Underground review: John Legend helps slavery drama dance to a different tune

By Karl Quinn
Updated January 30 2017 - 11:14pm, first published January 27 2017 - 12:00am
The magnificent seven escaped slaves in <i>Underground</i>: (from left) Henry (Renwick Scott), Zeke (Theodus Crane), Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Noah (Aldis Hodge), Cato (Alano Miller), Sam (Johnny Ray Gill), and Moses (Mykelti Williamson). Photo: Stan
The magnificent seven escaped slaves in <i>Underground</i>: (from left) Henry (Renwick Scott), Zeke (Theodus Crane), Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Noah (Aldis Hodge), Cato (Alano Miller), Sam (Johnny Ray Gill), and Moses (Mykelti Williamson). Photo: Stan

At first blush, there's little in Underground that's new. If you've seen Roots or 12 Years a Slave, you've seen its brutal depiction of the slave-era south. And if you've seen Freedom, the 2014 feature film directed by Australian Peter Cousens, you'll be acquainted with the Underground Railroad, the network of people and secret routes that ferried slaves from the south to freedom in the north in the 1840s and '50s.

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