Where do you stand on the 1985 film version of “The Color Purple,” which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, but won none? Some feel it wasn’t Steven Spielberg’s story to tell. Others marvel at how a director of the upbringing depicted in “The Fabelmans” managed to recognize and reflect so many aspects of Black culture: the music, the spirituality, the multiple catharses to which it builds. Looking back, Spielberg did justice to Alice Walker’s Pulitzer-winning novel, but he also left room to expand and improve.

Now, nearly four decades later, a rousing new version arrives from director Blitz Bazawule, who collaborated with Beyoncé on her 2020 visual album “Black Is King.” Instead of rejecting what came before, the Ghanian filmmaker embraces and builds upon it, collaborating with Spielberg, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey to update the material for the next generation (all three serve as producers). The main change,...