Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Aykroyd, Viola Davis
Get On Up
Director: Tate Taylor
Rating: 4/5
Chadwick Boseman is one of the actors who is well and truly on the rise, and Get On Up looks set to be a role and a movie that will send his star rocketing even further as he takes on the central role of James Brown.
Get on Up marks the third feature film of Tate Taylor's directing career and his first since he received acclaim for The Help: this is also the first time that Taylor has teamed up with Boseman
Based on the incredible life story of the Godfather of Soul, the film will give a fearless look inside the music, moves and moods of Brown, taking audiences on the journey from his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century.
Boseman grabbed everyone's attention last year when he played Jackie Robinson in 42, and he is set for further acclaim with Get On Up as his central performance is powerful and captivating from start to finish.
Boseman really has captured the voice, the movements, the mannerisms and the soul that made James Brown the icon and music legend that he was. And it is in the musical set pieces where this actor really is allowed to shine the brightest.
He is not simply delivering an impression of James Brown, Boseman really gets under the skin of the character and totally and utterly becomes him, I cannot heap praise on this central performance enough.
It has been a while since we have seen Tate Taylor in the director's chair and it really is terrific to see him back - I really was a he fan of The Help back in 2011, and was excited to see what he delivered with this new biopic.
Get On Up is your standard music biopic - it really doesn't invent the wheel when it comes to the genre - but Tate really does allow the audience to delve into that world, while delivering a stylised and exciting life story.
The musical moments really are the heart and soul of this movie, as Taylor shows just what a force Brown was as a live performer - and these musical set pieces really are some of the best from this genre.
Get On Up is a movie that is packed with energy and life that allows us not only into the life of James Brown but also his soul. Boseman is the actor that you won't be able to take your eyes - there are some terrific supporting performances from the likes of Dan Aykroyd and Viola Davis, but it is Boseman who really steals the show.
Boseman was already an actor who was on the up but this is a performance that will truly establish him as a bona-fide leading man - he really does have a very exciting 2015 ahead of him with some exciting projects on the horizon.