Movie Review: Queen of Katwe

Movie Review: Queen of Katwe                                                                                                 4-25-17

Back in 2016, while people were praising live-action films like La La Land and Moonlight, as well as hazing films like Suicide Squad and Batman vs. Superman, there is one forgotten and underrated gem that was ignored: Disney's Queen of Katwe.

Based on a real-life event between 2007 and 2011, Queen of Katwe is about a young Ugandan woman named Phiona (Madina Nalwanga), who discovers she has an amazing talent for playing chess. After months of training and practicing, Phiona enters and wins a local chess compatition. However, it doesn't come without a price; Her father gets injured, and Phiona's family is forced out of their own home, meaning they have to live on the streets. However, Phiona enters and wins more competitions, and eventually makes it into the World Chess Olympiads. Phiona managed to win the tournament, but soon, she deals with stress, identity issues, and fiercer competitions.

Now what do I think of the film? Well, despite having no big Hollywood names, the acting in Queen of Katwe is quite good.
There is also deep and emotional storytelling and an enjoyable score from Alex Heffes.

It's a shame that this movie bombed, because I think this movie should've got the Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Nevertheless, Qween of Katwe is a film you'll want to watch with your family again and again.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

By the way, I have good news and bad news concerning Disney Animation: The good news is Wreck-it Ralph 2 finally has a title, but an ugly one at that. Wreck-it Ralph 2's name is officially Ralph Wrecks The Internet. The bad news is that both Wreck-it Ralph 2 and Gigantic got their release dates pushed back: Wreck-it Ralph 2 will now premiere November 2018, while Gigantic will premiere November 2020.
There's also going to be a Frozen 2, which will premiere November 27th, 2019, exactly six years after the original.