[Screen It]

 

"BILAL: A NEW BREED OF HERO"
(2018) (voices of Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ian McShane) (PG-13)


At-A-Glace Content Summary

Alcohol/Drugs Minor
Blood/Gross Stuff Mild
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude Extreme
Frightening/Tense Scenes Heavy
Gun/Weapons Extreme
Imitative Behavior Heavy
Jump Scenes Minor
Music (Scary/Tense) Extreme
Music (Inappropriate) None
Profanity None
Sex/Nudity Minor
Smoking None
Tense Family Scenes Heavy
Topics to Talk About Heavy
Violence Extreme


QUICK TAKE:
Animated Drama: A young man, abducted alongside his sister into slavery as a child, is given the encouragement to stand up to his oppressors and help lead an epic battle against them and their kind.
PLOT:
After being abducted as a seven-year-old boy along with his sister, Bilal (voice of JACOB LATIMORE) is a teenage slave living in late 6th century Mecca with his sister, Ghufaira (voice of CHINA ANNE McCLAIN). Despite having once dreamed of being a great warrior and getting motivational life lessons from his mom, Bilal is now resigned to his life serving Umayya (voice of IAN McSHANE) and his sadistic teenage son, Safwan (voice of SAGE RYAN). The only god that Umayya worships is that of greed and money, and thus has his High Priest (voice of FRED TATASCIORE) convince the locals to contribute monetary offerings to their fake idols, while the likes of Okba (voice of MICHAEL GROSS) -- who's in Umayya's inner circle -- peddles smaller versions of those idols when not selling slaves.

Years later, those men are still in power, and Bilal (voice of ADEWALE AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE), now a man, still serves them, as does Ghufaira (voice of CYNTHIA KAYE McWILLIAMS). But when he gets words of advice -- such as that one can only enslave themselves -- from The Lord of Merchants (voice of FRED TATASCIORE) who's preaching the notion of just one God, Bilal stands up to his master and suffers the consequences. The Lord of Merchants then buys Bilal's freedom, and fellow new thinker Hamza (voice of DAVE B. MITCHELL) teaches him how to be a true warrior. What follows is the lead-up to an epic battle between the two sides, with Bilal wanting to get revenge on Umayya and his now adult son, Safwan (voice of MICK WINGERT).

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Despite being a computer-animated offering, it doesn't seem likely a lot of kids will be interested.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13
For violence/warfare and some thematic elements.


I have subscribed to ScreenIt for more than a decade. I check in every week to take advantage of their amazing services. Not only does their site provide a glimpse of exactly what content a movie offers, I've found the “Our Take” reviews and ratings for each movie to be right on the money every single time. I've referred dozens of friends to this service because my #1 resource for deciding whether or not to show a movie to my kids, or to see one myself, is ScreenIt.com!

Josh Nisbet
Director, State of CA Public Sector

I signed up to get Screen It weekly reviews a long time ago, when my kids were young and I wanted to know more about movies before we went to a theater or rented. Now one child is in law school, other in undergraduate, and I still read the weekly Screen Its! It helps me know what my husband and I want to see or rent, and what to have waiting at home that we all will enjoy when my "kids" come home. I depend on Screen It reviews. They usually just present the facts and let me decide if the movie is appropriate or of interest for my family and me. Thank you for providing that service, Screen It!

Patti Petree
Winston Salem, NC

I have 4 children who are now in college. I signed up for Screen It when my children were pre-teenagers. Often my children would ask to see a movie with a friend and I wished I could preview the movie prior to giving permission. A friend told me about ScreenIt.com and I found it to be the next best thing to previewing a movie. The amount of violence, sexual content, or language were always concerns for me and my husband as we raised innocent kids with morals. We constantly fought the peer pressure our kids received to see films that in our opinion were questionable. With the evidence we received at Screen It, our kids couldn't even fight us when we felt a film may have been inappropriate for them to watch. Thank you, Screen It. Continue to make this helpful service available to everyone, but especially the young parents.

Christine Doherty
Machesney Park, IL

Screenit.com is an amazing resource for parents, educators, church groups or anyone who wants to make an informed decision whether a movie is suitable for their viewing. The reviews and content descriptions are so detailed I am mystified how the reviewers can put them together.

Scott Heathe
Vancouver, BC

I love screen It! I don't know what I would do without it. It is well worth the membership. Before we take our son to the movies we check it out on screen it first. Thank you SO much for making it. Keep up the good work & keep 'em coming!!!

Patrina Streety
Moreno Valley California

Other new and recent reviews include:

[Around the World in 80 Days] [Family Camp] [Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness]

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2022 Screen It, Inc.