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Sep 9, 2016 · Reviews. Sep 8, 2016 7:33pm PT. Film Review: ‘Message from the King’. Making his way to America, Belgian genre director Fabrice Du Welz delivers a nihilistic revenge story with no real...
Oct 6, 2016 · Chadwick Boseman, Teresa Palmer, Luke Evans and Alfred Molina star in Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz's first English-language feature, the Los Angeles neo-noir 'Message From the King.'
- Summary
- Highlights
- Criticism
- Overall: Negative
Jacob King (Chadwick Boseman) travels all the way from South Africa to Los Angeles due to a frantic phone call from his sister Bianca (Sibongile Mlambo). One in which she sounds scared and frightened. However, once he lands, no one she associated with knows where she is. They can tell Jacob a lot about how she has changed since she, Jacob, and thei...
The Fight Scenes & Imagery
People get really messed up when it comes to the fight scenes. Jacob, after getting beaten by some cops under Candidate Leary (Chris Mulkey) is shown in a bed for at least more than a day healing. The way Jacob beats up this gangster Zico (Lucan Melkonian) requires him to wear a mask so his jaw can heal properly, and while none of the gangsters seem that threatening, when you see this: It makes you think maybe we should take them more seriously than they inspire you to.
Though just a small time ally of Jacob in the film, barely worth mentioning in the story’s overall summary, I’d argue she gave the best performance in the film. For there is something about Palmer, who is like a less numb Kristen Stewart in my mind, which just has this difficult to describe vulnerability. The kind where, similar to Lupita Nyongo in a way in 12 Years a Slave, she almost steals the film from right under Boswick’s nose. Which I say because, while he maybe hunting the people who...
Boseman’s Is Kind of Dead On Screen
In many ways, one could argue Boseman has the potential to be the next Will Smith. Problem is, like we saw with Smith in After Earth, if you take away his ability to charm you, you cripple him. For while he does seem like a kind of bad ass, you grow tired of him quickly. For the only thing that makes him different from the dozens of other lead characters seeking revenge over a loved one is that Boseman is Black. That and he has an accent which sounds like his Black Pantheraccent toned down ju...
A Tiresome Film
The writing of this film seems very procedural. As if writers Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell were working off a checklist. Mysterious protagonist looking for someone – check. Said someone having gotten themselves into a lot of trouble they could have avoided – check. That person associating with corrupt and seedy people our protagonist often has to scare, rough up, and ends up killing – check. Because of how predictable the story gets, and how Boseman fails to give this film more than vi...
Originally I was going to watch and review this Friday but it bored me into going to bed early. So, I spent a good portion of my Saturday struggling to finish this. Of which I was living off the peaks which were the fight scenes and Palmer giving some sort of emotion to this dreary and cardboard film. Leading to why this is being labeled to be skip...
Jul 31, 2017 · Message from the King (which played at TIFF in the Vanguard category) is revenge at it’s brutal best and captures the dark side of LA that’s not seen often on the big screen. It has multiple problems but thanks to the style and acting of the movie it overcomes those problems.
Sep 12, 2016 · I don’t have a problem with movies that explore dark territory, but said exploration demands something in exchange. It could be clever dialogue, interesting characters, thematic depth—whatever it may be, we need a reason to venture into Dante’s Inferno, and “Message from the King” doesn’t really provide one.
Oct 12, 2017 · Message From the King, directed by Fabrice du Welz, was released as a Netflix original July 21. As throwback to both film noir and the revenge genre, one would expect it to be thoroughly engaging, but somehow it falls short.
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A mysterious outsider travels to Los Angeles to bring those responsible for his younger sister's disappearance to justice.
- (11)
- Action, Mystery & Thriller
- R
