Watched the Woman King a while back, took a while for me to get my thoughts straight. I generally I liked it quite a lot. It had most of the standard period epic problems, but nothing in any way worse than others I've seen and better than most (looking at you, 300).

More specific thoughts in spoilers

Spoiler: Contains plot spoilers
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So general plot is that the Dahomey have been subordinated by the Oyo, who are also raiding their lands for slaves. The Agojie are all-female warriors who serve the King of Dahomey, who is trying to free himself from Oyo domination. The leader of the Agojie is generally opposed to the slave trade. There's a running through-line that the King may restore the tradition of also having a Woman King and the decision of whether he will choose one of his wives, or the commander of the Agojie. Our viewpoint character is Nawi, your standard rebellious daughter who joins an elite group of fighters and finds purpose and meaning there. The conflict is freeing the Dahomey from the Oyo, then proceeding with a raid on a slave port to rescue some of the prisoners they'd lost, including Nawi. There's a subplot where Nawi turns out to be the daughter of the commander of the Agojie, conceived through rape when she was captured by the Oyo (indeed, the commander of the enemy Oyo forces turns out to be one of her rapists). And another subplot where Nawi is attracted to a visiting biracial son of a Dahomeyan slave taken to Brazil. In the end, the Agojie win their conflict, free their kingdom from the Oyo, burn the slave port and convince the king to start trading in Palm Oil rather than slaves. Oh, and the commander is named the Woman King.

So, the three big critiques I saw in the reviews were:

1) Ahistoricity due to the heavy involvement of the Dahomey in the slave trade. I will not be discussing this, given the rules of this forum.
2) That the romance was wedged in and unnecessary for the plot
3) That there was an overemphasis on melodrama over plot

I partly disagree with what seemed like the most common critique of the film, namely, that the 'romance' was overblown and unnecessary/distracting. I do think that, as I'll discuss below, the entire European section of the film is the weakest part and that having the romance interest be a biracial Portuguese-Dahomayan was a mistake. However, I do actually think a romance was necessary here. Nawi is not an aromantic or asexual individual, but she has joined an order that requires celibacy (at least from relations with men) and having her decide that her loyalty to her nation and her sisterhood came before romance and sex and an incredibly attractive man who was head-over-heels for her was, in my view, an important and powerful character beat. And choosing duty over love is a shockingly rare (as best I can recall) decision in modern media, which made it all the more effective.

I do agree with the complaint that the melodrama hurt. None of the rape/daughter plot was necessary, or added much in my view. I think they'd have been better off without adding that thread as it both raises questions about whether the commander would have gone to rescue any of her sisters, or only her actual blood daughter and because it leaves poor Viola Davis having to constantly vacillate between tears and steel. Frankly, if you wanted to keep most of this, just have her turn out to be wrong and have Nawi not be her daughter, just someone who might have been and is one of the Agojie under her command.

The film is at its best when its focused on Nawi's growth/training, the internal politics of the Dahomey and conflict between the Dahomey and the Oyo and drags to a stop whenever it focuses on other issues.

Extremely good, gorgeously shot, beautiful costumes and design, great acting. Generally an excellent period epic and action film, which should have been rated R to allow for a bit more of the consequences of the brutality to be visible on the screen.