Reviews

Couldn't sleep so I watched this at 4am.

I expected a bad story, but I didn't expect the bad acting and the bad score. Yes the soundtrack is good, but the way they put the songs in the movie is weird and forced.

I can't emphasize enough how bad the acting is. What is going on with Jamie's accent? It's all over the place in this movie! Everyone really just phoned it in. There's no chemistry between any of the characters. They all knew they'd make a bunch of money no matter what because of the popularity of the books (which I haven't read and have zero interest in).

There's basically zero dialogue in the movie. Christian and Ana don't actually ever talk about anything. The only conversation they have is about the "contract" and what he wants. That's it. And that apparently makes more a sexy love story?

As for the sex scenes, really tame. I don't see what the hype was about. The people who wrote this did zero research into BDSM and have no idea what it's supposed to be and what it looks like. The lack of chemistry, the fact the writers and director have no idea what BDSM is, plus how they scored the scenes just all made the sex scenes awkward and boring more than anything else.

The worst thing about this movie is how they just casually mention pedophilia. A grown woman began an affair with a 15 year old boy? Jamie says he liked being submissive because it set him free from "responsibility and making decisions" really? At 15? That makes no sense.

Oh and he's still friends with the woman who raped him.

And our society was OK with this because I never heard any outcry when the movie came out.

I was hoping to fall asleep to this but I just got angry at how bad this movie is and stayed up to criticize all of it.

The only reason why I pressed play was because of Gary Oldman and Emily Mortimer. Wow was that a mistake.

The dialogue, the acting, the editing, the cinematography, the music, every about this is bad. I wonder if what we see on screen was what was in the script as I have a hard time believing Gary Oldman and Emily Mortimer would read this and think "oh, I should do this movie!".

The attempts at scares are absurd and cheap. They're obvious and because of the lack of suspense, they fail miserably.

There are so many ridiculous scenes and so much dialogue that doesn't make sense it's almost comical.

There are scary movies that are so bad they're funny, but this one is so bad you can't even laugh at how bad it is, you can just regret watching it. I actually find it upsetting that money was spent making this. Imagine what that money could have been spent on instead.

I feel I can say pretty much all women have come across that man that just creeps you out. The car that slowly follows you, or when walking home, you feel the man walking a few feet behind you is following you. There's this constant feeling of "I'm in danger" and you can't really explain it.

The first half of the movie was that. Even though he doesn't actually do anything wrong, or bad, or scary, you feel like there's danger lurking, that this person is not a safe person to be around. When we feel that sense of potential danger, what happens in this movie is what we fear. And this is a real, legitimate, fear as this sort of thing actually happens regularly.

What I loved about this movie is that there were no real "well that was stupid of her" moments. The things she said and did, especially in regards to a phone, I thought was smart and rather realistic.

This movie does a good job portraying what most women fear on a regular basis.

This is definitely the worst movie I've ever seen. What makes it worse, it they basically replay the entire movie towards the end of it. As though we needed an explanation to know what was happening. It's not a mind bender, there's nothing surprising, other than how bad this is. I don't understand how an actor, or a director reads the script and says "yes, this is a project I'll take on!" There's no story, no character development, no arch, no climax. The acting is horrible, as is the directing, the editing, the visuals, everything about this sucks. It wouldn't even pass as a comedy, you know, how when a scary movie is bad, but you can still laugh at it? No. One thing it does do though, is if you're a screenwriter or would like to be one, it gives you hope. If something this bad can get made, and the put on Netflix, then you'll for sure be able to get yours done and distributed as well.

As an animal behaviour student, I LOVED the respect he showed to the octopus, as well as the other creatures in the water. His restraint in his interactions, how he let nature take its' course, it was a relief and also a great lesson for those watching. Do not disturb animals in their environment!

The imagery, the observations, what he was able to catch on camera leaves you in awe and inspires you to want to help protect this world. Beautifully captured, many life lessons taught along the way.

