A Brilliant New Folk Tale ("Sinners" Review)

 Ryan Coogler has officially entered that rarefied group of directors who can sell a film just on their name alone, much like Chris Nolan, Spielberg, or Scorsese. His debut film "Fruitvale Station" showed the promise, and taking on popular IPs like "Creed," part of the Rocky Saga, and Marvel with the Black Panther films, he is a bankable director who will deliver the goods and get people into the theaters.

So as the rave reviews were piling in, I had confidence that I would be experiencing another fantastic offering from Coogler. What I wasn't expecting was a brand new folk tale rooted in American history, dealings with the devil as told by classic blues music, and a new take on the old vampire mythology, which is hard to do. What came out was a tale as classic as any, but mixed and mashed into a fresh new tale. Absolutely brilliant.

The tale centers around a young blues musician Sammie (played by newcomer Miles Caton), whose playing is so good that it summons the supernatural. His cousins, the gangster twins Smoke and Stack (played by the magnificent Michael B. Jordan) sees the potential in the young man and books him to play at the grand opening of their club.

As the night brings patrons to the club and the music is playing, Sammie's music summons all manner of spirits...and vampires. Once these bloodsuckers arrive, all hell breaks loose. 

Not only is this a fantastic take on an often told tale and often used genre, but brings that fascinating American folk tale of 'selling your soul to the devil for guitar playing prowess.' I grew up knowing of the tale of Robert Johnson and the "Crossroad Blues" and it's a great American myth centering around the great blues music that is the springboard for rock and roll and other popular genres that still thrive today. It's an important piece of Americana that is rarely used in cinema and I'm so pleased to see that it exists in this film and that the film will keep that classic folk tale alive.

And just to give you a heads up...if you haven't seen the film yet, this is a spoiler...

After the club is overtaken by vampires and some live to see the sunrise, one of those people is Sammie himself. He returns to his pastor father but refuses to give up his love of the blues. And the post credit scene shows him in his old age still playing the blues, and is visited by a couple of vampires who knew him from that club event. The older Sammie is played by the great Buddy Guy. This was probably the highlight of the film for me. I love Buddy Guy and I was thrilled to see him get some shine in this type of tale. He's one of the last, if not THEE last of the old school blues legends. And they honored him with this cameo. 

This film I can't recommend highly enough. It's a new vampire classic, it's a blues tale that needed to be told and I'm so happy that it was a hit film, so now the tale lives on...

https://www.nme.com/news/film/guitar-legend-buddy-guy-talks-sinners-cameo-i-did-it-to-help-the-blues-3859391