speeches to Dreamworks and Warner Bros. for an as yet unproduced biopic. Director Ava DuVernay wrote alternative speeches that are said to evoke the historic ones without breaching copyright.

Selma has been praised for its accurate depiction of what African Americans suffered in their fight to truly gain their rights as citizens of the United States of America. The violence and aggression they faced not only at the hands of other citizens but by law enforcement as well, is astounding and shocking to watch. The level of violence in the movie is necessary without being gratuitous. The State Police were used to brutally intimidate people in an attempt to prevent the marches from happening. The historical accuracy of the movie however, has been criticised. Especially the portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson as reluctant on the matter of civil rights. President Johnson has been described as "a champion of civil rights legislation and a proactive partner of King". Andrew Young, an activist with the SCLC played by Andre Holland in the movie said the depiction of the relationship between Johnson and King "was the only thing I would question in the movie". Young described their relationship as mutually respectful and that King respected Johnson's political problems. In the movie President Johnson is shown signing an order authorising the FBI to monitor King and other members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). In reality it was US Attorney General Robert Kennedy who signed the order, and he did so before Johnson took office. Kennedy believed one of King's advisors to be a member of the American Communist Party. Ava DuVernay defended these inaccuracies saying the movie is "not a documentary. I'm not a historian. I'm a storyteller."

Despite its inaccuracies, Selma is still a fitting tribute to King and all those who suffered in the pursuit of their right to vote. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times described Selma as "an important history lesson that never feels like a lecture". This movie does go a long way to show how far the human race has come in terms of equality and it will continue to do so for generations to come.

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Jason Bourne: Spoiler Review

I don't usually write spoiler filled reviews because I don't see the point. But considering my not so positive review of Jason Bourne, one of the most highly anticipated movies of Summer 2016, I thought it might be worth trying to explain why I reached the verdict I did. If you haven't seen this movie stop reading because there are spoilers ahead. Click here to see the spoiler free review. The movie begins with Bourne in Greece. He's laying low, making money by competing in underground fights and still struggling with his past. He lacks purpose which is making him miserable. Nicky Parsons on the other hand is busy hacking the CIA in order to expose their black ops programs. So far so good. But when Nicky finds something out about Jason's (or should I say David's) past, she heads to Greece to find him. Unfortunately her activities have drawn the attention of CIA Agent Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander), a cyber ops specialist who begins to track her. Using a ...

American Assassin | Average Guy Movie Review

When his girlfriend is killed in a terrorist attack, Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) goes in search of vengeance. His activities soon draw the attention of the CIA and Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) who decides to recruit Rapp. Kennedy sends him to the Orion Group - a black ops unit - where he'll be trained by Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton), a former Navy Seal and the team leader. On Rapp's first mission, Orion are tasked with finding missing plutonium and the American (Taylor Kitsch) who has it, a man Hurley trained. The movie is based on the 11th book in the series by Vince Flynn. I can't say how closely it follows the book, but this is one of those spy movies where the spies do very little spying before shooting up the place, combined with a typical trainer/trainee story in which the trainer continues to doubt the trainee until he proves himself in the third act. As a generic action movie it's fine, the fight scenes are well choreographed and O...

A Million Ways To Die In The West | Average Guy Movie Review | Movierob's Genre Grandeur

For Movierob 's Genre Grandeur on Western Crossovers, I am looking at Seth MacFarlane's guide to surviving the old west for all those who aren't Clint Eastwood, A Million Ways To Die In The West. It follows Albert Stark (MacFarlane), a sheep herder on the frontier who seems to be the only person that sees the west for what it is; a dangerous, disease infested, unforgiving shit hole. "Hell, this was Miss America in 1880... ..."Holy Shit!" After his girlfriend dumps him, Albert prepares to leave his hometown of Old Stump for San Francisco. But his plans are interrupted by the arrival of Anna (Charlize Theron), who shows him how to enjoy life. Unfortunately for Albert, Anna is married to Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson), one of the most dangerous outlaws in the territory and he's none too happy about Albert spending time with his wife! The story for A Million Ways To Die In The West began as a joke between MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Welles...

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