Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
In 1964, a brash, new pro boxer, fresh from his Olympic gold medal victory, explodes onto the scene: Cassius Clay. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African Americans in sport with his proud public self-confidence and his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. Yet at the top of his game, both Ali's personal and professional lives face the ultimate test.
Ali is anchored by Will Smith's commanding, physically transformative performance that earned widespread acclaim and an Oscar nomination — genuinely exceptional acting that elevates the material. However, Michael Mann's biopic is sprawling and episodic, covering a decade of Ali's life (1964–1974) without fully cohering into a satisfying narrative arc. The cinematography has moments of kinetic energy in the boxing sequences but is inconsistent elsewhere. As a biopic it follows familiar genre conventions without reinventing them, though Mann's stylistic sensibility (handheld intimacy, period-authentic texture) gives it some distinction. The film's biggest weakness is its ending — the Rumble in the Jungle feels abrupt and undercooked as a climactic resolution, leaving the emotional payoff somewhat incomplete.