Movie Review - Sinners

Director: Ryan Coogler
Genre: Horror/ Drama/ Action
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connoll, Delroy Lindo, Omar Benson Miller, Wunmi Mosaku
 
Description: Trying to leave their troubles lives behind, twin brothers (Michael B. Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
 
Review: In 1932, the immaculately dressed twin brothers Smoke and Stack, both portrayed by a fantastic Michael B. Jordan, return from Chicago to their home in Mississippi, where they hope to turn an old sawmill into a juke joint. A place where people can have a few drinks and listen to good live music. Their cousin Sammie is an aspiring musician, so they bring him along. Together with Delta Slims, who plays his music at the train station.

This town is not an easy place to live, since its earth is still blood-soaked from the atrocities of the Ku Klux Klan. But music is everywhere, blues is everywhere. The twins manage to open their juke joint and their opening evening already seems very successful. But after about an hour, when the party in the juke joint reaches its climax, the film suddenly breaks loose. And I won’t spoil much for you, but all hell breaks loose. There is a comparison to a Robert Rodriguez movie that I can definitely see, but “Sinners is much more powerful and grandiose, and the horror cuts much deeper than you think.

“Sinners” is without a doubt one of the best films that 2025 has brought us so far. All praise for director Ryan Coogler!

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Movie Review - Creed III

Director: Michael B. Jordan
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 116 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Michael Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris, Phylicia Rashad, Mila Davis-Kent
 
Description: Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life, but when a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy (Jonathan Majors) resurfaces, the face-off is more than just a fight.

Review: An underdog who keeps fighting despite many setbacks to finally walk away with the win. That is the essence of the ‘Rocky” film series, for which Sylvester Stallone wrote the script in 1976 and himself took on the role of the man also known as The Italian Stallion. Meanwhile, almost fifty years later, “Creed III” is the ninth film in this series and the part in which the torch is finally passed to Adonis Creed.

After the evens of “Creed II”, Adonis is in the prime of his life. He has since retired as a boxer and is living a happy life with his family. One day, he meets his childhood friend and boxing prodigy Damian, who has been released after a long prison sentence. Damian is eager to prove that he deserves a chance in the ring.

Sylvester Stallone has always been the heart of the series, even in the “Creed” movies where he was only a side character. Stallone is not part of “Creed III”, in any shape or form, and you can tell. You miss Stallone. And as a fan of the series, it is unfortunate that he is not featured in the film. But this did give lead actor Michael B. Jordan the chance to debut as a director and a chance to focus fully on Adonis. That certainly worked. “Creed III” is a more raw story and one in which the lines between good and evil in the form of Adonis and Damian are less obvious than in earlier films. That is one of the film’s strengths. Both sides are clearly told, which makes you understand both character’s motives.

One thing I also loved is the beautiful way they deal with Adonis’ daughter Amara, who was born deaf (as we learned in the second “Creed” movie). I love the connection between father and daughter.
I really liked how the boxing matches were designed, even though they shift in style a lot. That is something that bothered me a little bit. They should have stuck with one style to make it more coherent. The close-up shots were fantastic though.

“Creed III” is a good film that further explores the world around Adonis Creed and show him stepping out of Rocky’s shadow. But I did miss Stallone here. Which means, that Adonis Creed is not yet strong enough as a character to make me forget about Rocky Balboa.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Reviews - Creed II

Director: Steven Caple Jr.
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 130 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Florian Munteanu, Brigitte Nielsen, Milo Ventimiglia

Description: Under the tutelage of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), heavyweight contender Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) faces off against Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren).

Review: I don’t think Sylvester Stallone would have thought that his creation Rocky Balboa would still be in a running franchise, fourty years after the first film. He tried to end the franchise twice. In 1990 with “Rocky V” and later in 2006 with “Rocky Balboa”. And that would have been the end, if it weren’t for director Ryan Coogler. He decided to make a spin-off, based on Rocky’s boxing friend Apollo Creed. With son Adonis Creed as the central character. “Creed” was a very successful, strong and beautiful film. It blew new life into the franchise in 2015.
With many sequels, it’s hardly ever better. “Creed II” is no exception, but it’s also a really good film. Here we look back at the 1985 film “Rocky IV”, where Apollo Creed died in the ring, after a match with Russian Ivan Drago. In “Creed II”, Drago returns. With his son Viktor who is also a boxer. And he wants to fight Adonis Creed.
In “Rocky IV”, Drago was portrayed as a stereotypical Russian. He was pretty one-dimensional and it was a fight between the good and patriotic American and the curt, stoic and evil Russian. In “Creed II” they get rid of most of them. This is a more character driven film and there is more story and emotion behind both parties. This is a big plus. It gives the film a more realistic feel and it’s not so black and white.
When it comes to the story, “Creed II” isn’t surprising. Maybe how the final match eventually end, that was pretty cool. But overall it’s predictable. But somehow it didn’t really bother me.
The cast is really strong and director Steve Caple Jr., who stepped in for Ryan Coogler, did a fantastic job. “Creed II” proofs, that the franchise is not dead and that Rocky is still Stallone’s best character to date.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Reviews - Black Panther

Director: Ryan Coogler
Genre: Action/ Adventure
Runtime: 134 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurai, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis

Description: T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T'Challa's father's mistake.

