Sinners: A Beautifully Made, but Rather Frustrating Horror Outing (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Writer/director Ryan Coogler has been an unstoppable force ever since he burst onto the scene with his debut feature "Fruitvale Station" in 2013, receiving critical acclaim and numerous accolades in the process. This was followed up with "Creed," "Black Panther," and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," all of which were massive hits that received a fair amount of acclaim as well. Now he's back with something completely different, a dramatic horror outing called "Sinners" that has proven to be another box office smash with a multitude of raves, but is it truly worthy of all the praise, or have critics perhaps been just a bit overzealous in their reactions?

Taking place in 1932, the film primarily follows twins Smoke and Stack Moore (Michael B. Jordan) as they return to Mississippi after having worked the Chicago crime outfit for several years. They purchase a sawmill with money stolen from gangsters in order to set up a juke joint for the black community, recruiting their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), a guitarist, and pianist Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) to perform. Meanwhile, Stack reconnects with his ex-girlfriend Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), who resents him for leaving, while Smoke reconnects with his estranged wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), with whom he had a daughter that died as an infant. The opening night of the joint goes well at first, but the music quickly attracts an unwanted presence that soon changes the celebration into a terrifying fight to stay alive.

"Sinners" is a rather intriguing departure for Coogler in that it's a handsomely-mounted period piece that really ends up being two movies rolled into one. Half of the film is a drama that has our main characters returning home, re-establishing themselves, and setting up a new business venture, while the other half was supposed to be an unexpected jump into the horror realm (though the advertising for the film made sure that was spoiled pretty early on). The entire film features gorgeous period details with its costumes, sets, and general production design, pulling you into its setting and helping to immerse you in it entirely, making for a film that's a nice little feast for the eyes as it spins its yarn.

That said, when it comes to the film's two halves, it must be mentioned that the latter half is far more successful than the first, primarily because the first half is basically devoted to setting everything up for the second. Because of this, the film does become rather frustrating as it basically has the audience waiting around for quite a while for any kind of development to occur in its narrative. We do get to see characters reconnecting with each other, offering small pieces of character development along the way, but as far as the story goes, it simply takes quite a long time for anything to happen, at least anything significant enough to move it forward.

As far as the second half goes, it's a little more active in terms of plot development, though this mainly revolves around the characters trying to stay alive against a group of blood-thirsty assailants. It ends up being a somewhat engaging fight for survival, particularly as we watch to see how a group of people in the 1930s would try to deal with something like this. It provides a good deal of entertainment and happenings along the way that have you hanging on to see who will make it out in the end, if anyone. Indeed, this is where the film is most successful, and where most of the attention should've been placed.

In the end, "Sinners" ends up being a fascinating mixed bag. You have half a film that's rather frustrating as it takes quite a long time to get a move on, and another half that does a much better job of engaging the audience with its intriguing dive into horror. It's by no means a bad film, it just seems like Coogler could've done a much better job balancing it out to give the audience a more consistently entertaining experience. It's understandable that he'd want to have a slightly slow start to build up to what's to come, but he should've realized that taking half the film to do that wouldn't be a great idea, ultimately leaving us with a compelling concept that just needed slightly better execution.

Video/Audio:

"Sinners" comes to Blu-ray in an excellent 1080p High Definition transfer of variable 2.76:1 & 1.78:1 ratios that beautifully preserves the IMAX sequences. The picture is perfectly clear & sharp throughout the film's 137-minute duration, highlighting its incredible cinematography, production design, and costumes. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio track is marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a wonderful job in both departments for the film's physical release.

Special Features:

Dancing with the Devil: The Making of Sinners (33 Minutes)

Blues in the Nights: The Music of Sinners (14 Minutes)

Thicker Than Blood: Becoming the Smokestack Twins (11 Minutes)

Spirits in the Deep South (8 Minutes)

Wages of Sin: The Creature FX of Sinners (11 Minutes)

Deleted Scenes (7 Sequences, 19 Minutes)

The Blu-ray comes with a fantastic collection of featurettes that focus on areas such as making the film, the music, the effects, and the development, creation, and portrayal of the Smokestack Twins. Also included is a hefty portion of deleted material, bringing the total duration of the extras to a little over 90 minutes. Definitely plenty of material here for anyone looking to go behind the scenes and learn more about the film.

Conclusion:

Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" is a fascinating mixed bag of a film, featuring a rather frustrating first half that has the audience waiting around for the plot to kick in, and a second that provides an intriguing delve into survival horror. The film is certainly beautifully made, and contains a pair of fine performances from Michael B. Jordan, but ultimately a better balance was needed to provide a more consistently entertaining & engaging experience.

Score: 3/5

Available on Blu-ray starting today.

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