‘Message From The King’ Trailer: Don’t Kill Chadwick Boseman’s Sister
Audiences have quickly become familiar withChadwick Bosemanthanks to his turns as Black Panther inCaptain America: Civil War, soul man James Brown inGet On Up, and color barrier-breaking baseball player Jackie Robinson in42. But will they turn out to see him get revenge in his own action thriller?
Message from the Kingstars Chadwick Boseman as Jacob King, a man who comes to Los Angeles to find his sister Bianca, who has suddenly lost contact with him. Tracking her movements leads him to a seedy underbelly of crime and drugs where some dangerous people aren’t very happy that he’s trying to find out what happened to Bianca. But King isn’t easily intimated by this band of thugs, who are led byAlfred MolinaandLuke Evans.
Watch theMessage from the Kingtrailer below, but beware because there’s a quick flash of nudity in there.
This looks like a standard revenge thriller with Chadwick Boseman getting his ownTaken-style role, but it has quite an impressive supporting cast that also includesTeresa Palmer. However, the reviews out of its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall don’t give me much confidence in the final product: A review fromVarietycallsMessage From the Kingan “ugly and oddly unengaging revenge tale” while Brian Tallerico atRogerEbert.comwrote:
“Message From the King eventually gets so grimy that you want to wash it off. I don’t have a problem with movies that explore dark territory, but said exploration demands something in exchange. It could be clever dialogue, interesting characters, thematic depth—whatever it may be, we need a reason to venture into Dante’s Inferno, and “Message from the King” doesn’t really provide one.”
Still, maybe there’s enough action and a compelling enough performance to make this a thriller worth watching. If anything, it can serve as a nice appetizer for those who are waiting patiently to see Chadwick Boseman kick ass as Black Panther in his own solo movie next year.
Message from the Kingis directed by Belgian filmmakerFabrice Du Welz(Colt 45, Calvaire) with a script byOliver ButcherandStephen Cornwell, who also wroteUnknownfor director Jaume Collet-Serra. Here’s the official synopsis:
Message from the Kingis slated to hit France in May, but doesn’t have a US release date yet.
