I’m sure if you
are a fan of WWE wrestling, especially of the iconic figure this film is based
on, The Sheik will provide plenty of
enjoyment. Personally, I prefer my soap opera with a lot less yelling and a lot
better acting, but was still able to find some enjoyment in the character study
at the center of this documentary. I may have been able to enjoy the human
aspects of the story even more if the filmmakers didn’t allow themselves to
seep into the narrative as giddy fans during the second half of the film. While
I appreciate their passion, it did little to reassure me the filmmaking wasn’t
affected by the filmmakers’ obvious bias.
Beginning as a
fairly traditional biographical documentary, we are given insight into the childhood
of Khosrow Ali Vaziri, the man who would eventually become known as ‘The
Sheik.’ Born in Iran
Vaziri’s persona
of The Iron Sheik was solidly in the category of ‘heel,’ the perfect bad guy
for the whitest hero to build his career off of during the 1980s. Hulk Hogan’s
popularity began with his scripted rivalry against The Sheik, with transparent
messages about an entire culture just an unfortunate side effect. Somewhere
along the way the persona seemed to become a part of Vaziri, until now it feels
as though he is always performing as The Sheik, spouting out purposefully
incendiary comments to retain whatever level of fame is possible.
This is the part
of the documentary I found increasingly irritating, not to mention unfocused.
The same guys responsible for this documentary participated in building The
Sheik a social media presence, all but admitting to being the ones posting for
him. They brought him back to minor celebrity by using his ability to be the
bad guy, essentially just saying any comment that will get attention. I have no
doubt that Vaziri had an incredible influence on the world of professional
wrestling and his personal life is filled with enough tragedy and heartache for
the parasitic tendencies of non-fiction filmmaking, but this film turns into a
self-congratulatory mess when the filmmakers make themselves a part of the
story.
The special
features include only a trailer.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 3.5/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
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