It’s easy to do that during Sinners. The first hour is so slow. The first hint of vampires isn’t until almost a full hour in. I’ve said before and I’ll say again, it is extremely overrated as a movie. Has some good moments, but overall it is not AS GOOD as everyone thinks it is.
I'm all for being subversive and going against the grain, but
this is certainly a take... maybe even bait.
I'll bite.
Remmick shows up at 00:41:38; Which, for a 02:17:31 movie is one third of the way through.
That's right when the world-building and character introductions from all the main players comes to an end; Which is fantastic pacing to introduce the villain and move into the second act -
almost down to the literal minute. So.... If you think that's
BAD, i don't necessarily know what to tell you
but the subtext is there.
Let's talk about the scope of reach and spectrum of the audience,
i got two good examples there:
1. My Mom hates horror movies - would never step in a theater to watch one and hates that i go to see nearly all of them.
She saw Sinners because she heard the praise and saw the award nominations.
She loved it.
She even talks about it from time to time; Loves the soundtrack.
2. My girlfriend rarely gives a flip about going to horror nights; She even skips some years when she's otherwise uninterested in the properties being adapted, so i go with friends instead.
She asked about going this year (
we are).
But she asked for a very specific reason... for Sinners.
Because Sinners is going to be there.
My point is: Sometimes we need a spotlight to be put on certain things. Sometimes we need to put stuff up on a pedestal to make it recognizable to other people who otherwise wouldn't have given it a second thought. In this case it was a
pretty good horror flick that is also just a
pretty great film on its own. Is it Jim Crow-era's From Dusk til Dawn? Yes, it is. That just means you can call it anywhere from
relatively uninspired to
grossly unoriginal. But
over-rated? Nah. Not only did it align the zeitgeist of the industry but the audiences as well -
which is no simple feat and not something that should be ignored or taken for granted. For Sinners to receive nearly unanimous,
universal (gotcha) acclaim is a spectacle in itself and something that will be studied, if it isn't already. That should be all the evidence you need to show you that it's not
over-rated by any means;
It was just rated by everyone, not just horror junkies but
your neighbors, your mothers, your friends, your co-workers, and your film critics. If
nearly everyone stands up and gives a standing ovation and you're the only one sitting down...
We can talk about the cultural impact, the transcendental soundtrack, the amazing performances from everyone involved, and the masterful production of Coogler and his team, but that still puts this at
just about the adoration it deserves with
mild glazing from the upper-crust who usually looks down on horror as a genre. If something about Sinners winning Academy Awards and Golden Globes gives you
the ick, just think about all the horror films and actors and directors and teams that have been snubbed over the years for accolades they absolutely should've been awarded and praise that went unnoticed by the industry that
usually ignores it. It makes the rating feel more deserved in hindsight...
But
that's just my opinion (man).