Watch Malcolm X For Free

Please don't spend money on this.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Denzel Washington is a swell, pure gold actor, he can save and grace any movie he is in, and yes, he is great here, but this endless, unimaginable 3 hour and a half mammoth kills all his endeavors and assets burying them under a lead stone sheet of pretentiousness, boredom, and what is the worst offender, a very heavyweight preachy tone which becomes more and more acidic sour and then simply makes you cringe and run for some lightweight family comedy. What is also wrong? Bad pacing, very badly conceived flashback scenes and a very very tedious plot. Generally, such films are often a victim of their own weight - they sink like a marble brick, and they are too wordy. Like here, it is the same endless amount of smart speeches and oratories, but after two hours you feel a strong desire to switch to Mr. Bean or Benny Hill. Malcolm X was not a good man and he fell a victim of his own faith, we know that, and what he preached was wrong. So, no matter how much Spike Lee and Denzel tried, they failed to make us like this cold, ruthless, icy man of no sorrow. I felt no sorrow either for him or for his work, and the documentary footage of great late Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr only proved how much better this Baptist minister was than that loud and brash preacher. The film only hit the nail on the right head

it escapes from each desired verdicts. or definitions. not only for the admirable performance of Denzel Washington but for the inspiration of Spike Lee to explore, with grace and precision, a not real comfortable way of a symbol of American XX century history. and the result is great. for the nuances and for the science to give a realistic portrait of society more than of man. for the admirable courage to not build a statue to a hero but to show the evolution of a honest, vulnerable man. for give the picture of an American society for who the radical positions are result of a huge pressure. and to use the shadows for a clear image of a leader and his powerful convictions.

Right from the opening credits in which an American flag slowly burns to form a letter 'X', this biography of the title human rights activist from Spike Lee is riveting viewing throughout. The film's strongest asset is Denzel Washington's lead performance; he undergoes several character progressions throughout as the film documents his whole transformation from convicted criminal to angry protester to revered public figure. The film benefits from some magnificent editing too with well-melded, dreamlike childhood flashbacks, a clever cutaway in which Washington imagines throw a cake in a condescending young man's face and some very deliberate cutting in a scene in which he looks up the definitions of 'black' and 'white' in the dictionary (probably the most potent part of the entire movie). The Oscar nominated costumes (zoot suits in particular) are great too. What does not quite work so well though is Lee's choice to unabashedly celebrate the title character. The sentimental epilogue seems ill-judged. Also, given how callous Malcolm is shown at times (coldly telling a sympathetic young white woman that she cannot do anything to help his cause) and how close-minded he is on certain issues, he always seems like more a deeply flawed man with his heart in the right place than a leader worthy of Lee's celebratory treatment. Never to mind, the film is engaging the whole way through, regardless of how one views the title character, with nary a boring moment to be had - which is a quite remarkable achievement for a that film clocks in at over three hours in length.

Malcolm X serves as great companion to the original text. The autobiography provides an extremely detailed overview of Malcolm's life but lacks any feeling. The film corrects this by injecting emotion into the story. Spike Lee creates a narrative that is easier for the viewer to follow and relate with Malcolm. However, the film had to sacrifice a lot of information provided in the autobiography. Many parts that I thought were important, such as Malcolm's family, were left out in the interest of time. Even then the film is around 3 hours long and feels more like two films in one. This might have been done by Lee to emphasize the change in Malcolm's life before and after prison. In the first part of the film, Lee applies a soft focus to the camera. The soft focus clouds the screen and might have been a representation of Malcolm's unclear thoughts about life before he went to prison. Another example of Lee's cinematography is when Malcolm submits to Islam while in prison. Malcolm is completely covered by shadows with a light piercing through the cell bars. This could represent the moment Malcolm ridded himself of his sinful identity (shadows) and embraced Allah (light). The acting in the film was phenomenal, especially Denzel Washington's performance as Malcolm X. Washington not only looked the part but seemed to fully portray the essence of Malcolm. When I read the novel, Washington was exactly how I imagined Malcolm X to look and act. My only other issue with the movie was the final scene with the schoolchildren and Nelson Mandela. While it was interesting, it felt disjointed from the rest of movie and was distracting. In all the film was great and can definitely stand on its own but I feel the best experience is to pair reading the novel and watching the film.