Soul Power: Critic Reviews

What's infectious in Soul Power is the almost shocking optimism of its America-meets-
Africa '70s world-beat vibe.

Offers a vivid glimpse of a fascinating moment in musical history, racial politics and global pop culture.

Leon Gast's documentary When We Were Kings, about the 1974 Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire, now has a great companion piece.

Soul Power is worth seeing -- and hearing -- for the evocation of an era and above all, for the exuberant and infectious performances.

Soul Power turns out to be an unusually resonant time capsule, one that weaves together theatrics, musicianship, cosmopolitanism and sharp political critique in a vibrant look-back that's at once celebratory and wistful.

Gluttons for these artists and for music festivals in general might wonder, as I have, whether there's any way the filmmakers might share more of the remaining 123 1/2 hours.

Ali's bravado-soaked words, breezily tossed off after he disrupts a Don King press conference, also serve as an artist's manifesto for the film's musical acts: Celia Cruz, the Spinners, Fania All-Stars, Bill Withers, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba, and others.

Director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte does a terrific job re-creating a landmark moment, with behind-the-scenes footage complementing triumphant performances.

Soul Power is marvelous, and no wonder -- among the performers in this concert film are James Brown, B.B. King, Bill Withers, Miriam Makeba and Celia Cruz, all at the peak of their powers.

Watching the Godfather of Soul on the big outdoor stage, you think back to his appearance in The T.A.M.I. Show a decade earlier. And then you think: I feel good.

It packs the emotional and historical power of a heady 'family gathering' celebration of African and, to use the term then in fashion, Afro-American pride.

A dazzling chronicle of the African American music expo that was meant to accompany the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight title bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Congo).

A non-stop head-bobbing knee-bouncer.

While there's an awful lot to like about this infectious celebration of a remarkable event featuring some superb, larger-than-life performers at the top of their game, the enterprise comes across as a bit of a missed opportunity.

A vibrant and joyous new documentary.

B.B. King. Bill Withers. Miriam Makeba. Celia Cruz. And James Brown, earning every inch of the title, "Godfather of Soul," who all by himself probably deforested a few acres around Kinshasa with the volcanic blast of his set.

Does its part to widen this historic concert's potential audience base.

Watching Soul Power is like flipping through Polaroids of that era. The color is a little washed out and everyone looks amazingly young.

It's hard not to wish that maybe there was a little less of Muhammad Ali promoting himself and a little more of the concert.

...if you are a fan of any of the musicians ... or maybe I should say if you're completely unfamiliar with any of the musicians mentioned - then Soul Power is well worth seeing. Or at least hearing.

For a documentary about a music festival, Soul Power doesn't include nearly enough music.

The movie is surprisingly dry and flavorless. It certainly doesn't help that filmmaker Jeffrey Levy-Hinte put this collection of footage together without any narration and with a bare minimum of narrative captions.

The performances are fine, but this feels like a companion piece to 'When We Were Kings' rather than a work that can stand on its own...

Soul Power leaves you wanting more, and not in a good way.