The Woman King
★★★
The Woman King feels like a throwback epic action film that reminded me of Gladiator or Braveheart with, well, more women. The film is simplistic in its narrative but powerful in its themes. The film focuses on the all-female African tribe, the Agojie, from the 1800s and does an amazing job of rooting itself in the power of feminism. But at the same time, it doesn't rest on this to create a successful movie. You end up investing heavily in the characters, regardless if they are female or not.
Viola Davis was a tremendous pick as General Nanisca and has added yet, another dynamic role to her impressive resume. But I was particularly impressed by Thuso Mbedu, who is the actress who really carries the movie. She and Davis play well off one another and their connection is vital to this story.
I was surprised at how self-contained the movie was, as most of it takes place in the village of Dahomey. I feel like a lot more could have been made from the African landscape and the scenery became repetitive, especially for a film that runs over two hours. As a whole, The Woman King dragged on a bit too long for me and the beats and actions become predictable. But as an action film, it's solidly entertaining with more to say than most films of this elk. It's not a film that I'm naturally drawn to, but it was great to see an almost all-female, black cast carry a movie with grit and ease.
