Have you seen the trailer of Woman King? What came to your mind when you saw it? The truth is, with the mind-blowing thriller that the producers of Woman King gave us, expectations were high, and what a lot of us were looking up to is if they met those expectations or if they shattered them for us.
Woman King is centered around the historical story of the Dahomey kingdom, where they had only mainly female warriors. Dahomey had been under the subjugation of the Oyo Kingdom for years, and most of their people were being sold out to the Europeans as slaves. It’s a new Era with King Ghezo, and he doesn’t want to be subjected to the Oyo people and the Europeans.
So he aligns with Nanisca, the head of the warriors fighting the Oyo Kingdom. At that time, they are faced with either losing to Oyo or regaining their freedom. While preparing for their way, a 19-year-old girl, Nawi, is being dumped at the palace by her father, who thinks she is useless. However, there is something special about Nawi that makes Nanisca cringe. Will Nawi make it out alive? What is the connection between her and Nanisca? Was Dahomey’s war successful? These are high points that will keep you glued to the movie.
Let me prepare your mind by saying; that if you think you will be watching just fight and history, you are
deceiving yourself. The storyline of Woman King is superb. How the writer combined history, war, love,
emotions, and comedy into a single piece is commendable. The dialogues are on point, and the plot progression is applaudable. But, then, just when you think you know what will happen, a little twist
comes in. I like that the writer didn’t try to bring in too many twists yet was able to make us glued to the
screen all through.
I shouldn’t have expected less when it was rumored that the actors of Woman King had to train for about six months to get into character and the basics right. Only a good director would be that intentional. For one, the casting director deserves a round of applause. The choice of actors is perfect. And then the artistic director knows his onions because the synchronization is admirable. The directing was good, from the war scenes to the dance, to the positioning of actors, to paying attention to every
little detail. Nigerian directors might need to take classes from Gina Prince-Bythewood.
The actors in Woman King displaced a high level of professionalism. There was no single bad actor
including the ones who appeared only once. They got their intonation right, and their facial expression
and even the connection between the characters was believable. You will even feel yourself in the
movie with how well they delivered their roles. Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, and Sheila
Atim were fantastic actors.
All the fight scenes, the training scenes, and even personal scenes amongst them 100%. John Gboyega is the perfect comic relief we needed in the movie, and again, his acting was commendable. Other actors like; Jimmy Odukoya, Masali Baduza, Jayme Lawson, Adrienne Warren, Chioma Antoinette, and Hero Fiennes also did excellent in Woman King. In short, every actor in that movie deserves a standing ovation.
The cinematography and the set are other parts of the movie that stood out. The fire scene was super
clean. The props and sets used in the movie were very detailed; if possible, they should be paid extra money (no be me talk am). The music, costume, and make-up directors also did fantastic jobs in the movie and the combination of all these people gave us a movie worth our time.
Let me end by saying; that there was no bad moment in Woman King. For that, it will be getting a 10/10
