Review: ‘The Woman King’ Is A Terrific Action Drama

Opening in theaters on September 16 courtesy of Sony, TriStar and Entertainment One’s The Woman King is, above all, entertaining. While much of the conversation around Gina Prince-Bythewood’s rousing actioner will understandably be focused on representational milestones and the importance of its (comparatively) untold historical origins, I think it’s worth noting that the film has its cake and eats it too. Yes, it’s an essential and educational piece of polished studio cinema.

It is a prime example of what is possible in an industry even casually committed to expanding the notion of mainstream theatrical entertainment. But it’s also pretty damn fun, telling a serious and occasionally grim story with crowdpleasing action, fully-developed characters and deadpan humor that makes it very much a popcorn movie. Simply put, The Woman King is both nutritious and delicious.

Set in the West African kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century, The Woman King stars Viola Davis as the general of an all-female warrior guard known as the Agojie. Our drama picks up amid a power transfer, with a young King Ghezo (John Boyega) attempting to be a moral king even amid an immoral time. Dahomey’s role in the burgeoning transatlantic slave trade, whereby conquered prisoners are offered as tribute to the Oyo Empire, which sells those African prisoners as slaves to Europeans in exchange for weapons, is a conundrum at the heart of the story.

While enjoyable and comprehensible to all potential moviegoers, the picture is obviously for/from/about those who don’t need a hand-holding lesson about the evils of slavery. The movie’s refusal to be generically universal gives it a distinct specificity. The reported $50 million budget is being stretched to the limit for the sake of polished production values and big-screen splendor.

That it’s not 135 minutes of non-stop action helps. At the same time, the budgetary limitations mean that the screenplay, by Dana Stevens (from a story she wrote with Maria Bello), must offer compelling characters and complex portrayals so that we’re not just taking for the next set piece. Following a showy action-packed prologue, we settle into the status quo.

We then come upon a teenage girl (Thuso Mbedu) who refuses to marry chosen suitors and is thus offered up to the king. However, she never makes it there, as young Nawi catches the eye of Izogie (an often hilarious Lashana Lynch), who instead sends her to train as an Agojie. Like Prince-Bythewood’s The Old Guard , the film is a two-hander between the movie star action heroine and a young Black woman who becomes our proxy guide into the respective story.

It’s an intelligent choice partially because the action sequences have real tension and suspense. Since this is essentially Nawi’s story, anyone else could go the way of Samuel L. Jackson in Deep Blue Sea or Colin Firth in Kingsman: The Secret Service .

We also get a love story between the teen protagonist and a light-skinned hunk (Jordan Bolger). This is partially about giving Nawi a conflict between her desires and the Agojie’s commitment to celibacy. While neither party is terribly articulate in matters of the heart, the subplot also explores additional ways an oppressive system can offer surface-level benefit to the oppressed.

Viola Davis offers the expected gravitas and pathos while playing Nanisca as a dynamic action hero and a conflicted co-lead. Lynch has a pulpy, impish energy that will make her an audience favorite, while Shiela Atim makes an impression as the second-in-command. Thuso Mbedu triumphs merely by holding her own and not being swallowed whole by this cast of heavyweights.

At the same time, Boyega relishes his high-profile character turn as a novice ruler trying to appear more confident and commanding than he feels. This results in a handful of spectacular action sequences, all composed, shot and edited (by Terilyn A. Shropshire) with as much clarity as the PG-13 rating will allow.

I’m sure an R-rated version would be slightly less choppy, but the film has obvious educational value. There are nits to be picked, like one plot turn that makes the world feel smaller. The Woman King works as strong and sturdy Hollywood entertainment that happens to feature underrepresented heroines in an underreported historical drama.

I won’t pretend to know how much of the film is truthful, but I don’t care since A) it’s at-worst compelling fiction and B) I’m not using it to cheat on a school assignment. Polly Morgan shoots the film emphasizing geographic authenticity and (when appropriate) widescreen vistas while offering a mix of intimate character introspection and IMAX-worthy scale. Filled with superb performances from a top-flight cast, with an underrated director in total command of her craft and a surprisingly nuanced screenplay, The Woman King is what we say we want from the industry.

It’s just terrific entertainment. .