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Here’s a free tip for nefarious cinematic villains of the underworld: Don’t murder Black Panther’s sister, ya idiots.
Now streaming on Netflix, Chadwick Boseman stars in the revenge thriller Message from the King. Premiering at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, the movie follows the familiar beats of the genre as Boseman’s mysterious Jacob King travels from South Africa to Los Angeles to embark upon an unrelenting quest to avenge his sister’s murder. Only in town for a week, King’s amateur detective skills are immediately put to use as his hunt for vengeance forces him to investigate the seedy underbelly of the clandestine LA crime syndicate.
Jacob King has questions about his sister’s death, and if you’re not keen on telling him what he needs to hear, he will punch the answers right out of you.
Message from the King is a nice but unspectacular addition to the genre. Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz’s film is beautifully shot and offers the requisite action-packed fight scenes, but it’s the soft-spoken charisma of Boseman that elevates the material. Teresa Palmer, Alfred Molina, and an underutilized Luke Evans round out the supporting cast, but Message from the King is Boseman’s film. The actor displays his character’s inner turmoil with a steely, subdued intensity that conceals his relentless hunt for the chilliest of dishes known as revenge.
King isn’t one for sparkling conversation so the dialogue — especially in the film’s first act — is minimal, as Du Welz understands that a greater sense of pathos is often accomplished with words that are left unsaid.
Unless you’re a superfan of the genre, Message from the King isn’t a title that needs to be shot to the top of your queue. The pacing is a bit plodding and the movie could benefit from a few more physical altercations between King and the cadre of degenerates he’s pursuing, but if you’re a longtime admirer of films like Taken or John Wick, you’ll enjoy the simple action movie formula of Netflix’s latest offering.
