akchfmay Review of The Angel

The Angel (2018)

Total let down

[4/10 · 15 September 2018]

Just watched "The Angel" on Netflix... all I can say is; what a monumental waste 😞

The movie overall is mediocre, I'd give it 3.5 out of 10 .. riddled with mistakes!

• Almost nobody (except for a guy in one scene next to Sami Sharaf) knows how to speak Egyptian Arabic.
• Actually the entire script is so obviously written in another language and translated completely out of context, words that are seldom used in the spoken Egyptian dialect were everywhere in this movie
• The guy playing Nasser, other than the grey hairs at the temple, practically no resemblance
• Sadat's makup could've been better, for crying out loud at least make him darker, plug a pipe in his hand in all scenes, stick on his iconic thick glasses and just listen to him talk once in any of his speeches! He had a unique way of talking! Study the character
• Score: some of the soundtrack, especially when Marwan panics is not even remotely Egyptian but more Arab (possibly Morrocan?)
• Embarrassing mistakes such as the Egyptian modern flag with the eagle instead of the hawk, come on guys my 7 year old kid won't make that mistake. Also bearded Egyptian security forces?! That's a BIG no no in the army and the police, I think you have Egypt mixed with India there.
• Incorrect news broadcasts, incorrect references to Israel in Arab media (ALWAYS referred to as the "Zionist entity" and never as Israel)
• Some outlandish scenes like Ashraf daring to disagree with Nasser in front of foreign dignitaries.. Nasser never tolerated the slightest disagreements - it's a known fact that he used to always stay quiet in meetings until everyone speaks their mind - which used to rattle them because he wouldn't give any clues as to what his decision is - then when he gives his command nobody dares utter a word.
• Weird character names, "Babak" the Egyptian high ranking official?seriously?
• Also the Amazonian guards for Colonel Gaddafi were formed in the 1980's not the early 1970's!
• The fact that throughout the movie in Cairo, London and Rome he had no protection whatsoever baffles me - even after hooded thugs attack his wife and only son in his villa in Cairo .. I may not know Marwan but I understand positions of power in Egypt, someone that close and with direct access to the president would not be unguarded.
• I honestly found it irritating that Sadat addressed Saad El Din El Shazly (also no resemblance and looked far older than his real counterpart) as "Lewa" (General) not as "Fareek" Colonel General, FYI the guy was Chief of Staff of the entire Egyptian armed forces in '73!

However there are a few good things in the movie to watch:

• Clothes, cars, outside scenes in 1970's London and Rome all good
• The actor Marwan Kenzari did a decent job, particularly in revealing the true motives of the character towards the end of the movie.
• Also the head of Mossad did a good job but his character wasn't defined as well as any of the Egyptian characters.
• The symbolism of Aesop's fable "The boy who cried wolf" was particularly great, I enjoyed that

Overall, honestly could've been better so easily just by checking Google! A wonderful story wasted.