Michael Mann is one of my absolute favorite directors. This is his worst film, but it still has electrifying moments, and it is clear Smith is bringing his A game every step of the way.

Ali

Mann delivers a great biopic, with his usual brilliant choice of music and star power. Smith is obviously great as Muhammed Ali, but Jamie Foxx, Mario Van Peebles, the men that played George Foreman and Sonny Liston, Ron Silver, Joe Morton and Jada Pinkett were all pretty damn good too. Mann sure does like working with the same actors. He's worked with Foxx in three consecutive movies. Jon Voight also shines as Cosell.

After watching this movie I kind of dislike Ali a lot. I never really knew much about his story before, so I kind of went along with the adoration that people have for him, but he's no more than a troublemaker, which is fitting as he's a Muslim and a black person. Great film, with seriously great use of music (Mann's best attribute as director). However, I do think this film suffered from not having dates and years put up on screen as sometimes it's hard to notice a change of decade or era.

No where near as good as Collateral, Heat and Miami Vice. Nor even as good as Last of the Mohicans, but it's good, about on par with Public Enemies. I've got one more of Mann's to see now; The Insider, which is also a Russell Crowe movie, so I'm killing two birds with one stone. Mann is my favourite director after Stallone, his work is just consistently above a "B+". I look forward to every one of his movies. This is his worst film, but if that is true, then what a smashing career this man must have had*.

B+

*all opinions are post-Mohicans.