Beautiful People, Beautiful Production, Poorly Written

Rating: 7/10 (3 February 2019)

Beautiful people trying to save a paradise. First and foremost this movie is a superhero backstory movie. I had to keep this in mind because I was distracted and put off by poorly written, undeveloped sub-themes. As much as it presented itself as African proud, a hidden culture built on science, technology and the idea of supercities, cloaked under rural Africa, there were constant failed attempts to connect these characters to the American Black experience, so much so they lost track of their own backstory. For example, toward the end of the movie there is a moment when a sympathetic villain thinks he is about to die and he defiantly says, something to the effect of, "throw me into the ocean as so many of my ancestors chose to die rather than to live in bondage!" This character's ancestors were never enslaved and shipped to America, his father went from a palace to America as a spy, and, he himself was an offspring of an aristocratic super society. So I hope you won't be distracted, as I was, from the driving force of the film which is the rise of a superhero, a celebration of heroism, strength and justice - the anthem of superheros. I believe there is inspiration in seeing people, who look like you, behaving nobly, and, so, I am glad to see a movie with a talented black cast telling super human stories. The acting was good, the CGI was spectacular as were the action scenes. The cast had many superstars, (British Martin Freeman, our token white person, playing a rough, tough CIA operative was remarkably convincing). I enjoyed the action adventure of the movie and the world it created. Beautiful people, beautiful production, adventure, action, inconsistent writing - but, on rewatching, despite the Oscar nod for best picture, I can only give this film a 7 (good) out of 10. {Superhero Action Adventure}