The Woman King

TriStar Pictures | Release Date: September 16, 2022

3.0	USER SCORE Generally unfavorable reviews based on 482 Ratings

USER RATING DISTRIBUTION

Watch Now

Stream On

Expand

Review this movie

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.

Check box if your review contains spoilers

0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User score By date Most helpful

ReizigSep 25, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The Movie looks great and the Actors did a great Job , but depicting Slavetaders as the good guys just doesnt feel right ...… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

All this user's reviews

theirrelephantsSep 28, 2022

Historical revisionism aside (and hoo boy was the movie pretty much based on rewriting history), this is one of those movies where it could have been entertaining... if only everyone else had the main lead's talent.

Viola Davis tries toHistorical revisionism aside (and hoo boy was the movie pretty much based on rewriting history), this is one of those movies where it could have been entertaining... if only everyone else had the main lead's talent.

Viola Davis tries to salvage the film at great effort, but can't quite manage to carry it on her back alone, though anyone who says she didn't try is lying.

An interesting premise that could have been done much, much better than it was. Nothing was stopping them from inventing a fake fantasy country like wakanda. Or even better: from spending that big budget on actors who were closer to Viola's level (IE not boyega). Sadly, they did neither.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

All this user's reviews

Mauro_LanariDec 24, 2022

(Mauro Lanari)
I could dismiss it by quoting Silvio Danese: "Amazons against slavers: the [militarist] action movie in the time of #meToo". I could aggravate the criticism by adding that the epic cancels the sentimental melò and vice versa.(Mauro Lanari)
I could dismiss it by quoting Silvio Danese: "Amazons against slavers: the [militarist] action movie in the time of #meToo". I could aggravate the criticism by adding that the epic cancels the sentimental melò and vice versa. But the situation is even more serious: a culture of the ephemeral that deliberately leaves no traces of itself since it builds eternal reboots on the desertification of memory (as for "Avatar 2").… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

All this user's reviews

AnoxicEventOct 22, 2022

Should have called it a fantasy movie with zero ties to history. The tribe where of the most brutal slave trader that would invade, steal and kidnap people to sold in the slave market. Changing them to heros is hard to swallow.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

All this user's reviews

Brent_MarchantSep 18, 2022

Where do I begin with this one: Simply put, director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s latest offering is a wholesale mess in so many regards that I couldn’t wait for this overlong slog to end. In the course of frequently checking my watch, I wasWhere do I begin with this one: Simply put, director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s latest offering is a wholesale mess in so many regards that I couldn’t wait for this overlong slog to end. In the course of frequently checking my watch, I was subjected to 2+ hours of sloppy writing attempting to cover historical fuzziness, despite the film’s contention that it’s a historic epic set in an alternate historical timeline (which is kind of like claiming that someone is almost a virgin or just a little pregnant). On top of this, the endless saga is peppered with too many extraneous subplots that detract from the protagonist’s narrative, silly story elements that don’t make sense, far too many repetitive war dances, corny dialogue, frequently gratuitous and credibility-stretching fight sequences, and a disappointing performance by Viola Davis who tries to come off as a badass African-American female version of John Wick. The finished product thus ends up playing like a project put together by a committee of producers. To its credit, the picture includes historical material that some might find uncomfortable, a few noteworthy and heartfelt scenes in the home stretch run, and modestly entertaining touches of comic relief, but that’s small compensation for everything else this one gets wrong. I’m sure politically correct viewers will eat this one up, especially when it comes to addressing matters of female empowerment, but I also can’t help but wonder how any enlightened woman would look at this and say that the secret to being a better individual is to act more like male macho schmucks. Because of all this, I’m truly at a loss to understand what so many critics see in this release. Even as a pure entertainment vehicle, it just doesn’t measure up compared to many of the other action-adventure offerings out there. Wait till this one comes to streaming – and only then if you have nothing better to do.… Expand

12 of 15 users found this helpful123

All this user's reviews

MattyIce34Sep 16, 2022

The acting and fight scenes are good. If that’s what you come in wanting, the film delivers. But at 135 minutes it drags at points, and a quick google search will show that while the film paints the Europeans as slavers and the AfricanThe acting and fight scenes are good. If that’s what you come in wanting, the film delivers. But at 135 minutes it drags at points, and a quick google search will show that while the film paints the Europeans as slavers and the African nations as freedom fighter, the opposite is actually true by the time the film takes place.

So as a war film? Decent. As a historical one? Look elsewhere.… Expand

10 of 16 users found this helpful106

All this user's reviews

All_ButTrU4Nov 10, 2022

Honestly not surprised by the reviews for this movie. It's only a symptom that's been consistently appearing in film reception and criticism where black stories are told. An uncomfortable pattern of accusations of wokeness,reverse racism orHonestly not surprised by the reviews for this movie. It's only a symptom that's been consistently appearing in film reception and criticism where black stories are told. An uncomfortable pattern of accusations of wokeness,reverse racism or pandering flooding conversations of a fictional story. What I find interesting is how absent these complaints are in media that gives watered-down depictions of European history,colonialism, segregation, greek/roman age etc. How in those aforementioned examples creative licenses are rarely used to discredit the entire medium. Nonetheless Woman king is a failure in its own right. As film independent of political criticisms its a wasted effort. Boasting an astonishing cast of black actors its weak script and lackluster cinematography leave a lot to be designed. It feels formulaic and the stakes don't really land as intended. It's as if we're watching parts of a complete movie ,like it's been badly edited for time. Which is unfortunate. It's idealism though wrongly criticized for being propaganda and dishonest us mostly just a barrier for the telling of a more complicated tale of survival, power,gender roles,slavery, Africa and womanhood. It instead feels like an action movie rather than the complex historical fiction drama it wants you to think it is.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

All this user's reviews

RohmoSep 20, 2022

Very well acted. Had some gripes with the action. Some of it is well directed. Some of it is a bit to choppily cut for my tastes. The story had enough intrigue and heart for me to recomend it.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

All this user's reviews