A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Woman King” (2022).
“The Woman King” seems to be getting a whole lot of flack on IMDB for sanitising the history of slavery, since the film is based on real people in the West-African country of Dahomey (now part of Benin). Ignoring that furore and viewing it as a standalone film, I though it started slowly but warmed up with some interesting plot-points as it progressed.
I saw this as a part of a #CineworldUnlimited preview. The film opens in the UK on October 4th 2022.
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
Dahomey is a rich country thanks to its involvement in selling slaves (both their own people and captured prisoners) to Brazilian slavers. But they are under constant threat from aggressive neighbours, to who they have to regularly provide ‘tributes’. Fortunately, King Ghezo (John Boyega) has his elite team of ‘Amazonian warriors’ – the Agojie, led by Nanisca (Viola Davis) – to help provide the country with defence. We see the action unfold through the eyes of young Agojie recruit Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), trained under the guidance of old-timer Izogie (Bond’s Lashana Lynch).
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, John Boyega.
Directed by: Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Written by: Dana Stevens. Based on a story by Maria Bello & Dana Stevens.
Twitter Handles: #WomanKingMovie; #TheWomanKing.
“The Woman King” Review:
Positives:
- On the “Groundhog Day” basis that “anything different is good”, there’s no arguing that this is a refreshingly different tale. And given the true-life background material it is based on – there’s a very interesting history of the Agojie elite female warriors here – together with the general push for more ethnically diverse films being made, you can see why this was green-lit.
- Viola Davis is astounding here. What acting talent! When you can go from playing the overweight and bluesy star of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” to the warrior queen Nanisca, that is a sign of a great actress. The supporting cast is also great, with Lashana Lynch being extremely charismatic as Izogie and young Thuso Mbedu, in only her second feature, being magnetically effective. Mbedu picks up an official One Mann’s Movies “one to watch” tag.
- I really wasn’t sure about the story for the first thirty minutes. It felt like this was going to be some sort of African version of “Gladiator”, from young Nawi’s viewpoint as the trainee. But there are a some plot twists, that I didn’t see coming (and I obviously won’t spoil) that add several more levels of depth to what is actually quite a nicely nuanced story.
Negatives
- It all feels surprisingly timid. I presume that this is because although the UK BBFC have made it a ’15’ certificate (and that feels a bit harsh to me), the US authorities have deemed it a PG-13.
- In terms of violence, Nanisca is shown slicing the head clean off a straw dummy: but that’s the last head-slicing-off you see when it comes to the real battles. They are all remarkably bloodless. The choreography of the battles also suffer from occasions where the victims are clearly waiting for the stroke to come and are then felled by a single swipe! This is despite some of our heroes getting the same sort of sword strokes and simply brushing them off: “’tis but a flesh wound”!
- In terms of sex, there is a pivotal scene of lovemaking in the story that is the most subliminal in movie history! A quick glance into each others’ eyes and we cut to the next scene! No swelling music; no establishing pullback shot of the open window; no bed-creaking noises; nothing! If you were distinctly curious about what bedding an Amazonian virgin would be like…. you will still be distinctly curious after this movie!
- The political intrigue behind the king, Nanisca and the beautiful concubine Shante (Jayme Lawson) feels rather undeveloped. It doesn’t carry that same emotional heft as the back-story of internacine family strife within “Gladiator” for example.
- Some of cast lay on the West African regional accents a bit heavily. This meant that I found some of the dialogue difficult to decipher.
Monkeys?
Are there any “monkeys” at the end of “The Woman King”? Yes – there is a mid-credit scene, but to be honest its pretty meaningless and not worth waiting for. It just shows the King’s ‘mystic’, Amenza (Sheila Atim), performing some sort of chanting ritual to honour the fallen Agojie braves. It was 45 seconds of “WTF” for me!
Summary Thoughts on “The Woman King”:
It’s the sort of bold action adventure that we haven’t seen in a while at the cinema and it is pretty entertaining. I don’t think it’s a classic, although Viola Davis once again deserves Oscar attention for the role. The movie has a number of faults. But with the interesting depth to the story, I decided to give it a 4*. Well worth your movie dollar.
Trailer:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RDaPV_rJ1Y .
