Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Adewale Akinnuoye-AgbajeBilal (voice)
- China Anne McClainGhufaira (Teen) (voice)
- Ian McShaneUmayya (voice)
- Jacob LatimoreBilal (Teen) (voice)
- Cynthia Kaye McWilliamsGhufaira / Hamama (voice)
- Fred TatascioreCharlatan Priest (voice)
- Mick WingertSafwan (voice)
- Thomas Ian NicholasSaad (voice)
- Jon CurrySoheib (voice)
- Michael GrossOkba (voice)
Recommendations
- 75
San Francisco Chronicle
The visuals themselves are inconsistent, but never boring. The sidekicks seem considerably less painstakingly rendered than the leads. A few of the merchants have the unnatural look and jerky movements of Pirates of the Caribbean animatronics. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Bilal is a grand-scale, fast-paced animated adaptation that is both empowering and inspiring in its call for social justice and equality. - 70
Screen Daily
This is a muscular story about the fight for freedom which is rich and vibrant and authentic. However, Bilal’s beefy approach also extends to scenes of torture and bloodthirsty battle sequences. - 65
TheWrap
Though the film is at best confusing in its narrative, Bilal is still a showcase for the capabilities of animated cinema on the Arabian Peninsula. - 50
Variety
The dialogue is very clear-cut, devoid of all contractions so that people speak in unnatural ways, though perhaps it makes the conversations clearer, especially to audiences whose native language might not be English. More problematic are the never-ending platitudes, all tied to spreading the message of equality. - 50
The A.V. Club
By reducing teachings to vague platitudes and inspirational truisms, Bilal robs its religious story of any sense of grace, leaving only those components of early Islamic history generally not considered off-limits for visual interpretation—that is, a lot of early medieval warfare and violence. - 50
Washington Post
Epic in its ambitions and often visually and emotionally strong, the film nevertheless suffers from a confusing narrative and a style of computer animation that blurs the lines between the real and the animated in a way that evokes the discomfiting artifice of “The Polar Express” (2004). - 50
Philadelphia Daily News
The animators have figured out horses and falcons and snakes, but human body movements are stiff, awkward, and mechanical.
