The day I watched the trailer for the movie, The Woman King I had goosebumps. The story looked interesting, the characters were a good blend of familiar and unfamiliar faces and the fight scenes looked so cool! I left a mental note to definitely watch it soon after it was released. Interestingly enough I tweeted something silly that happened to me and tagged SilverBird Cinemas. They then gave me a free ticket to watch The Woman King! When I saw it, I screamed!
I invited some friends and we got to the cinema, bought myself some popcorn and waited for the cinema room doors to open. I knew deep down, the movie would be fire and it didn’t disappoint at all. My friends and I really enjoyed it. I will do my best not to put in any spoilers. The Woman King has it all; action, humour, a good story, and inspiring characters. Now let’s start with the story because there has been a bit of drama going around about the historical accuracy of the movie and as a writer, it’s only fair.
The story according to history
The Woman King is based on a true story. The women’s army did exist in Dahomey which is modern-day Benin. Just like the movie states, they were called the Agojie and they resided in the Palace with the king. To make the movie as exciting as it is, most of the characters are fictional. Nanisca the main character played by Viola Davis and King Ghezo played by John Boyega are actually real. Nanisca wasn’t a general though but a young Agojie according to an accident by a French historian. The movie is a good blend of fact versus fiction. In all honesty, I believe that the writers did a good job of tying everything in. Now let’s talk about the action!
Action scenes
This movie is so power-packed that the very first scene is an action scene! Viola Davis in an interview said that at least 80% of the fight scenes were done by the actors because they wanted it to have a very realistic feel. My goodness, that was such a good idea because when you watch all the fight scenes in the woman king they look so authentic. It’s almost like you are there with them. The Agojie have both skill and tact so they make fighting look awesome. These warriors were not afraid of death and it’s clearly visible in the bravery and force with which they fight.
The humour in The Woman King
I didn’t expect much humour in this movie but it’s loaded with punchlines and some characters being silly. I absolutely enjoyed the jokes and they also brought out a different side to these fierce women warriors. They were humans and ordinary people too with feelings and an occasional giggle here and there. The stubbornness and silliness are very enjoyable.
The casting
The movie did a wonderful job with the casting. It took me a while to recognize John Beyega because he just looked like a real young African king! His accent and acting was superb. The accents in the movie were well done. Some people do feel like they sounded too Nigerian but The Republic of Benin is literally next to Nigeria and at that time Africa was really not divided into countries. Viola Davis along with all the other actors were extremely well cast. They also went through so much training that they performed so well!
I wholeheartedly enjoyed the movie. I’m not sure if it was the fact that there were many things I could relate to in the movie, the fact that I admired the Agojie when I studied about them in history class, or the fact that it was a well-done movie. It’s probably a mix of all these things. The good news is that The Woman King is still showing at SilverBird Cinemas at Accra Mall and all over the world too so if you are wondering if this movie is worth it, it is! I’m leaving you with the trailer that literally gave me goosebumps, enjoy!
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon every day. It will always be useful to read through articles from other writers and use a little something from other websites.