It's rare that I do a review with spoilers but at the end of this movie, the thing I was left with was that, basically...the baddies win. I know it's meant to be historically accurate and please don't think this is me being patriotic because I'm really not, but ultimately the plot didn't really resolve. They just sort of learned to just accept the injustice. A lot of movies do well with sad endings bur the general tone of this movie was so consistent with something made for kids (more than families per se) it's really jarring.
To be fair, the plot is more than geopolitical struggle'; that's just the back drop for a narrative about two individuals divided by ethnicity, gender and sides in the war learning to see past their prejudices (it goes both ways) and enemies turn into a bond. It's admirable that the movie doesn't commit to whether they become lovers or platonnic friends.
The rest of the movie is juvenile good fun with the added pleasure of historical accuracy. The jokes don't always work but the who's who of British comedic acting talent and the sheer fun the writers clearly had with this make it all very watchable. often rather frank about bodily functions, this is nevertheless on-brand.
The musical numbers are actually pretty infectious especially an epic rap battle between Boudica and Paulinas where these two acting pros really bring it and command no less fear for it.
It's always a good thing that female characters are as well developed and involved as male characters but one wonders if there is a way of doing this without smugly rubbing it in the audiences face. Still better than no good female characters though I suppose.
To be fair, the plot is more than geopolitical struggle'; that's just the back drop for a narrative about two individuals divided by ethnicity, gender and sides in the war learning to see past their prejudices (it goes both ways) and enemies turn into a bond. It's admirable that the movie doesn't commit to whether they become lovers or platonnic friends.
The rest of the movie is juvenile good fun with the added pleasure of historical accuracy. The jokes don't always work but the who's who of British comedic acting talent and the sheer fun the writers clearly had with this make it all very watchable. often rather frank about bodily functions, this is nevertheless on-brand.
The musical numbers are actually pretty infectious especially an epic rap battle between Boudica and Paulinas where these two acting pros really bring it and command no less fear for it.
It's always a good thing that female characters are as well developed and involved as male characters but one wonders if there is a way of doing this without smugly rubbing it in the audiences face. Still better than no good female characters though I suppose.