The Woman King

The Woman King (2022) is a movie my wife and I caught in theatres last night. The storyline follows an African kingdom with a new(er) king in 1823 who posses the only female army in Africa. The leader of the female Army has a past that haunts her but the respect of her king, enough to be on his council. She strongly urges him to avoid the slave trade and find alternative methods of riches. Meanwhile, those who do believe strongly in the slave trade look to march on the kingdom and bring them down. A new recruitment class to the female army brings brashness, new ideas to defend the kingdom, and the female leader's ghosts back to the forefront...

This movie is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball) and stars Viola Davis (The Help), Thuso Mbedu (The Underground Railroad), Lashana Lynch (No Time to Die), Sheila Atim (Doctor Strange: In the Mouth of Madness), John Boyega (Star Wars: Episode VII-IV) and Jimmy Odukoya (Mamba's Diamond).

This movie has so much depth and contains a great primary plot and even better sub plots. The writing is remarkable, thorough and very impressive. The character's inner demons are well portrayed as is their struggle to overcome them. The acting is out of this world across the board. You feel for every character; and if anything happens to anyone, you feel personally hurt. The villains were also excellent as is the outcome of each of them. The settings and cinematography is outstanding and there is impressive use of lighting. The action scenes are remarkable and the fight choreography is award winning caliber. My only complaint is an awkward love story that is obviously in here to show maturity and self discovery but I could have done without it.

Overall, this movie has literally everything you'd want in a movie - tremendous action, great villains, self discovery and character triumph. I would strongly, strongly recommend seeing this movie and score it a 10/10. We loved it.

It's not the first time that Hollywood makes a film set in a different culture while showing little respect for that culture or history. Think El Cid with Charlton Heston, Mulan or even Ben Hur. The difference is it is now the turn of African historic characters and events to be butchered. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with it. After all, artists should be able to take any story and reinterpret it as they see fit. The issue is when you position yourself as a hero for doing it. As if all Africans should be thankful that Hollywood finally decided to butcher one of their stories, and tell it the only way a valid movie can be made: the American way.

While the production design is admittedly strong, everything else is bland and poor, and insulting to African culture. From the costumes to the character motivations to the horrible lines, everything is reduced to a traditional American action movie, and not one of the best. Often times, you have the feeling of watching Mulan or Pocahontas, which are likely the filmmaker's primary film references. It's that bad.

With its unashamed cultural imperialism, The Woman King is a symptom of the worst our times have to offer.

This is a historically unreliable movie. And the slavegrowers are exposed as good. The authors hide the name of the product, which the tribe sold, sold slaves to America. They make good people who ritually killed children, cut the throats of children, knitted other Africans and sold them as slaves to America. A pseudo-historical film, the Portuguese who were absent during this time period, and all the action shows a fictional world and actions. They are trying to impose a false story to show that white men are evil. Although this African country was bathed in blood and enslaved other African countries into slavery.

Woman King" attempts to retell historical events, but instead of staying true to the original narrative, it takes liberties that ultimately detract from the story's integrity. This film serves as a prime example of how modifying history for the sake of entertainment can result in a disappointing and inaccurate portrayal.

One of the most egregious aspects of "Woman King" is its blatant disregard for the true events and characters it claims to depict. By altering crucial details and fabricating scenes, the film not only distorts history but also undermines the significance of the actual events and the people involved. Rather than honoring the bravery and sacrifices of historical figures, "Woman King" reduces them to mere caricatures, robbing them of their complexity and depth.

Moreover, the deviations from historical accuracy serve no discernible purpose other than to sensationalize the story and cater to Hollywood conventions. The result is a narrative riddled with clichés and contrived plot points, which do little to engage or enlighten the audience. Instead of shedding light on lesser-known aspects of history, "Woman King" perpetuates misconceptions and reinforces stereotypes, doing a disservice to both the past and the present.

Furthermore, the film's disregard for historical accuracy extends to its portrayal of cultural and social dynamics. By glossing over or outright ignoring the nuances of the time period, "Woman King" presents a sanitized version of history that fails to capture the complexities of the era. This not only detracts from the authenticity of the story but also diminishes its potential impact as a work of historical fiction.

In summary, "Woman King" is a disappointing film that sacrifices historical accuracy for the sake of entertainment. By distorting the true events and characters it claims to depict, the film not only fails to do justice to the historical figures it portrays but also perpetuates misconceptions and stereotypes. Rather than offering insight into the past, "Woman King" serves as a cautionary tale of the dangers of sacrificing truth for the sake of a compelling narrative.

The Agojie warriors played a significant role in Ghezo's campaign for expansion through the export of African slaves. Plus the movie was terrible. Bad acting. Bad story. Boring based off a bunch of lies."How accurate is The Woman King?" we learned that in real life, the Dahomey are much more the villains than the heroes. The Kingdom of Dahomey was a bloodthirsty society bent on conquest. It was customary for the Dahomey to return home with the rotting heads and genitals of those they killed in battle. They conquered neighboring African states and took their citizens as slaves, selling many in the Atlantic slave trade in exchange for items like rifles, tobacco, and alcohol. Many of the slaves they sold ended up in America. They also kept some slaves for themselves to work on royal plantations. The business of slavery is what brought Dahomey most of its wealth. For them, it very much came down to either enslave others or become enslaved yourself.