An Excellent Biopic about a Civil Rights Icon

Rating: 9/10 (19 March 2008)

Spoilers ahead.
Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" is a highly worthy biographical drama that rightfully stands alongside "Gandhi" as a timeless classic. This movie goes deeply into the life of Malcolm X, and analyses the decisions he made in life that led him to be one of the most important figures in the American Civil Rights Movement. This movie does not shy away from discussing such important events as Malcolm's "Chickens Coming Home to Roost" speech regarding JFK's assassination, which resulted in him being silenced by Black Muslim leader Elijah Mohammed. Malcolm's pilgrimage to Mecca, his conversion to mainstream Islam, and his gradual realization that not all white men are evil, and that even Christianity need not be rejected as a spiritual guide for black people, was shown so subtly and gradually that the audience can accept such a transformation as credible. The audience sees Malcolm X's evolution as a human being and they are convinced that, while he was a genuine and powerful leader within the Black Muslim religion and a heartfelt spokesman for their cause, he was also a consistently evolving person, filled with self-doubt and prone to making mistakes. Spike Lee has done in excellent job in presenting the full story of the life of Malcolm X, while also humanizing him and even going so far as to counter the criticisms that Malcolm was a spokesman for "violence" and racial hatred, as opposed to Martin Luther King, Jr's message or racial equality and peaceful civil disobedience. The movie shows that Malcolm's sermons and viewpoints were much more complex than simply advocating racial separation. Spike Lee analyses Malcolm's views with such details that the viewer will at least empathize with Malcolm and understand his speeches and why he felt the way he felt.
I highly recommend this movie for people interested in American history, or those who are simply fans of biopics. This was a movie that was worth all the hype it received back in 1992.