Striving forward Far from sports, I love watching movies about athletes. I don’t know why: maybe because I admire people who have managed to set records; maybe because I myself can hardly reach such heights; maybe just because I need such idols. And the easiest way to admire athletes is to admire them. That's what happened.
Retelling the plot of the film is partly simple, partly difficult. This film is about the legendary Usain Bolt - a runner who by the age of thirty has already become a great sprinter who won the Olympic Games. He won after he won, as if everything was so simple.
That's it. Usain Bolt. A sprinter who seems impossible to beat. This is probably the end of the review.
The problem is that the film about this man was made quite strange. No, in theory, everything is fine, but what was supposed to capture the viewer suddenly evaporates under the onslaught of boredom. I'll try to explain.
As is customary, movies about the formation of great people are imbued with drama and tragedy - even where this is not, the directors try to show how difficult the path of a person was to become a "legend." This is the highlight; this is the sympathy and recognition of the audience – yes, the path to perfection should not be easy. It's just an a priori law. This is the success of any cinematic masterpiece. A film where the main character and his loved ones chat, sometimes diluting everything with the shooting of the Olympic Games is not a film.
Only one phrase from the tape is clearly remembered:
Great people are admired.
You can't argue with that. People who have achieved great results are always admired. And that's okay. But when you wait for an ordinary person to come to this colossal success, all that is shown is an interview. Interspersed with footage from Bolt’s home video, which he shot when he was bored, and filming the Olympics, we are shown the usual chatter, which at least partially reveals this person, but does not bring clarity to the question “So what?”. Before I wrote the review, I read a lot about Bolt, got acquainted with his biography and life in general and, as it turns out, I learned more about the sprinter from Wikipedia than from this film. And, believe me, reading the same Wikipedia is much more exciting than watching this movie - I was at least "at work" when reading it. Here you have to stare dullly at the screen, diligently keeping attentive when Bolt’s mom or dad tells that their child was active and very diligent. Right.
Colleagues admire his perseverance; friends admire his fortitude. What's new about this? Who can say anything bad about it? That's right, nobody. This movie is like Bolt's praise, which makes it feel like it's all fake. Why remove this boltology, in which, apart from words of approval, nothing else can be heard - that is already clear! No, I didn't expect a flood of dirt towards him, rather, I had a good idea of what the point would be, but I'm waving my hands: what, no one knew this? Did anyone know Bolt was a genius in sports? Come on, what's new here?
I understand perfectly well that I am writing a certain confusion – I am overwhelmed with emotions, but they are mixed and not in a positive direction. How can you describe this film briefly? It’s a movie about the legendary Bolt. No more, no less. Legend. Bolt. Everything.
In fact, it is difficult to call a movie. Just slicing shots (the most diverse, but concerning Bolt and his career) that hardly fully reveal the life of this man. What about the legend? Right, only good (especially if it says close to him people), but in general, this is a boring tape, for some reason neither touching nor exciting. It will suit, perhaps, only for Bolt himself - as an act of self-admiration. With great sense you can see the records of the Olympic games of this sprinter - reasons to be sure of his abilities and it will be more to understand that he became a legend not by chance.
What I want to say lastly: I really respect Usain Bolt - without crooking my heart, I can firmly say that he is one of my idols. He's a great man. But the film about him could be made much more interesting and exciting, because, I am sure, in his life there were enough entertaining moments that could be divided into childhood, adolescence and becoming. Yes, if in the end the picture did not stand out against the general background of films shot about real people, but perhaps in this case it would touch the viewer more.
5 out of 10
...a little disappointed.