Bilal: A New Breed of Hero

PG-13

Released Feb 2, 2018

1h 45m

Action

Adventure

Animation

List

58%

40 Reviews

Tomatometer

85%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Over 1,000 years ago, a boy with dreams of being a great warrior and his sister are abducted and taken to a far away land. Growing up in a world of greed and injustice, he finds the courage to make a change.

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Critics Consensus

A sweet animated outing, Bilal: A New Breed of Hero has almost enough eye-catching visuals to balance out its narrative pitfalls.

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Faz L

Great movie with some very thought provoking themes. A must see movie 👍🏼

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/13/24

Full Review

n A

Amazing movie.. i usually dont watch cartoons or animated movies but the beginning touched my soul so much that i watched until the end and cried. Very touching movie. Dont beieve the rotten tomatoes critics score. Theyll give a movie like Barbie a great review but a movie like Bilal theyll give it a bad one. Thats how business works… notice the audience score difference between the critics score… trust the people not the bloggers that get paid to give good reviews.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/27/23

Full Review

Fatiu B

The movie teaches about equality among all humans, irrespective of colour, race or social class. The audio quality is excellent. The picture quality is superb. I love the inspirational message of the movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/20/23

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Audience Member

Ages 13 and older!!!!!!!!!!! The greatest animated 1.75 hours ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Audience Member

I really liked this movie. because the event is based on real events. film quality is high. This movie is suitable for both adults and younger people. very inspiring and triller film. it teaches you something in life. the hero lived in the 7th century but he inspires us doses until now. I recommend everyone to watch this movie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Must Watch Movie!!!!! One of the most interesting aspects of movie reviewing is looking behind the screen at the provenance of a project, and with Dubai's first ever CGI animation, BILAL, the story behind this 1400-year-old animation saga is truly gripping. Cannes 69th Film Festival is the perfect venue for this, where it will screen shortly. The cast includes excellent actors Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (who played the yacht assassination target for Matt Damon in BOURNE IDENTITY), and Ian McShane from HBO's "Game of Thrones" TV series, also PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. Eponymous main character Bilal is actually based on a historic figure, a revered warrior, named Bilal bin Rabah. And who was he? "One of the most trusted companions of the Prophet Mohammed," according to exhaustive research done by the film's makers via Saudi-informed "forensic historians." What makes this film interesting is that you don't necessarily have to know the backstory to appreciate the master-level craftsmanship on the CGI in BILAL. In fact, this project pays off the promise that 'reality begins at 30 million polygons' as coined by animation forefather Alvy Ray Smith, and really brings home the notion that this technology now has a life of its own as this fantastic tool available all over the world for people to tell make epic explorations. When you watch this film, you see top drawer animation with a sincere message of "faith, hope and self-discovery inspired by the real life story," as described by the filmmakers. American actor Jacob Latimore is teenage BILAL. According to Kidzworld, a portal for young actors, this Milwaukee native grew up with a love of Motown and singular gifts as a musician early on with a hit called "Superstar." Which means he has the perfect voice control as a voice actor, not to mention his credits include roles in 2014's RIDE ALONG (Kevin Hart, Ice Cube) and THE MAZE RUNNER, as well as a 2010 credit for VANISHING ON 7TH STREET. Over the course of this spirited and engaging film, Bilal's character will age from 6 to 60 years old, and the intricate animation's high-dollar production values make it a pleasure to sit through. This is a multi-talent collaboration, as mentioned, with clever choices such as Atil Örvarsson, an Icelandic composer, to did the music. Örvarsson said he tried to "combine the archaelogical, historical nature of the story and make it accessible for an international audience. We used old instruments from the region and combined it with modern electronically synthesised music, we created themes for some of the characters and created a unique, other worldly sound for the witch doctor." Project point-person Jamal nailed the complexity of producing a movie of this scope in CGI, especially when the Dubai creative climate is more familiar with shorter projects. "The industry here is based on short movies and originally we wanted to work with an animation studio but we found there was no animation or CGI studio in the MENA region so we had to start the studio ourselves to make BILAL and that's how we established Dubai-based Barajoun Studios." The film itself was funded by individual investors from the Gulf Region, including Saudi Arabia with the Doha Film Institute. Expect BILAL to be on the radar this year, as Variety, Indiewire, Cartoon Brew, and Animation News have all tracked its progress thus far. Let's hope this film has the harmonizing effect as intended, because the animation is truly pixel-perfect. BILAL will screen this week at Cannes 69th International Film Festival, see schedule here for details.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

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Khurram H. Alavi

Director

Ayman Jamal

Director

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Bilal

Michael Gross

Okba

China Anne McClain

Ghufaira (Teen)

Ian McShane

Umayya

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Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

[A] handsome computer animation.

Mar 9, 2020

Full Review

Katie Walsh

Tribune News Service

Overall, the message is an inspiring one, of racial and class equality, spiritual freedom, and discovering the power that lies within.

Feb 2, 2018

Full Review

Roxana Hadadi

Chesapeake Family Magazine

Bilal: A New Breed of Hero is the rare animated film that is rated PG-13, but its messages about equality and oppression are timely and will spark conversations.

Rated: 3.5

Feb 2, 2018

Full Review

Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

The lags in Bilal: A New Breed of Hero come when the informative and soulful journey is sidetracked by the showy tendencies to still want to be an action film as well, hurting its overall engagement.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 16, 2024

Full Review

Steven Prokopy

Third Coast Review

I can't imagine the film drawing in too many crowds of non-believers, but animation fans in particular will probably be quite impressed by the artistry on display.

May 28, 2020

Full Review

Mae Abdulbaki

The Young Folks

Bilal: A New Breed of Hero, despite being a film about one of prophet Muhammad's most trusted companions, carries themes that are just as relevant today as they were back then.

Rated: 7/10

Apr 23, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Over 1,000 years ago, a boy with dreams of being a great warrior and his sister are abducted and taken to a far away land. Growing up in a world of greed and injustice, he finds the courage to make a change.

Director: Khurram H. Alavi, Ayman Jamal
Producer: Monika Bacardi, Andrea Iervolino, Ayman Jamal, Gene Lim, Arif Jilani
Screenwriter: Ayman Jamal, Michael Wolfe, Khurram H. Alavi, Alex Kronemer, Yassin Kamel
Distributor: Vertical Entertainment
Production Co: Resnick Interactive Development, Barajoun Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Warfare|Violence|Some Thematic Elements)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 2, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 6, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $489.9K
Runtime: 1h 45m

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