adminSo, if you're threatened by seeing strong and powerful women kick serious, but then the woman king, it's just not going to be the movie for you, but for everybody else who possesses mental maturity. This is an epic story to take in. This is the story of the ogoji, the all-female unit of warriors, who protected the African kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s, with skills and fierceness. Unlike anything, the world has ever seen, so something i'm glad this film does right from the very beginning is that it addresses Dahomey's involvement in the African slave trade. Now, the story doesn't dance around the fact.
This kingdom, among others, were complicit in selling humans, but this story then tells us and shows us how they went about, correcting that and how, despite the potential financial blow that they could experience, it was more important to protect the people and put an end to their involvement. In the slave trade, this film then gives us a snapshot of a small period in time where the leader of the kings guard, a woman, the general of the egoji, led the fight. The film opens up with a nighttime battle that is frenzied, and violent, and it's exciting. Now, some of the edits are a bit quick and some of the action gets jumbled, but most of the time we can clearly see all the hand-to-hand battles that are taking place and then the brutality that ensues from there. The story takes a big step back to introduce us to the Dahomey kingdom, the warriors, and the king.
The story gets a great deal of focus, story, building, and character, development of the egoji, and some new recruits, and this is where we really get to meet our players, see their strengths and their weaknesses, and the film doesn't rush this. I love that this portion, though, doesn't drag, i mean, there's an energy and even an urgency to the training and the storytelling. We get some training montages that are executed well, as they really don't linger unnecessarily. On every aspect of the training, i mean we see the important areas of growth at times when a character is going to be struggling, and then we get to see the progress being made. Viola Davis is in the lead role here as general naniska.
Now, right from the start, we see her power and ferocity, and i love that she looks like a warrior. I mean she wields her sword with agility and strength and we can see that just the battle scars that are all over her shoulders. Her face, i mean her back arms she's, not a general that sits back but she's right in the middle of the fray davis convincingly exudes strength and confidence. But what i really love are the quieter moments that we see from her, despite her battle-worn exterior she's, still human with hurts, regrets, and fears, and there are key moments where she's alone, or maybe with a trusted confidant – that we get to see a softer emotion spill From her – and i love how this makes her so relatable, she leads and fights because it's her duty but she's also not a robot she's, not devoid of emotion or compassion, and from these quieter moments we get to see how her motivations are shaped. Now, as awesome as viola Davis is – and I mean she really is spectacular in this – there are three standouts for me: lashonna lynch, sheila atem and tuso mubatu, and i hope i pronounced her name correctly.
So, let's start with hashana lynch, she was my favorite in the film she's witty a bit snarky vicious when needed. But then has this very soft and compassionate side to her. She takes nawi a new recruit, the one played by boom badu and takes her under her wing and she's, not really showing favoritism, but she sees potential there and she wants to foster it she's very much, a big sister to gnawi, even giving her the nickname titsy, Because she's little and annoying, but lynch captures so much emotion in her eyes, she quickly can transition through several different emotions that are very relatable and then appropriate for the scene. She'Ll go from battle hard to smiling at a victory to then a knowing terror, or maybe a concern that she sees something in the distance and i instantly rooted for her and was constantly afraid of her well-being. Knowing that, because she's a top warrior, the peril is real.
Sheila atom is another one of my favorites in this and she's the close confidant to davis's niska, now they've known each other for a very long time, and so she can share in conversations that nobody else can atem as an actress. But she is taller and skinnier than many of the other actors that make up the agoji, but don't think that that means she can't kick some serious booty. She is skilled and her movements are fluid and deadly, and just like lynch, she can bring some low-key humor to the story, not telling a joke or being comedic just saying something that feels very natural in a way that lightens the mood, but also reflects exactly what We as the audience would be thinking her dynamic with both davis and lynch. I thought it was so awesome to watch because they feed off of each other just providing dialogue, deliveries that flow well, but they also draw us into their triad now. Finally, we have tua.
