THE WOMAN KING

Let’s set the scene. Slavery is at an all-time high and a circle of pain and prisoners follow the warring Oyo and Dahomey nations. Nanisca (Viola Davis) is the general of the king’s Agojie – an army of all women warriors who don’t take husbands and don’t have children. Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) is a stubborn and arrogant girl who refuses to be with an old man.

I don’t know about you, but that is excellent set up for a movie. You’d think this movie is an hour 30, give or take. This movie is over two hours long. It has, in my opinion, too many subplots. There are some that are never even solved in the movie.

Now, some of these subplots deal with hard to swallow ideas and realities, such as slavery, abuse, and SA. Others… are more out-of-place. Nawi being deeply connected to Nanisca, the king’s wife being jealous of Nanisca, Malik (Jordan Bolger), it all felt like too much.

On top of that, the fight scenes were chaotic, and I could barely tell what was going on.

Is this movie important? Yes. Should you watch it? Yes. Do I think it was the best movie to come out of 2022? No.

The good parts of this movie thankfully outweigh the bad. The character development is perfection, the themes are important, and the relationships formed all made me smile. The colors were vibrant, and all the languages spoken were music to my ears. The songs sung were also just beautiful. The main plot was amazing. The creators of this movie just did too much with it.