I found this movie to be entertaining and well played. The Agojie were cast well, and Viola Davis did a great job playing Nanisca and leading her warriors to battle. The supporting cast did well also; while they didn't have as serious and impact as Viola, they are respected.
It's not easy making a movie where you need to cover so much in so little time. There is a lot going on, and you don't wank to leave too much to assumption. This is in the middle of the transatlantic slave trade. Most tribes, including the Dahomey Tribe, were trading slaves to the Europeans for goods.
This movie had to have a story, so it's based on relationships and discovery, while at the same time attempting to be historically accurate to a point. This is hard, as you want to be entertaining, but valid. My high rating on the movie is more so for entertainment value, I feel like Gina Prince Bythewood did a great job cutting this film down to 2 hours, and still covering a lot of information.
Of course based on the trailer, I like many others went in expecting lots of fight scenes and hand to hand combat. This wasn't the case. Most of the movie was telling a story, and a decent story was accomplished.
While the film lacked climactic highlights that would classify this as a great movie, it holds its own special place in the category it lands in of historical meets entertainment.
Where I feel the movie missed its mark is in the area the movie 300 hit the mark. There's a perfect line of combat and entertainment that a film maker can achieve, and it's a science.
I'm a fan of Sheila Atim, I would have loved seeing more of her in fight scenes. I'm also a fan of Lashana Lynch; I feel she too could have been in more fight scenes and created a different feel. John Boyega did what I would consider just an OK job portraying King Ghezo, I feel that role could have been played to be more controversial. King Ghezo was not as open and correct as the role was made out to portray.
Overall a good watch, but could have been a blockbuster with a few minor tweaks.
It's not easy making a movie where you need to cover so much in so little time. There is a lot going on, and you don't wank to leave too much to assumption. This is in the middle of the transatlantic slave trade. Most tribes, including the Dahomey Tribe, were trading slaves to the Europeans for goods.
This movie had to have a story, so it's based on relationships and discovery, while at the same time attempting to be historically accurate to a point. This is hard, as you want to be entertaining, but valid. My high rating on the movie is more so for entertainment value, I feel like Gina Prince Bythewood did a great job cutting this film down to 2 hours, and still covering a lot of information.
Of course based on the trailer, I like many others went in expecting lots of fight scenes and hand to hand combat. This wasn't the case. Most of the movie was telling a story, and a decent story was accomplished.
While the film lacked climactic highlights that would classify this as a great movie, it holds its own special place in the category it lands in of historical meets entertainment.
Where I feel the movie missed its mark is in the area the movie 300 hit the mark. There's a perfect line of combat and entertainment that a film maker can achieve, and it's a science.
I'm a fan of Sheila Atim, I would have loved seeing more of her in fight scenes. I'm also a fan of Lashana Lynch; I feel she too could have been in more fight scenes and created a different feel. John Boyega did what I would consider just an OK job portraying King Ghezo, I feel that role could have been played to be more controversial. King Ghezo was not as open and correct as the role was made out to portray.
Overall a good watch, but could have been a blockbuster with a few minor tweaks.