Director: Khurram H Alavi, Ayman Jamal
Writer: Khurram H Alavi, Ayman Jamal, Alexander Kronemer, Michael Wolfe, Yassin Kamel (Screenplay)
Starring: (Voice Talents) Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ian McShane, China Anne McClain, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Michael Gross
Plot: A thousand years ago, one boy with a dream of becoming a great warrior is abducted with his sister and taken to a land far away from home. Thrown into a world where greed and injustice rule all, Bilal finds the courage to raise his voice and make a change. Inspired by true events, this is a story of a real hero who earned his remembrance in time and history.
Tagline – A Legend Breaks Free!
Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Important Moment from History
Story: Bilal: A New Breed of Hero starts a thousand years ago, Bilal and his sister Ghufaira are taken into slavery by the evil ruler Umayya, facing a life in chains the two must do what they can to survive.
Bilal growing up to be one of the most respected slaves, will stand up for his own kind make friends Saad along the way. Bilal learns his place in the world as the man that would lead his people to freedom and away from the slavery world they are being forced to live in, a journey that will test him to his limits.
Thoughts on Bilal: A New Breed of Hero
Characters – Bilal was once a free child, but raised as a slave, now a man he is starting to lose hope of ever being free until he meets one of the other men that had escaped the world and learns that he could be the one to lead the rest of the slaves to freedom. Umayya is the evil ruler that controls with an iron fist whipping anyone that goes against him or his people. Ghufaira is the sister to Bilal that has been pushed to her own limits that he must protect. Saad is the one man that Bilal can trust, they met as teenagers in a small altercation only to gain mutual respect for each other.
Story – The story here shows one of the very first men to rise up against his slave owners to fight for their freedoms, now this could easily be compared to Moses story without the supernatural elements involved for an easy reference point, but this is its own story. it shows how one man Bilal wouldn’t stand by and take the abuse that was being thrown his way and would join forces with people that could make a difference. The pace of the story is a little bit slow at times, though this does help us understand the struggle being faced at times. We learn how heroes were born and how a nation would need to stand up for themselves to become free.
Action/Adventure – The action in the film is a special treat when we see it because we see the few training montages, though the final epically big battle is one of the best in animated film history. The adventure shows us just how hard Bilal’s journey would be to get the freedom he desires.
Settings – The film puts us in a middle Eastern country, it is set before they were named with names we know, it shows us just how away from the world the people could be from peace one moment to war the next.
Animation – The animation in the film is beautiful, it does feel more lifelike than other animations which helps as we are learning a story about people, it has large scale scenes which look flawless when it comes to showing us the battles going on.
Scene of the Movie – The battle.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The time jump mostly feels confusing even though the characters are aging through these moments.
Final Thoughts – This is a beautifully shot animation that tells the story of a real hero that you will never have heard of.
Overall: Animation Fans Watch This One.
Rating
