First off, regardless of my opinion of the movie itself or your interest in sitting thru it, please please PLEASE go and buy tickets for this movie. Bust out your Movie Passes. Even if you don’t end up actually watching it or you buy a ticket for this and go see Star Wars for the fifth time, give it some support so that Hollywood gets the message that we want more films like this starring strong and amazing women of color. We can’t let this one fail and give them an excuse to wait years until the next shot.
My next point that I need to make is that the trailer for this film very severely mis-characterizes it. Yes, the sublime Taraji P Hensen does in fact play a hitwoman, but it’s not an action movie and it’s not the sassy John Wick chick. It’s more drama with a few isolated shootouts, and it goes for some sorta watered down Godfather type thing. Not the strongest screenplay, and it could have been hard to take seriously.
HOWEVER, for me, Taraji was enough to sustain the movie. The A storyline revolved around her taking in a young boy who was caught up in their mob life, and I thought their relationship was strong, and I very much enjoyed all their interactions. But really, it was Taraji’s performance and the way she commanded the screen. No one ever questioned that a lady had these badass fighting skillz or was seen as a strong asset in their family. This is what we need more of on screen.
Oh and unexpected surprise, the movie was set in Boston. Played a lot of eye spy with the locations, and found a bunch of recognizable ones.
So yes, this film is flawed, and it’s a little contrived, but I enjoyed it. And more importantly, it deserves your support so that we can have another go at a badass leading lady in this kind of film. Then maybe one day we’ll have a variety of those films to choose from instead of having to rally around just one.
Proud Mary – \m/ \m/ \m/