Rating: 
Summary: Overambitious, stretched, but worth a watch.....
Review: ...if there is nothing better on. Let me first say that I am a fan of both Ali, and Will Smith. I'm not old enough to remember the Ali of this film, so many of the events were new to me or seen with more detail than I knew.I have to say that since I idealize Ali, I walked away from this film with less admiration for him, not more(due to the portrayal of his womanizing). Will Smith gives a surprising performance and proves he can do more than spoofs and humor. Jamie Foxx gives an even greater performance. My favorite scenes took place during the rumble in the jungle. Some were drawn out, but enjoyable. My least favorite aspect of the film was the portrayal of Ali and Malcolm X. Malcolm is one of my American heroes, but at one point, I had to ask myself,"Is this Malcolm X, the sequel, or Ali?" Way too much time was spent on Malcolm X, and this character, not Ali dominated his scenes. Of course, one could say Peebles dominated the scenes over Smith. Go see it. Or rent or buy it. It's not an oscar winner, but it's not a b-movie either. It is an interesting and somewhat informative portrayal of this icon.
Rating: 
Summary: Epic life, not-quite epic movie
Review: Overall I was impressed with "Ali," the biopic of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. Director Michael Mann brings to vivid life many episodes from the life of the man formerly known as Cassius Clay. However, for me these episodes did not add up fully; I felt like the film did not attain the true epic stature it aspired to. Nonetheless, "Ali" is a compelling and entertaining film that combines superb production details, a fine cast, and other noteworthy elements. Will Smith and Jon Voight have both earned much rightful praise for their respective performances as Ali and sportscaster Howard Cosell. Smith will, in my opinion, never again be seen merely as an actor for "popcorn" flicks: in Ali we see the triumphant breakthrough performance of a dramatic leading man. Voight's total transformation into Cosell is amazing; if I didn't know beforehand that he was playing the role, I don't think I would have recognized him. Although Smith and Voight seem to have gotten most of the praise (and award nominations!), I would like to personally celebrate Mario Van Peebles for his portrayal of Malcolm X. I found his to be a very moving performance. Perhaps Ali's life is simply too big to fit into a movie; maybe an extended miniseries would have made a better vehicle by which to tell his story. As a student of comparative religion, I felt in particular that the story of Ali's Islamic faith was not explored enough. Still, "Ali" the film is an impressive achievement, and well worth seeing.
Rating: 
Summary: Floats like a butterfly and stings like one
Review: Excuse me? "His uncanny re-creation of Ali's most famous weapon, his mesmerizing voice?" One of my biggest criticisms of this film is that Smith doesn't sound anything like Ali. It's almost as if someone said, "Listen, Will, your voice isn't close to Ali's so don't even try. Just let your acting do the talking."... I won't dwell on the historical details of the film. As it was said in another review, the film tries to cover so much history that it ends up covering nothing. We get headlines instead of stories. In short, this film has very little punch. (Review of theatrical release)
Rating:
Summary: What a waste!!
Review: This movie was at best a 90 minute flick but with all long drawn out boring "Music video" type parts, it stretched out to over 2 1/2 hours. Ali, in my opinion, is an interesting character, but the way this [movie] was put together was not worth the ticket price or even a rental price. If you have 2.5 hours to kill, and have seen everything else,get 3 other people to chip in a dollar each and rent it......... just keep the ffwd button close at hand.
Rating: 
Summary: He's a lover AND a fighter!
Review: The movie "Ali" portrays the story of one of the world's most recognized boxers, Mohammed Ali (who was born Cassius Clay). Actor Will Smith gives an excellent performance as boxer Ali. It is hard enough to portray a real character, much less a legendary one. Smith is successful in showing not only the physical side but also the charisma of the boxing personality, Ali, who has strong convictions and a funny wit. The movie begins with Ali's fight against boxer Sonny Liston, which puts him on the map as a fighter. It ends with Ali's fight with George Foreman in Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of Congo). This famous fight was billed as the 'Rumble in the Jungle.' In between, the movie covers the fighter's rise to success, his conversion to the Muslim religion, his name change and his fight against the U.S. government to keep from being enlisted in the army. We also see Ali's close friendship to two well-known people - sportscaster Howard Cosell and Malcom X. The movie "Ali" also touches on the boxer's attraction to women and some of his many love relationships. (Smith's real life's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, plays the role of Ali's first wife.) Ali is certainly attracted to all pretty women! All the actors give wonderful performances - Jamie Foxx as Bundini Brown (the man who worked to motivate Ali and help him with his rhymes - "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!"), Jon Voight as Howard Cosell, Mario Van Peebles as Malcolm X, Mykelti Williamson as Don King, Giancarlo Esposito as Cassius Clay Sr., Jada Pinkett Smith as Sonji Roi (Ali's first wife) and Nona M. Gaye as Belinda Boyd, to name a few. The shots especially of some of the African countries (Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa) are vibrant and rich. Although I'm not much of a boxing fan and sometimes found the boxing scenes a bit prolonged, all in all I found the movie a great story of a great athlete set to a great music soundtrack.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENCE
Review: This is was GREAT movie! As a matter of fact it was the best movie I've seen in a while. I love the way the movie gives a more personal view of Malcolm X. I feel that Will Smith did a wonderful job. I'm ready for this movie to come out on vhs so I can own it!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Will Smith Flops
Review: I went to the movie theatres expecting this great movie, because that is what Will Smith usually gives us. The first hour and a half was very choppy and didn't have any sort of flow. The last hour and a half made some sort of sense. I would recommend to rent this at home and not waste your 7 bucks. Ali turned out to be a very long-winded, not-exciting movie and I almost felt like walking out.
