Viewers must know up front that Shields Green was an escaped slave. That is the only historically accurate fact in the first half of the movie. The first half of the movie is the writer's imagination. Please don't take it as history. Green's association with F. Douglas is true, as is his association with J. Brown and the Harper's Ferry raid. And the end of the movie doesn't accurately depict Green's final fate. It's too bad that with so much rich Black history that Hollywood chooses to make stuff up. It's a disservice to history and to a people who deserve better. Much better. This is an entertaining movie, with adequate acting albeit mediocre writing. It would have been better if the critical scenes had been shot on location. Maybe the director was looking for Harper's Ferry in Virginia. Watch it, but don't take it seriously. Shields Green deserves better.
Review of Emperor