"The royalty in you is there for you to be a blessing to others. For you to leave a legacy that others can look to and find hope and find strength and find healing as well"-from Black is King

I didn't really know what Black is King was about. When I heard Beyonce made a visual album, I thought it was just going to be some sort of self indulgent, superficial way to enrich herself. Then, I read an article about this movie from the perspective of 7 African artists (you can find it on CBC.ca). As I became more informed, I realized how wrong my perception, my judgement, was and enticed me to watch it, without having seen a preview.

This piece definitely requires you to educate yourself. It requires you to learn about the references made throughout the entire movie and get to know a little more about African cultures. You have to seek out what people who are from Africa are saying about it, their explanation of all the references that people who aren't from their culture don't know is insightful and helpful.

Doing some reading, before or after watching it (I suggest before, so you're an educated viewer), it allows you to appreciate Black is King SO MUCH MORE. I found myself LOOKING for specific people, more aware of the story and what was happening.

From the articles I read, I learned many of the dances included in the choreography are African. I learned of certain moves and dances and was able to recognize them as I watched. I learned most of the dancers and directors are African. The blue dancer? He's Nigerian and one of the choreographers! I learned who the directors are, what their style is, and what part they directed. I learned the wardrobe, from the colours, to the animal print and patterns, and jewelry, represent various African tribes and have symbolic meaning. The scene where women are putting what looks like red clay on their dreads/locks and skin? This is what I learned of them: "the Himba people work vigorously to ensure that their beliefs and cultures aren't contaminated in any way by outside influences, and as a result they have mostly avoided contact with modern society to keep the culture alive. So the fact that Reginaldo Mar, a Namibian creative who works closely with the Himba women, was able to get special permission from the OvaHimba leaders to let the women leave the Kunene Region and get on a plane to fly to Durban was insane to me. In order to do so, they had to get these women birth certificates and passports on very short notice. The Beyoncé team maintained integrity in how the tribes and people are represented, and for that I applaud them." -Muginga António How interesting is THAT?! It's unfortunate that, had someone I follow on social media, who I trust, not shared a link to that article, I would not have known any of this. Not knowing of the Himba people, I feel I would have missed out. That scene would just have gone under the radar. Instead, I LOOKED for it, I waited for it.

I decided to watch with subtitles and I found it made it easier to understand how it follows The Lion King story line. This is a musical interpretation of The Lion King. It's not straightforward. I feel it's like an Opera, or reading Shakespeare, you need to learn about it, to sort of translate it, in order to understand the story, and when you make the effort to learn about it, it makes sense and you appreciate it. This makes me think of my 5th grade school trip to see The Phantom of the Opera. Weeks prior, in music class and as part of our English class, we learned the meaning of every song (I can still hear my teacher saying "read between the lines"), every lyric, what the story was about, the hows, wheres and whys. Because of this, we were equipped to understand and better appreciate what we were seeing. Viewers of Black Is King need something like that. Even those who loved it, like myself, may have missed a lot of the symbolism, which is unfortunate.

I actually prefer this re-telling of The Lion King than the one from 2019 which, while visually beautiful, it just fell flat. Here, there's a certain passion and excitement to it that was missing from the 2019 version. The visuals, the music, the beauty, the story, the journey, it has it all! It's layered and emotional. If we're going to follow The Lion King story, everyone gathered as Beyonce walks to the water holding a baby boy, is the birth of Simba when all the animals gather to celebrate. The song Bigger is talking to Simba about his potential, to embrace who he is, etc. But it's also about insecurity and self love "If you feel insignificant, you better think again Better wake up because you're part of something way bigger You're part of something way bigger Not just a speck in the universe Not just some words in a bible verse You are the living word Ahh, you're part of something way bigger Bigger than you, bigger than we"

I do feel it requires more than 1 viewing to fully grasp everything because there's SO MUCH going on and it's so layered. I feel there should be an accompanying video that explains and delves into all the symbolism, the references, the cultures, etc. I mean, had I not stumbled onto that 1 article (and then searched for others) and had I not watched it with subtitles, all the work that went into incorporating various African cultures, and how the music and lyrics tell The Lion King story, would have all gone over my head and I would be writing a negative review resembling the others.

