Living Legend Viola Davis (Fences, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom ) captivates each scene she’s in, regardless of the movie. With as much range as anyone in Hollywood, Davis has earned her share of accolades, amassing four Academy Award nominations in the last 13 years. But she’s never had the opportunity to headline a big-budget movie on her name alone. In Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, Beyond the Lights), The Woman King, Davis gets the opportunity to do just that. Davis’s performance well could earn her a sixth Oscar nomination (in a very competitive year). The film, filled with epic battle scenes, told an important true story. Ultimately, though, The Woman King failed to live up to my expectations.

The Woman King likely will earn multiple Oscar nominations this year. In most years, Davis is a lock. 2022 will be a competitive year for the Lead Actress category. I could expect production design, costumes, make-up, and sound nominations. However, I don’t see it receiving a Best Picture nomination, even with its acclaim from critics (94%) and audiences (99%).

Our inspired-by-true-events film begins with an opening screen crawl. We learn that the kingdom of Dahomey has crowned a young king, Ghezo (John Boyega – Breaking, Detroit). Their enemies, the Oyo Empire, have teamed up with the Mahi people to capture Dahomey villagers and give them to European slave traders. The Oyo have an advantage with their guns and horses. The Dahomey tribe has a group of female Amazon warriors, the Agojie, led by General Nanisca (Davis), who is set to protect their kingdom.

Our first scene shows how ruthless Nanisca and her warriors are as they wipe out a small army of soldiers that have captured a recent group of Dahomey. Despite their advanced military warfare, the trained Oyo soldiers are no match for the mercilessness of Agojie.

Always on the lookout for recruits, Ghezo and Nanisca bring in a new group of young girls (ones who volunteer on their own for the chance to be selected as warriors). Two protagonists lead the latest group. The first is the independent Nawi (Thuso Mbedo), who is not afraid to speak her mind, challenge authority, or play a practical joke (whether appropriate or not). The second is Izogie (Lashana Lynch – Captain Marvel, No Time to Die), who quickly becomes her best friend and closest confidant. We watch as these, and other girls who passed basic training, receive instruction and skill by the disciplined and often unforgiving Nanisca as they prepare this group of warriors who, of course, we will see in actual battle soon enough.

The performance of Davis and the incredible intangibles (sound, production design, costumes, and make-up in particular) were overshadowed by a formulaic script that included a twist to add some fictional narrative that we saw coming long before it occurred. Ultimately, The Woman King was a film that we’ve seen, in some fashion, many times before. While it benefits from being inspired by actual events, its lack of execution and difficulty allows us to fully connect to Nanisca, Nawi, Izogie, and others.

Plot 8/10
Character Development 6/10
Character Chemistry 7/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 6/10
Directing  7/10
Cinematography 8/10
Sound 8.5/10
Hook and Reel 7.5/10
Universal Relevance 8.5/10
74.5%