Wizard-8
There's nothing really wrong with the premise of "Message from the King", that being about one man's quest to avenge the death of his sister. Yes, it's been done many times before, but with some imaginative direction and a sprinkling of a few fresh elements, it could very well have worked again. However, the actual end results are less than enthralling. The telling of this particular rehash does have in its favor the fact that it plays out in a more realistic manner than other tellings. There is also a seedy and gritty feeling that is appropriate for this premise and setting. But all this does not make up for the fact that the movie plays out in a way that is quite frankly slow, uninvolving, and downright boring at times. It's far too talkative, and seems to be spinning its wheels frequently. There also isn't that much action, and the direction of these few action sequences fails to boost the energy level at best, and is downright incompetent at its worst. Around the few action sequences, the movie is equally badly directed, with the camera zoomed in so close to the actors more often that not that you'll get a strong claustrophobia feeling. In the end, the movie doesn't even qualify as rainy day viewing, so I say skip it.
kosmasp
Another King role for Chadwick. Just kidding and I haven't seen Black Panther yet (though that situation will be remedeed later on tonight). This movie is a straight up revenge thriller. And I really am not telling you anything you won't read in the description. Chadwick is the stranger who comes into town - in search for his sister and his nephew.Now you can imagine that he won't just find them the minute he comes over. What he does find is some friends and quite some trouble. With an interesting choice in "weapon" he goes on to find out what happened. Now if you are a pacifist, you may not like how he approaches certain individuals or how he revolves arguments or how he achieves getting information from certain individuals. But this is a movie and a certain motivation plus determination will lead to a violent resolution. Question is: how well is it made? I'd say more than decent enough. It doesn't add anything really new to the genre, but it is well executed (if you'll excuse the pun) ...
nixy69
I know some Netflix films can be a little rubbish but they excelled themselves here. In my opinion the whole cast excelled especially Chadwick Boseman who carries his role off beautifully with a great accent that has no weak points - revenge thrillers are common but few as well acted or with a script as well written. I was engaged from beginning to end - the twist is superb.You won't regret watching this movie.
travishouze
When it comes to films with black leads, I try to never let representation cloud my judgement and always hope they have the ideal writing and direction working for the leads in their favor. I've been excited to see Chadwick Boseman raise from the TV show Lincoln Heights to playing T'Challa as Black Panther. After learning about this film Message from the King, I thought this film would at least be a good prelude to the few months waiting for Black Panther, however, I left severely underwhelmed that the Message brings.Chadwick Boseman plays Jacob King, a man traveling back from South Africa to search for his sister Bianca had gone missing and goes on a chase through those she knew personally for answers of her whereabouts and even resulting in violent acts in the process. Chadwick himself does fine in the role, as most of the time he is spent stoic and a man of few words. Luke Evans makes a surprise role connected to the antagonists, and while his cool persona helps the role, his character gets really annoying fast as a dentist where literally no character doesn't talk about their teeth while their around him. "You can really learn about a man when you see his teeth." That is a real line. In a movie that's supposed to be a action thriller.Another big issue is the pacing of this movie. Even at a 103 minute runtime, it takes entirely too long for any engaging action to occur (there's only 2 action scenes in the whole movie), and the plot and writing isn't engaging enough to warrant it's slow burn storytelling. But the film really flies off the rails in the third act with the main antagonist and you find out about his shady business involving someone young, it felt disgusting and really out of place for what the films main motivation.Message from the King was one I had hope for, but I found out halfway, this wouldn't leave a good impact. The direction and writing is choppy, despite some decent performances from Chadwick and Luke. I just feel King deserved better and I'm hoping I'm right in February.
AD