Whether or not you've watched it, I highly recommend doing some reading in order to have a better understanding of the movie. I suggest/recommend reading: "7 African artists share their feelings on the glory - and missteps - of Beyoncé's Black is King" by Amanda Parris on CBC.ca We Are Africans. Here's Our View Of Beyoncé's 'Black Is King' by Ifeanyi Nsofor and Esther Ngumbi Buzzfeed has an interview with Stephen "Papi" Ojo, the blue man in the movie. He choreographed many of the dances. To understand how Beyonce is telling The Lion King story, read "Beyonce Remixed the Lion King Meaning by Spencer Kornhaber. That article is about the album The Gift (which is where all the songs for Black is KIng come from), it helps explain which songs are about which Lion King scenes.

There's still a lot wrong in the writing and characters, but that's not what I want to give attention to. The twins who play Abel... those little boys are AMAZING. They're doing better than some of the actors who've been on the show (like the guy who played Joey, Venus's son... yikes). So young and SO talented. Their acting doesn't look forced or fake, you can actually see and feel the confusion, the anger. Would not want to be their parents cuz imagine the things they'd get away with?! haha I'm just wowed by them. I hope Hollywood doesn't eat them up and spit them out.

For the love of God. The music on the show, throughout the series, has been mostly amazing. However, to the detriment of the show once again, Kurt Sutter chose to focus on giving his wife a job instead of focusing on what would fit with the show. The song may or may not have been a good choice, the singer,Katey Sagal, definitely was NOT a good choice. It was irritating and they put the music way too loud over the scenes. Feels like Kurt didn't want his wife, even in music, to be in the background, no. The fact that Katey Sagal isn't that great a singer, just made the entire sequence painful to watch. She's not a bad singer, but not good, definitely not great. Her version of Greensleeves playing over this particular sequence was distracting and took away from what was going on. It undermined what was suppose to be a shocking and gruesome moment. It ruined those scenes.

The most annoying thing about this show is the lack of attention to detail. In this episode, Bobby suddenly has a guitar while in holding. Where did he get the guitar? Why is he allowed to have a guitar? Who brought him the guitar? It's things like this that happens in every single episode that really lower the quality of the show. Someone or some people aren't thinking about how these things fit into the story or how it makes sense. In this case, it seems wanted to have a specific visual, Bobby sitting alone in his cell, barefoot playing the guitar, like they thought "ooo, this would look so cool!" without regard to how it has anything to do with the story or if it made any sense. This is either on the director or the writers or both. It's just annoying to be into the story and they get these eye roll moments.

I'm 10mins in and it's just so bad. I had a feeling it would be, but I thought it was maybe because i like the Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu ones so much that I maybe wasn't giving this one the benefit of the doubt. I decided to watch it because, hey, maybe it's as good or better! No. It's trying so hard to be feminist. That first scene when the guy is saying women shouldn't work in certain professions, what as the point of that dialogue? Like the fact that he's a criminal wasn't enough to make him a bad guy, they had to be all "AND this is what he thinks of women!" I'm all for sending messages of female empowerment in movies and TV, but this is not how to do it. Watch the Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu ones instead. The story, the acting, and the cinematography is better.

While many on here found Kerry Washington difficult to watch, I thought she was one of the best parts of the series. All the "kids" were excellent as well. The depth and emotion they brought to their characters, at those young ages, is astounding. I found Kerry Washington's portrayal of Mia powerful. She brings pain, strength, vulnerability, I found I could FEEL her. My disappointment is in Reese. I feel she plays the exact same character in Big Little Lies, even in Legally Blond, Home Again, etc. She plays a rich woman with little to no real life experience. It's just felt like this has been played , she wasn't bringing anything new here.

I do have to say it's VERY predictable. From what happens to each of the teens, to the adults... everything is pretty much predictable an episode ahead. I haven't read the book, so I don't know if this was done to make things "easier" on the viewer, or if it's how it was written. It doesn't ruin the show, but it does make it seem to go on a little longer than it should

Oh! and can we talk about the soundtrack?! The music is PERFECT.

For most of the acting, the cinematography, and the music, it gets 7/10!