I impulsively decided to go ahead and watch this movie in the theater, mostly because I'm a big fan of Viola Davis. I went in somewhat blind because I hadn't watched any trailers nor heard anything about the plot of the film.
Story wise, the movie was solid. The important cultural messages for society that I felt the movie was trying to give voice to came through and were a succes in my opinion. Though other than that, I wish there would've been more to it than just a revenge story mixed with quite an unnecessary love story on the side. As someone who generally enjoys revenge plots, I enjoyed this film as well but I can imagine that some people may find it a bit too common to spark their interest.
I don't know much about African culture and how accurately this movie portrayed some of that, but I did really like seeing the way the tribe for example celebrated, danced, lived together as a society, etc. For some reason it always put a smile on my face to see the sheer energy from a large group of people during a dance or celebration, which this movie truly managed to capture well. This film felt empowering and hopeful despite the awful circumstances that they had to live in.
The acting was pristine, both from objectively known and lesser known actors. I think it is fair to say that to most people, 'Thuso Mbedu' - who portrays the protagonist 'Nawi' - is lesser known than fellow castmates like 'John Boyega', 'Viola Davis' and 'Lashana Lynch'. Nonetheless, she managed to be a standout amongst these crowned actors and really step up her game. It's often easy to be overshadowed, but none of that happened here. That is also why I call her character the protagonist, because I feel like she was the heart of the story.
Though, the other three actors I just mentioned really did deliver incredible performances as well. I was most surprised by 'Lashana Lynch's' performance, whom I had only seen in 'No Time To Die'. Her character really grew on me and that made certain events in the film really have an impact on me as a viewer. 'Viola Davis' was badass as always; it makes me wish to see more of her in the future. 'John Boyega' was a pleasant surprise for me thanks to his charismatic portrayal of a king.
The cinematography is quite nice, though I didn't really feel like I noticed any outstanding shots that will stay with me for a while. The score didn't stand out for me either in the film, so I probably should listen to it separately as well in order for me to really critique it. Some transitions in the film were quite abrupt and sometimes scenes felt rushed, all the while the movie still felt quite long. These small details didn't bother me as much during my viewing but have to be mentioned.
Last but not least, the action was quite incredible. I don't know if a lot of it was practical because there were unfortunately frequent cuts during actions scenes. I wish we would've gotten some longer shots to really showcase the amazing fighting sequences even more.
The movie could've benefited from an R-rating to make the villains even more hated - as they should be, though I understand that would cut away a huge audience of younger people that could benefit from the cultural messages this movie is trying to exclaim. I rate this film 7.5/10, which for me means that it was an entertaining film with important underlying messages that here and there misses the mark on some minor cinematic points.
Story wise, the movie was solid. The important cultural messages for society that I felt the movie was trying to give voice to came through and were a succes in my opinion. Though other than that, I wish there would've been more to it than just a revenge story mixed with quite an unnecessary love story on the side. As someone who generally enjoys revenge plots, I enjoyed this film as well but I can imagine that some people may find it a bit too common to spark their interest.
I don't know much about African culture and how accurately this movie portrayed some of that, but I did really like seeing the way the tribe for example celebrated, danced, lived together as a society, etc. For some reason it always put a smile on my face to see the sheer energy from a large group of people during a dance or celebration, which this movie truly managed to capture well. This film felt empowering and hopeful despite the awful circumstances that they had to live in.
The acting was pristine, both from objectively known and lesser known actors. I think it is fair to say that to most people, 'Thuso Mbedu' - who portrays the protagonist 'Nawi' - is lesser known than fellow castmates like 'John Boyega', 'Viola Davis' and 'Lashana Lynch'. Nonetheless, she managed to be a standout amongst these crowned actors and really step up her game. It's often easy to be overshadowed, but none of that happened here. That is also why I call her character the protagonist, because I feel like she was the heart of the story.
Though, the other three actors I just mentioned really did deliver incredible performances as well. I was most surprised by 'Lashana Lynch's' performance, whom I had only seen in 'No Time To Die'. Her character really grew on me and that made certain events in the film really have an impact on me as a viewer. 'Viola Davis' was badass as always; it makes me wish to see more of her in the future. 'John Boyega' was a pleasant surprise for me thanks to his charismatic portrayal of a king.
The cinematography is quite nice, though I didn't really feel like I noticed any outstanding shots that will stay with me for a while. The score didn't stand out for me either in the film, so I probably should listen to it separately as well in order for me to really critique it. Some transitions in the film were quite abrupt and sometimes scenes felt rushed, all the while the movie still felt quite long. These small details didn't bother me as much during my viewing but have to be mentioned.
Last but not least, the action was quite incredible. I don't know if a lot of it was practical because there were unfortunately frequent cuts during actions scenes. I wish we would've gotten some longer shots to really showcase the amazing fighting sequences even more.
The movie could've benefited from an R-rating to make the villains even more hated - as they should be, though I understand that would cut away a huge audience of younger people that could benefit from the cultural messages this movie is trying to exclaim. I rate this film 7.5/10, which for me means that it was an entertaining film with important underlying messages that here and there misses the mark on some minor cinematic points.