Review: In “Captain America: Civil War” we saw how the king of Wakanda dies, due to a bombing. Wakanda is a country, secluded from the rest of the world. Son T’Challa is the rightful heir to the throne, but there are people that think otherwise. Because of this battle, Wakanda’s well-hidden secrets could be out in the open.
Wakanda looks like a normal third world country, but when you dig deeper you step inside a hidden world. Wakanda is far ahead when it comes to technology and it’s a very advanced nation. Their country is build on land filled with Vibranium (which is also the metal where Captain America’s shield is made of).
Gangster Klaue is one of the only outsiders that ever managed to enter Wakanda, which is also protected by the Black Panther. The second role the Wakanda king has.
Most Marvel film have loads of humor, which works for the most part. “Black Panther” doesn’t use it and that’s a good thing. It wouldn’t fit here. It’s basically limited to T’Challa’s siter Shuri and tribe head M’Baku, who steal the show comedy wise.
Chadwick Boseman fills in his role as Black Panther very well. “Black Panther” is the last piece of the puzzle, before “Avengers”Infinity War”.

Rating: 4 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 159: Creed

Director: Ryan Coogler
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 133 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Andre Ward, Tony Bellew, Ritchie Coster, Jaco ‘Stitch’ Duran, Graham McTavish, Malik Bazille, Ricardo McGill, Gabe Rosado, Wood Harris, Buddy Osborn, Rupal Pujara

Description: The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.

Review: Sylvester Stallone turned 70 in 2016. The actor has a great career, but mostly two characters define it: John Rambo and Rocky Balboa. And that last character he reprises in the sequel/ spin-off “Creed”.
Michael B. Jordan plays Adonis Johnson, the son of Apollo Creed. Boxing rival and friend of Rocky. Adonis never knew his father, because he died before he was born. As a teenager, Adonis goes in and out of foster homes and prison. Apollo’s wife looks him up and decides to take him in. Although Adonis has a good job and just made a promotion, he is not happy there. He quits his job to become a boxer, like his father. He travels to Philadelphia to visit Rocky Balboa and asks him to train him.
“Creed” is directed and also partly written by Ryan Coogler, who worked with Jordan on “Fruitvale Station”. Coogler has to work hard to convince the viewers, because many scenes might remind you of other Rocky films or might feel cliché. But there are more layers and there is more to this film than meets the eye.
The challenging fights are what make this movie excel. The ring fights are shot perfectly and have some dramatic twists. Michael B. Jordan is really good in his role. And Stallone shines, in the role he was always meant to play.
“Creed” is a fantastic film, that grabs you and captivates.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 128: Fruitvale Station

Director: Ryan Coogler

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 85 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray, Ahna O’Reilly, Ariana Neal, Keenan Coogler, Trestin George, Joey Oglesby, Michael James, Marjorie Shears, Destiny Ekwueme, Bianca Rodriguez III, Julian Keyes

Description: The purportedly true story of Oscar Grant III (Michael B. Jordan), a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.

Review: Every once in a while there is this movie that, sometimes unintentional, is released at the right moment. “Fruitvale Station”, that’s set around a tragic shooting where the black Oscar Grant dies, is one of those movies. When the movie was released, there was the Trayvon Martin/ George Zimmerman case in the US, another incident where a black guy was needlessly shot.

It’s the 31st of December 2008 and this will be the last day of Oscar Grant’s life. After spending some time in jail, he now lives a life with his girlfriend and their four year old daughter. Oscar is trying to change his life. He doesn’t want to sell drugs anymore and tries to get a job at the local supermarket. Without him knowing it, some of his actions lead to his final destination.

The opening scene of the film tells us that we are dealing with a true story. Shaky shots from a phone show us the arrest with deadly ending. It immediately feels realistic. The camera work and the absence of music only amplify this feeling. Leading actor Michael B. Jordan shows us what he’s made of. What a wonderful performance. And all the other actors are very natural too. And also kudos for the director Ryan Coogler. Although you already know the ending, it doesn’t take away the tension and the shock.

For a film with a budget under a million dollars “Fruitvale Station” proofs that bigger isn’t always better. This engrossing last day of Oscar Grant is something you won’t easily forget.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 122: That Awkward Moment

Director: Tom Gormican

Genre: Comedy/ Romance

Runtime: 95 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Zac Efron, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Imogen Poots, Mackenzie Davis, Jessica Lucas

Description: Three best friends find themselves where we've all been - at that confusing moment in every dating relationship when you have to decide "So...where is this going?"

Review: Everyone knows it. That moment in a relationship where you have to decide where it’s going. Is it serious or is it better to end it? All in all a great opportunity to see which goals and ambitions you both have in life. Three friends, Jason, Daniel and Mikey are at that point.

When Mikey finds out his wife has been cheating on him and leaves him, his friends do anything to get him back on his feet again. They make a pact: to stay single as long as possible. Off course, not surprising at all, love is lurking around the corner. Will the threesome go for the romance or do they stay faithful to the pact?

The careless selfish manners of the guys don’t give you much sympathy for them. They say it themselves: “They call us the selfish generation”. They are actually very disrespectful towards women and they show no ambition what so ever. This problem makes the viewers not as involved as they should be.

The humor is okay, but not of a high standard. It’s what American’s are good at: poop and sex jokes. It’s the awkward situations the guys get into that make you laugh the most.

“That Awkward Moment” looks fine and the acting is pretty good, but the lack of relatable characters and really strong humor make this movie not to the comedy it could have been. It was fun for once, but it was a pretty disappointing romantic comedy and never gets above average.

Rating: 2,5/ 5