So mubatu playing nawi or tsitsi, now she's a young woman from the kingdom who wants to be part of the agoji which that means then she has to train and test, and we see a lot of the story through her point of view. As just this newcomer within the palace walls, mumbadu has a powerful presence on screen because she brings a sort of petulance or maybe feistiness to the character. She is strong-willed, but she's also determined, and i love that things aren't easy for her. I mean the story doesn't provide conveniences for her, so that now we can just breeze through everything she has to earn her spot, and then the narrative puts us through all the challenges and pitfalls in her path. Just to make her journey convincing john boyega is also in this as the king and he is great to watch, but really the others that i had just mentioned.
They'Re the stars and really the reason for this story and for the story itself. This flows well and was very captivating balancing the dialogue driven drama with the action. There are some moments where story elements are predictable and in one scene the story decides to really just spoon feed the audience. Some information that had been previously just hinted at now. At first this annoyed me, i mean i thought it was convincingly laid out prior, but the more that i thought about it.
I appreciate that the story chose to make this point just utterly obvious, so that nobody could get hung up on trying to figure out that detail and then potentially missed a more important story amongst that are following, so was that part a little bit redundant yeah? I think so, but it's also a good story choice now, when we get action pieces in this outside of the trainings. These are brutal. There'S a scene in the latter half of the film that we'd be right at home in braveheart or game of thrones. I mean the fight was epic violent, but also showcases, some hero, shots that are going to make you want to cheer and in fact, in the screening audience that i was at, they did cheer it's an exciting, but also harrowing scene, and the camera gives us some Excellent shots of the fighting where the cuts aren't quickly edited together i mean we get to see the choreography that's present within the melee now.
One thing that you may be surprised with, because i was is that this is pg-13. So, despite the crazy violence, there's not a ton of blood or gore shown i mean we will see swords, slash people or a spear pierce somebody, but there's not this huge spurting of blood that would accompany something with a stronger rating, but even still i mean we Do get to see a sword being buried in somebody's shoulder in the neck area, so there are kills that are captured on screen, maintaining the exhilaration and the urgency. The music in this is absolutely moving and inspiring many times i'll watch and hear the egoji sing and chant like a choir building the emotional intensity to such a high level and then many times that will also be accompanied by a single singer. Speaking or singing the lyrical story, i was completely enthralled by the music as it complemented and it directed the sequences now. This is a longer film at about 2 hours and 15 minutes, but i was never bored and i didn't feel any better the length i was glued to my seat, just captivated by the characters their journey and then the drama that was unfolding, which was all pointing To this impending battle, and when we get those moments, they are earned, the story didn't rush to get us there for the sake of just an action sequence.
The events were building supported by the dialogue and the character development. This is a hero story, with complex characters that are deserving of our cheers. When the climax moments come, i mean the emotion swells and it's hard not to be completely enveloped in that emotion. There'S a mid-credit scene that you're going to want to stay for, and it's not pointing to some sequel or anything like that, but it contains a very powerful and beautiful moment that i think shouldn't be missed. So, overall, the woman king is a thrilling and emotional story about an indomitable people and their decision to change their trajectory in order to no longer harm their people.
It'S powerful nuanced pointed and relevant viola davis showcases why she is such a powerhouse actor displaying both fear, strength and heartfelt softness. Lashana lynch, sheila, atem and tuso mubadu are the standouts bringing energy to the narrative that makes this a must-see movie. The soundtrack is incredible, but the absolute best part of the entire movie is the representation that it creates: powerful and strong black women at the front and center of this spectacular film. There'S no sex, maybe some very brief, nudity a little bit of profanity and a ton of violence, including sexual violence. I give the woman king five out of five couches.
I mean seriously. Do yourself a favor and see this as soon as you're able i'm also curious at how many awards nods we're going to see for the lead cast because they totally deserve it. So, what's a historical film that you really enjoy, let me know in the comments below
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