No new tricks here, just the same archetypal Spielberg

Rating: Null/10 (5 June 2003)

Spoiler, perhaps? After ripping movie-goers off with The Lost World, Steven Spielberg tosses out a less-then-fulfilling flick, this time in the guise of Amistad. True story: in the summer of 1839, Cinque (Djimon Hounsou) and fifty-some Africans aboard the Spanish slave ship La Amistad break free of their shackles, kill the crew, take control of the ship and reclaim their freedom, hoping to return to Africa. However, without any navigational skills, the Africans bank on two surviving members of the original crew. Too bad, because after two months, an American naval ship captures the Amistad and the Africans are charged for murder and piracy. OK, now you've got fifty Africans who don't speak English or Spanish, an abolitionist named Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman) who just stands around, a young real-estate lawyer named Roger Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey) and pro-slavery President Martin Van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne), who only wants to appease the South. Mix them together and you've got a typical `good versus evil' Speilberg film. And let me tell you something, ole Stevie sure has a hard-on for these dastardly, `I'm-an-immoral-symbol-of-everything-that's-wrong-with-America-and-the-system' villains: Amistad maintains that white people are generally evil, just as ET and Jurassic Park painted humans capitalistic and exploitive and Schindler's List made everyone who wasn't Jewish in the 40s `bad.' Hell, even The Color Purple made an argument that most black men were ignorant and irresponsible. In other words, enough is enough!! Speilberg, one of the world's most talented film-makers, has succumbed to making carbon-copy connect-the-dots movies, and gloats in the disappointing results. Schindler's List was both suspenseful and amazing, but why re-make it (as another giant turning point in American history). Next, Speilberg can make a version for the Native-Americans, then one for the Irish, then one for Croatians and maybe when he's done, he'll get back to making movies again. If creating a film of this magnitude, why not focus on Dredd Scott or Nat Turner stories. The movie isn't un-watchable by any means, and Spielberg pulls some strong and shocking scenes out of his bag of tricks, but we've seen this stuff before. Highlights include Anthony Hopkins (as former President John Quincy Adams  the film's hero) and his great eleven-minute court-room speech, as well as the performances from Djimon Hounsou and Matthew McConaughey (in his best role). Let's just say I wasn't spellbound.