An engaging, good-natured film

It’s a simplistic, goodnatured movie, but one that engages you with each new move until you find yourself taken by its cunning success. Smart, touching and ultimately worthwhile

I found Queen of Katwe utterly predictable and just lightly engaging—it did hold my attention, but barely so. Despite a mechanical nature that largely suppresses the more visceral and cutting experience lurking in the material, dubious editing (early on way too quick-cut, later often desultory), and style often failing to match structure, there is a redeeming, humanistic warmth to the movie. That quality fails to make Queen of Katwe "good," in my opinion, but it helps keep the film from being "bad," certainly.

I would consider Queen of Katwe "decent." The opportunity for something much better existed, but the film is not alienating, either.

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I agree that "Queen of Katwe" is very engaging in the way that it takes many unexpected turns in its plot, film, and acting. The concept of the plot itself is one not followed or addressed in our media today. It is rare that we enter into the story of a young girl from Uganda. Americans do not have the opportunity to come close to a story such as this one very often. We usually follow the underdog that is familiar to us. The plot also took many turns in her making it all the way to the international games and then not succeeding. Of course, we see her success come later. But this initial loss came as quite a shock to me as did her brother being hit by a motor bike and her other brother almost drowning. These were shocking scenes that brought what life in Uganda as a young girl could really be like.

The movie was also often filmed with a hand-held camera which brought a more realist perspective. There were also many striking shots of color as well as darkness of the village. For example, the scene of the rushing water after the rain was a striking image that captured the audience through color as well as poverty with the young boy almost drowning. Along with filming, the actors also played their roles with conviction and power. Lupita Nyong'o stepped into the role of a young single mother caring for four children. Her acting brought unexpected turns in the dynamic nature of the role. She had many emotions to play with. She was protective, defensive, heart-broken, and then joyful and thankful. We walk through these emotions as a progression in her character. This progression of character development is an example of how the film captures the audience.

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