Skip to main content

Review: The Last Dance (2020)

The Last Dance (2020)

There is no denying that now is the perfect time for Netflix's magnum opus Michael Jordan docu-series, The Last Dance. 

For many of us - especially, basketball fans - the series hits that sports craving that all of us have been succumbing to since the day that covid ended sports for the year. No longer can we sit back in the evening, relax, and throw on whatever great matchup is on tv. No longer can we wear our favourite team's jersey while we cheer and cry through our team's triumphs and tribulations. And no longer can we simply watch incredible humans perform incredible athletic feats.
But, now, with The Last Dance, we are given not only a riveting in-depth look at one of the greatest athletes of all-time, but we can also revel in the awesome reels of footage and first-hand accounts of Michael Jordan's greatest performances. The Last Dance is simply almost everything a sports fan could ever ask for in a documentary series. 

There probably isn't a person in the world who doesn't know the name Michael Jordan. For every sport there is 'the greatest of all-time' and for basketball it's undoubtedly MJ. Through the 80's and 90's he took not only the basketball world by storm, but also the larger world as a cultural icon - but then, I don't need to talk about all of that because The Last Dance does a more than comprehensive walkthrough of all things Michael Jordan. The series' mesh of present day interview, game footage and historical footage (incredibly, a film crew followed the Chicago Bulls for much of their '98 season of 'The Last Dance') is the perfect setup for this kind  of series. 

The sole critique I would have of this great docu-series is that because Michael Jordan was a key producer and had final say on the final cut of the series, there is the feeling that certain critical parts of MJ and his career never go too deep. While there is a lot of discussion about his immense competitiveness, which often irked other players and individuals, everything is always ultimately shown in a positive light towards him. This is not to say that 'dirt' is needed within the series by any means, however, when a person produces and has final say over a series about themselves, there will always be the slight notion that certain aspects may have been held back.
All of that being said, The Last Dance is one of the finest sports documentaries around (likely rivals Hoop Dreams in the top-tier, though they are very very different from one another). For anyone who is missing watching sports or wants some escapism into one of the greatest eras of NBA history, you should most definitely sit down and get comfy for an awesome ten hours of basketball greatness. 

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The New Mutants (2020)

The New Mutants (2020) TLDR: A sad, dismal final chapter in Fox's once-acclaimed X-Men saga. The New Mutants shows promise in fragments, but its poor script and plot and often awkward execution makes for a sickly overall package that is quite fitting for this equally-sickly year that it has finally been released in... The New Mutants were an alt-X-Men team created in the early 80's in an effort to revamp and re-contemporize a new team of teenage X-Men. The new series became a smash-hit with new star mutants like Magik, Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane and Mirage, all of whom continue to headline Marvel comics to this day. Josh Boone's The New Mutants, which was announced more than five years ago and shot in 2017, has finally seen the light of day in 2020... The film seeks to adapt the team's beloved 'Demon Bear' storyline, while introducing audiences to this fresh team of mutant superheroes. In doing so, Boone tries to create an omelet-homage from the likes of Ste...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Before Trilogy (1995, 2004, 2013)

The Before Trilogy TLDR: As a whole, and in each of its separate parts, Richard Linklater's 'Before Trilogy' is the cinematic experience in its absolute finest form. The story of Celine and Jesse speaks to the core of the human experience - surprising joys, inevitable obstacles and eventual pains, and, most importantly, the mystery and intrigue of love - and it does it in an affecting way that, almost unlike any other film, is simultaneously theatrical and also remarkably raw and realistic.  "It's just, people have these romantic projections they put on everything. That's not based on any kind of reality." - Jesse, Before Sunrise Even more than the multitudes of other incredible introspective bits of wisdom and philosophy that Celine and Jesse converse in across the three movies, this quote perhaps sums up the trilogy best of all. What are romance movies other than certain individuals' projections of what romance - often, idealized romance - is. Most o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Whiplash (2012)

Whiplash (2012) TLDR: On multiple levels Whiplash is a brilliant film. A dual character study. An ode to jazz music supremacy. And a cautionary (or inspiring?) tale of what it takes to become the world's greatest. In an instant, Whiplash cements Damien Chazelle as one of today's youngest and most talented filmmakers brimming with artistry, intensity and craftsmanship. This is not one to miss. It was surprising that the first time I saw Whiplash, I left the theatre with a slightly nauseous feeling in my gut. Not because of the film itself - its visuals or audio per se - there is nothing to criticize about its radiance. It was in its simple yet utterly-effective and haunting discussion of what it takes to become the greatest in one's field that left me feeling torn and conflicted. While most of the film seems to be a cautionary or reprimanding tale of jazz instructor Fletcher's (JK Simmons) brutal methods of 'mentorship', its ending posits perhaps an equally stron...
Post a Comment
Read more