Rating:
Summary: I am a Will Smith fan
Review: The movie focuses on the time between when a young Cassius Clay first wins the Heavyweight Championship of the World from Sonny Liston and when a 32 year old Muhammad Ali regains the Championship from George Foreman at the Rumble in the Jungle. The movie focuses less on Ali in the ring and
more on his life outside. You see the multiple marriages, his conversion to Islam, his fractured relationship with Malcolm X, and most importantly his battle with the United States Courts when Ali refused to serve in Viet Nam.
Michael Mann directs this in his usual visual intense style. If you have ever seen a production by Mann (Miami Vice, The Last of the Mohicanns, and The Insider to name a small few) you know that he deals with a variety of colors to focus the movie and the scenery tells the story almost as much
as the script.
The acting is superb by almost everyone involved in the movie but a few people really stand out. Will Smith proves that Robert De Niro is not the only one who will gain weight by packing about 20 to 30 pounds of muscle on his frame and then completely immerses himself in the cadence and style
of Ali's speech. Few actors today would seem to have the capability to spout off some of Ali's tirades as Will does. Jamie Foxx does an incredible job as Bundini Brown. His breakdown on drugs and the fight back to sobriety shows that this former In Living Color co-star can handle a great deal more
than we originally thought. The surprise of the movie was Jon Voight. People have portrayed Howard Cosell before but Voight actually becomes him. He sounded like Cosell and the make-up job was so detailed that I had to look a couple of times before I was able to actually recognize Voight. The relationship between Ali and Cosell is played up on many levels showing how
each actually helped catapult the other into the levels of stardom that they reached.
The movie is very, very well done. The script was tight and didn't stray into too many areas that would have dragged the movie down. The direction was on top and the dialogue was rapid fire and concise.
Rating:
Summary: The champ loses his belt
Review: A "bio-pic" of Muhammad Ali's life seems like a no-brainer. Why, right off the top of our heads, many of us can spout an Ali story or two. In fact, that is where the first problem occurs. The screenplay focuses on a narrow portion of the fighter's life: The time between his first title bout with Sonny Liston and his first title bout with George Forman. Mixed in there is Cassius Clay's announced conversion to Islam, his refusal to obey the draft and several broken marriages. But what happened before he turned 22? And what of the many years afterwards? His first Olympic experience where he supposedly sold his medal? And what of his last experience at the Olympics, stricken with Parkinson's disease and lighting the torch at the Atlanta games? But, that wasn't the movie that Director Michael Mann (The Insider) made... Mann has often been a stylish director and that 'showy' edge makes this bio-pic look like an Oliver Stone film, which makes you doubt it's believability as Stone usually has an agenda, making his decisions suspect. The same can be said for some of the 'controversial' moments in Ali. Never to say that Sonny Liston directly cheated to try and beat Ali, the filmmakers 'suggest' but don't actually address the issue. And Ali's involvement with Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles in a great performance) is also nondescript. And what of Ali's friendship with Howard Cosell (John Voight under more make-up than he wore in "Pearl Harbor")? Where they really close enough that Howard would call him at home? Anyway, that is the story they told. Totally bulked up, Will Smith does a credible job as the boxer. But, it is more of an impersonation that a three dimensional characterization. The same can be said for his three wives. ALI is an interesting biographical film that rests uncomfortably with Ali's political and social impact rather than his athletic impact. My next question: If they make a bio-pic about George Forman, will it get into his grill?
Rating:
Summary: "Ali" takes a dive
Review: Sure Will Smith gives probably the best acting performance of the year. Sure Mann's direction gives the fight scenes -especially Ali's first against Liston, the opening scene - a thrill and immediacy missing from the Rocky flicks. Sure "Ali" tries to tackle the issues of race in the tumultuous 60s and wants to depict Ali for what he was: a truly courageous and principled man, as well as a hot-head and egoist. But the film ultimately fails. Because you leave the theater asking yourself what you have learned about Muhammad Ali. The answer? Nothing. What's wrong with the film? First, it was over-ambitious. Mann attempts to chronicle a very, very busy ten years. If he had focused on a single theme - race and religion, say, or the entourage and the crazy goings on - perhaps it could have worked. Instead, the movie jumps all over the place, first trying to depict a relationship with the elder Clay, then showing Ali's marital problems, then his relationship with Malcolm X, and so on and on. As a result, Mann can't make any definitive statement about Ali, the times, the characters, the events. It feels like a music video. Empty. Hollow. Trying to cover material already depicted in a better film. Why do the Foreman fight? "When We Were Kings" is a million times better and covers the same fight, and only that fight! That movie has everything "Ali" does not, Ali included! All the great things left out. The Floyd Patterson fight, when Ali fought maliciously and cruelly against an opponent who tried to appeal to the white mainstream. Or the series of white fighters Ali demolished in defense of his crown after the second Liston fight. Or the events leading up to the first Liston fight, the crazy stunts Cassius Clay pulled to get his name in the paper and infuriated the champion Liston to fight an under qualified young light heavyweight. Too many characters. Many of them don't play any part in adding to the film. Who can say, based on the movie, what Ali's father was like? Cus D'Amato? Elijah Muhammad? Elijah's son and Ali's manager, Herbert Muhammad? The photographer friend, Howard Bingham? Any of the wives? Only a few roles really stick, Will Smith as Ali, Jamie Foxx as Bundini, and Jon Voight as Howard Cosell. And based solely on these performances, I recommend the movie. I wish Mann had concentrated on a narrower time frame. The first Liston fight, for example. And why not? It had all the elements, the brash talking, the involvement with the Nation of Islam, the brilliant fighting. All the elements that later drove Ali to reject the military. But also all the contradictions in Ali's character, the egoism, the harsh anti-white talk, etc. I give this thing 3 stars because of Will Smith. Otherwise this movie is not great. Will Smith deserves the Oscar!
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