Giant Review

Giant is a biopic about the famous lightweight boxer Naseem Hamed, told through the eyes of his manager/trainer, Brendan Ingle.

Brendan Ingle (Pierce Brosnan) runs a boxing club in the Wincobank district of Sheffield. After stopping some National Front thugs harassing a local shop, Ingle meets the Hamed family and Mrs Hamed (Elika Ashoori), asks the Irishman if he could train her sons. This includes the youngest member of the family, Naseem (Ghaith Saleh, Ali Saleh, and Amir El-Masry). Ingle sees potential in the youngster and takes Naz under his wing because the trainer believes the fighter could become a world champion.

Giant premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, and British boxing fans would be drawn in since Prince Naseem was a ‘90s icon. He was known for his cockiness and showboating, which made him a marmite figure, but clearly had talent considering his record. The film was produced by Balboa Productions, Sylvester Stallone’s production company, and he had an Executive Producer credit, which added to its boxing credentials. As a Brit, it’s refreshing to see a British boxing film since they are few and far between.

When the film started, it was notable that Ingle’s sons acted as consultants. The first proper scene in the film focused on Ingle as he acted as a DJ at his club. This set out the film’s intent to be about Ingle telling his story whilst marketing itself as a Prince Naseem film. It would be like a film about Mike Tyson told through Don King’s eyes. It felt similar to the Amy Winehouse biopic, whose production involved her father, so it portrayed him in the best possible light. The film’s promotion could have been honest and showed the film was focused on Ingle, but Naseem was a bigger draw because he’s more well-known.

Prince Naseem was the secondary character. A film that actually focused on him would have had a lot to work with since he came from an immigrant background, was a celebrity in Britain and a national hero in Yemen, acted like a boxing version of a heel, and proudly displayed his Islamic faith. He was the first British Muslim to be a boxing world champion, but had a grating media persona.

Throughout the film, Ingle was trying to insert himself into Naseem’s story. This summed up the film: Ingle was trying to take credit for Naseem’s success. However, Ingle came across as someone trying to hog the limelight, which made him seem narcissistic. Examples of this include inserting himself in a promo video about Naseem and hijacking a press conference before Naseem’s first fight in America. He was living vicariously through his boxing protégé. Ingle grew resentful that Naseem didn’t thank his manager/trainer. The film sidestepped more controversial aspects of his life, such as why he lost his amateur license and wrote a tell-all book about Naseem. This was a film that attempted to show one of Naseem’s older brothers as a bad guy for trying to protect his younger sibling. Despite the film trying to be a piece of Ingle’s propaganda, it had the opposite effect. Naseem was critical of the film when he was interviewed by Ring Magazine because he had no involvement.

Giant was unsure about what it wanted to say about Naseem. The film started by showing how extensive racism was in 1980s Britain, and Ingle advised the young boxer to use that hatred to motivate him in the ring. Ingle fuelled Naseem’s arrogance. When the ‘90s came around, the boxing promoter Frank Warren (Toby Stephens) believed Naseem’s bravado could appeal to a younger, more diverse audience, and he could ride the changes in tabloid and lad culture. The film also made it out that Naseem was lazy, eating junk food, and ignoring Ingle’s fighting advice, but those ideas were undercut by Naseem’s athletic physique, and he was able to defeat opponents with ease. If Naseem was told he couldn’t do something, he went out of his way to disprove them.

Giant had a strong cast. Brosnan has gravitas and name recognition, which helped with fundraising and marketing. El-Masry has plenty of film and TV credits, including Industry, Vigil, and 100 Nights of Hero. They both gave great performances. Brosnan was made to look less suave, and he did well in a more grounded role as a man who lived in a small terrace house, comforted by his wife, and was good with kids. Although for an Irishman, Brosnan’s accent sounded bad. El-Masry had the physique and swagger to play the famous boxer in and out of the ring and act as a showman. Every time Naseem was called a cocky little shit, I kept thinking of Robbie Williams in Better Man.

The boxing sequences were fine. They weren’t up to the level of Raging Bull or the Rocky/Creed series; it was clear that Giant was working with a smaller budget, but the fights could please boxing fans. It was great to see the progression in Naseem’s career since he started fighting in working men’s clubs and leisure centres to big arenas in the US and UK. However, Giant suffered a similar issue to the George Foreman biopic in 2023; it tried to cover all of Naseem’s career. It was a lot for a film that was less than two hours long.

Giant couldn’t overcome its obvious bias. Even people who don’t know much about boxing could see that the film was coming from a certain viewpoint.