Emancipation Review: Emancipation, directed by Antoine Fuqua, features a solid performance from Will Smith & admirable goals, but it is ultimately let down by its superficial production. Slavery & its gruesome effects have been explored by filmmakers repeatedly since the dawn of the film industry. In many cases, this has been the only way that people have learned about this bleak period of human history.
Cinema, for better or worse, has become a hub for several harrowing narratives & dramatizations of the atrocities this time in history contains as America struggles to come to terms with its horrific past with slavery. Despite its best efforts, Emancipation fails to express anything truly original or moving about slavery on film.
Emancipation Review Plot
Peter, a slave under the command of Captain John Lyons, must say goodbye to his loved ones before being taken by the army to work on a railroad in Clinton. Peter sees firsthand the brutal treatment of slaves by the camp's overseer, Jim Fassel, who likens them to dogs and treats them as such.
The camp is abuzz with the news that President Abraham Lincoln has ordered the slaves to be released. As Lincoln's army approaches Baton Rouge, Peter overhears the slaves discussing how they must all now go.
In broad daylight, Peter and his three pals manage to break out of the camp. Through the swamps, he plans on evading Fassel, who is now on the hunt for him, and making his way to Lincoln's troops.
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Emancipation Review
Emancipation, Antoine Fuqua's big-budget epic, should be in cinemas, yet it will only be available online. Apple's restricted theatrical release will cause many people to miss a film that would be more interesting if seen in its proper format. Fuqua's film focuses on Peter's escape from slave catchers & his journey to join the Union army, unlike 12 Years a Slave. “Whipped Peter” inspired this fictional abolitionist.
Peter, a blacksmith, joins the Confederate Army. At their labor camp, he will find the decapitated heads of escaped slaves on pikes. Ben Foster plays Fassel, the film's slave hunter. He returns a fugitive to camp & brands his face with an R. Fassel pursues Peter. It looks like a black-&-white film, but streaming on an HDTV doesn't show it as well. A horse on fire flees a massacre & a young girl alerts Fassel's slave catchers after seeing Peter.
Smith becomes visibly slimmer for the role. Despite his personal troubles after the Oscar smack, Smith is solid here. If released a year earlier, this would have garnered more attention. Unlike many of the film's villains, he appreciates Peter's intelligence. Fuqua focuses on Peter's swamp escape. It is also a genre film & a solid thriller. Streaming reduces the film's majesty. Given Apple, Smith & Fuqua's efforts, it deserved a greater box office shot. It's a vital part of anyone's filmography, so it shouldn't go ignored on streaming services.
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Final Words
At some point, Peter enlists in the military & experiences successes reminiscent of “Glory” by Edward Zwick. Fuqua selects flashy pyrotechnics to accompany his huge battle sequences, which lack the energy of a finely orchestrated tug-of-war between opposing groups. Since the audience has to wait over 2 hours of degrading material to get to the happy ending in “Emancipation,” the relief at the end of the film doesn't feel earned.
There isn't enough humanizing or subversiveness in the path that got us here. If Fuqua wants his film to succeed, he must either fully commit to the action elements for a full Blaxploitation tilt, or he must veer closer to his prestige ambitions. The term “emancipation” lacks the slackness necessary to properly describe its liberating effects.
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