BILAL: A NEW BREED OF HERO REVIEWED
“Bilal: A New Breed of Hero” focuses on Bilal Ibn Ribah. Bilal was the first Muezzin of Islam. The guy was directly appointed by Muhammad, but where did he start? Starting out as a young boy, then teenager enslaved to the wealthy Khalaf, Bilal grows and learn strength from his newfound religion. As the guy grows older and moves deeper into Islam, he leads revolts and uses a noble spirit to upset the greedy slavers of the region. Naturally, this movie isn’t going to impress the Dove Foundation.
What makes Bilal work is that it skirts the trappings of the origin film, while trying to play lightly with religious history. The fact that a film like this can find a foothold in animation and land strong Western voice actors is stunning to me. But, I’m also not that surprised it won’t receive a major release in America. This one isn’t going to play in Peoria, folks. While that’s a shame, I feel this film will be better studied as a period oddity years later.
It’s a solid film, but I’m not sure if a push into the American market was totally warranted. Oh well, give it a shot and let us know what you think.
FILM STATS
- 1 hr and 45 minutes
- PG-13
- Vertical Entertainment