African Queens: Njinga

Netflix | Release Date: February 15, 2023

1.5	USER SCORE Overwhelming dislike based on 4 Ratings

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MystichydraFeb 28, 2023

It's a genuinely interesting, and oft unexplored, aspect of history. Despite a couple of the professional critics taking issue with the talking heads, I found the historians to be much more engaging than the dramatic reenactments. Which isIt's a genuinely interesting, and oft unexplored, aspect of history. Despite a couple of the professional critics taking issue with the talking heads, I found the historians to be much more engaging than the dramatic reenactments. Which is the bulk of the problem with this series.

I imagine this wasn't the most funded project on Netflix, and it shows. It often looks cheap, and feels stock. Especially with any kind of action scene, which often has the same caliber as a daytime-tv episode of a CW production. Think one tier less than Hercules, quality-wise. It's bad, and anti-immersive. But all those things could have been mitigated in more capable hands. My biggest problem is - the script. Generic, lacking fluidity, overly dramatic in some scenes, and seemingly not enough in others. It's often laughable and borderline unwatchable. The acting frankly ebbs and flows in quality, and I think much of that incongruence is due to the script.

There were odd creative choices, too. Such as when playing dub music and implying 'alteration' (i.e being stoned on something) when introducing the Imbangala (hired mauraders for the Portuguese), and they happened to have dreadlocks. That's personally questionable for a couple reasons - the first is the obvious reductive stereotype. But the second is - generally speaking, playing modern music when trying to portray something historical almost never works. Some people are fans of say, Peaky Blinders, playing PJ Harvey and Nick Cave and whatnot. Most aren't.

Lastly, when compared to other Netflix historical miniseries, the overall quality difference is noticeable. The series that dealt with Rome, Japan, The Pirates, The Ottomans, etc - they all had moments of low-budget cheesiness, but their strengths mitigated their flaws. Sadly, I cannot say the same for African Queens.… Expand

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