I was intrigued that a film like this was being marketed like a blockbuster. For a film studio to promote a film this heavily certainly had my interest.
The very opening scene gives you enough of an indicator of the vibe. It's packed with energy, and it doesn't really let up. You can already feel the heavy use of physical storytelling. The addition of well-known moments of history certainly made me want to find out more about this story once the credits have rolled.
I was getting similar vibes to films like Black Panther, 300 and even A Bug's Life which the latter will make more sense once you see it.
Despite having a lot of energy and aggression, there was still enough time for the film to show its heart and warmth with some touching scenes. Some of that did creep into tropes similar to soap opera. But thankfully it never took me out the film.
The intense finale left me satisfied and it will have a lot of the audience leaving with a positive step in their stride.
The cast did a great job on the whole. I have to give huge props to Viola Davis and Lashana Lynch especially. They both give great physical performances and gave us memorable characters that are easy to invest with. While Davis I think will get most of the plaudits, Lynch for me was the star. This performance of hers certainly wants me to see her in more physical roles and she could kick a lot of ass that mainstream crowds would want to see.
Sheila Atim gave us another powerful character where you can tell her action training worked as she was in a lot of shots actually doing it and not having a stunt double do it all the time.
John Boyega is clearly having fun with his role, Thuso Mbedu gave a great performance and showed she has a bright future and Jimmy Odukoya gave an effective intimidate on-screen presence that worked whenever necessary.
The action scenes are thrilling and well choreographed. The cast and stunt team do a great job in making it gripping content. Plus, the cinematography lets the action play out with no major close-ups or heavy cuts in the editing. The camera gives room for the action which shows confidence in the cast and crew's training.
It was also well edited I felt. The pacing and timing of it gives you a real sense of the day-to-day activities with these characters which I appreciated.
The only negative worth mentioning is the script. It's not strong enough and plays to the cliches that we have seen so often that almost plays it like a soap opera. But I think it gets away with it for the most part as the action and visuals does most of the films talking anyway which is perfectly fine.
I am aware that there has been some uproar in the changing of history and manipulation of its changes within this story. It has even got people to push for a boycott campaign. I'm not usually fussed on these sorts of things. But given the changes made, I can see why certain people are kicking off.
But I can assure you that after actually seeing the film, they do cover the topic people are in uproar about and actually confront it. It still might not be historically accurate. But they don't ignore or even gloss over it.
These types of argument I usually say that if you want to watch something that is historically accurate, watch a documentary. They have billed this as being 'inspired' by a true story. The film industry is primarily there to entertain. This isn't the first film to change history and it won't be the last.
To put a positive light on this, films like this usually make me want to read the real history of the topic at hand and in relation to this film, it's very interesting. I do hope it makes others do the same.
Also, to be in a world where studios are allowing films and stories like this to be put on the big screen now is a big step forward.
Even with that in mind, I felt this was a good piece of entertainment that has a lot of energy and passion. It looks great, it has a sense of spectacle, is worth seeing on the big screen, is a crowd-pleaser, there's plenty of strong performances to speak of and the story is a solid vehicle to showcase so many talents. Sure the structure is one we can tell where it's heading. But you don't really care when the journey is well executed.
Rating: 7/10
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