Invictus Review

Hey everybody, long time no see.  Sorry for my long absence on the website, I've been pretty busy with other stuff (that reason would probably be because of me having netflix).  So today I've figured "What the hell, you guys miss me so it's only right that I review two movies."  Lucky for everyone I'm here to review to movies right now, but first let me tell you guys how much of a kick-ass Christmas I had.  I went out to an awesome Chinese buffet followed by a movie doubleheader with me watching Invictus and Sherlock Holmes two movies I've anticipated to watch.  Then later that night I got me some MickeyDees (McDonald's) and played Uncharted 2 mulitplayer all night.  A very nice Christmas (minus the presents, big dinner and visiting family scenario).  Okay, enough chitchat about me and my Christmas, back to the movie reviews. Now the first movie I watched was a new film by legendary actor/director Clint Eastwood.  Now just incase anyone's forgotten or hasn't noticed Clint Eastwood directed several other films in the past.  Those films being Flags of Our Father's, Million Dollar Baby and last year's Gran Torino.  His films shows us that not only is Eastwood a great actor but a great director as well.  With his new film new Invictus it shows us that Eastwood is an a critically acclaimed director in Hollywood. In this true (almost biopic) film we follow the story of South African president Nelson Mandela played by Morgan Freeman.  Right off the bat, not only does this film show us Mandela (Freeman) being released from prison from is 25+ year conviction, but it also shows us his early term in office as president.  Once in office, Mandela does not see what he likes amongst the people of South Africa.  The reason being because of the wide racism between the whites and the blacks across the country.  So not only does Mandela decide to fix this problem, but he decides to execute the discrimination through the sport "Rugby" (and rugby is a mixture of football and soccer with a lot of dirt and mud).  Now you guys are probably saying, "That's impossible racism can't simply disappear through a sport".  Well if any of you guys seen the movie "Remember The Titans" you'll think differently from here on out.  After having his goal for the country planned he goes to the captain of the South African Springboks team JacobusFrancois Pienaar (played by Matt Damon) and asks him to win the 1995 World Cup and this is pretty much the entire movie. Now with the summary of the movie being not too hard to follow the problem is that the film is too predictable.  Of course, it's based on a true story but there should've at least been some kind of surprise for this movie, especially with racism being a huge part of this film.  And that's another problem, all of Clint Eastwood's films (including this one) somehow involves either racism and/or discrimination.  Not that the topic is a huge issue, it's just that there's been too much of that subject shown in all of Eastwood's films and its starting to get a little tiring.  I like to see a new film from Eastwood that doesn't have racism as a central plot or a noticable focal point in a film.  Another problem about this movie is that there's not an antagonist in this film.  I guess the audience is supposed to assume that racism is the true antagonist of this film.  Which brings it back to my previous point. Despite the movie having its flaws the most entertaining part of this film are the actors (Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon) portraying themselves as South Africans.  They both deserve an Oscar Nomination for their great acting skills and they're both wonderful to watch on the silver screen.  Also if you're a fan of sports you'll find the portrayal of the rugby matches enjoyable as well.  I'm not a fan of rugby, but watching the rugby scenes on the big screen reminded me of watching a film about football in a theatre.  With me being a huge fan of football those scenes were very enjoyable for me to watch. Overall, this movie good, but it's not as good as Clint Eastwood's other films which are superior to this one.  If you're looking for a film to watch that discusses topics about racism and discrimation and in some way an uplifting sports film, this movie is for you. I personally enjoyed it but unfortunately it wasn't better then Eastwood's previous films.  Therefore....... My rating: RENT IT!!! See Ya later.  Up next, Sherlock Holmes.