The Woman King is officially one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, and deservedly so. Much of the credit should be given to Viola Davis’ kick-ass performance as General Nanisca, the mighty warrior who wants to protect her people and rectify her kingdom’s sins.
I attempted to create a list of films to watch for those who loved The Woman King. I wrestled with historical epics that were tangentially similar to The Woman King, vacillating on which movies to select and which others to omit. The process was surprisingly frustrating. Although historical epic movies are abundant, there aren’t many good ones that center on women and even fewer on the African experience. The Woman King seems to stand alone.
But one of my favorite things about Davis’ General Nanisca is that she kicked ass. It was refreshing, as the role of confident, unrelenting action hero often defaults to men. However, there are a lot of great examples, old and new, of female characters in movies that refuse to be regulated to the background. If you also find these characters a refreshing change of pace, then here are my recommendations for the most enjoyable performances you can stream right now.
8. Sara Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
HBO Max
Terminator 2: Judgement Day is an iconic action sci-fi movie where Skynet, the evil artificial intelligence bent on wiping out humanity, wants to kill a kid. Skynet sends another killer robot to the past to murder future resistance leader John Connor. However, this time, the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is back to defend the young teen.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day is arguably Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most iconic film, but Linda Hamilton’s performance as Sarah Connor is almost as evocative. Linda Hamilton has transformed the scared, final girl from the original Terminator into a trained, lethal weapon. Hamilton surprised and thrilled fans with her fearlessness and all-out kick-assery. You can see her influence in the performances of action stars like Michelle Rodgriguez (the Fast Saga) and Carrie-Ann Moss (Matrix)
7. Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Amazon Prime ($3.99)
Maggie (Hilary Swank) wants to become a boxer. She wants to prove to herself and others that she has greatness inside her. She asks trainer Frankie (Clint Eastwood) to train her. He is initially reluctant to teach a woman, especially someone of her age, but eventually agrees to help.
The quality of Hilary Swank’s dramatic performance is probably the closest to Viola Davis’ performance in The Woman King on this list. She did win multiple awards, including the coveted Academy Award for best actress, after all.
Sure, Frankie’s sexist views of female fighters are a bit on the nose, but otherwise, Million Dollar Baby is nearly perfect. Bring your tissues if this is a first-time viewing. I promise you will need them at plenty of points within this tale.
6. Yu Shu Lien in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Hulu
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon may be in my top ten most mesmerizing films I’ve seen. The visual design and world-building are spectacular, and the choreography resembles more of a beautiful dance than actual fighting. However, this movie isn’t beloved just because it is easy on the eyes. You are happily swept away into a world of Chinese royalty, samurai, loyalty, rebellion, and love.
Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) and Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi) are powerful and deadly. However, the two characters couldn’t be more opposite. Yu Shu Lien is mature, thoughtful, and balanced, and Jen Yu full of youthful rebellion.
Michelle Yeoh was mainly known to western audiences as a Bond girl in Tomorrow Never Dies and a series of Jackie Chan films that crossed over to American audiences. Michelle Yeoh’s performance in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon showed that she wasn’t just a martial arts expert but a dramatic actor to be taken seriously.
5. Jyn Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Disney+
The evil Galactic Empire has constructed the most dangerous weapon in the galaxy, the Death Star. This super weapon can destroy planets with one shot. However, The Rebel Alliance learns of blueprints for the Death Star that can help them destroy the planet-killer. Enter Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), who proposes that the rebel alliance steal the blueprints and use them to deal a crucial blow to the Galactic Empire.
WARNING! WARNING! MOVIE BLASPHEMY INCOMING!
I am a massive fan of fantasy and westerns, so Star Wars should be right up my alley. But the Star Wars franchise never did anything for me. I’ve watched all the films, and there is good and bad throughout the series. The Empire Strikes Back was good, and everything else was pretty meh.
That was until I saw Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I absolutely love this film. It doesn’t have all the lightsaber/force users of the other movies, making it feel more like a war epic than a fantasy. Jyn Erso is an amazing, tough character who has no fear of the Empire and is ready to burn it to the ground. That is impressive for an average human in a world of superpowered space monks.
I will say that Star Wars has a plethora of powerful heroines. Most would have selected Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) from Episodes 4-6 or Rey (Daisy Ridley) from Episodes 7-9, But Rogue One is just on another level than those films.
4. Foxy Brown in Foxy Brown (1974)
Amazon Prime ($3.99)
Foxy Brown (Pam Grier) is determined to get revenge for her lover, killed by members of a drug cartel. Now a vigilante, Foxy Brown infiltrates an escort service connected to her boyfriend’s murder and the drugs that have infiltrated her community.
Sure, the script isn’t great, and the camera work is poor. But it would be decades before we saw female heroines with the same degree of agency and kick-ass as Pam Grier’s characters. You can pick any of her Blaxploitation roles here (I almost selected Coffy), but I think Foxy Brown has more pound-for-pound action.
TRIGGER WARNING: a rape scene in this movie runs counter to the narrative I just painted. This is still 1970s cinema, after all. However, the rapist’s punishment for such an act definitely fits the crime.
3. Ellen Ripley in Aliens (1986)
Amazon Prime ($3.99)
One of the most iconic lines of the 1980s comes from Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) as she faces off against the xenomorph queen in Aliens. Ripley awakens from a 54-year stasis following the events of Alien. Unfortunately, she discovers that a colony is now terraforming the same planet that is home to the dangerous lifeform that killed her original team. When contact with the settlement is lost, the government taps Ripley to return to the planet and investigate.
The fact that Ripley agrees to go back to the planet of face-sucking aliens is kick-ass enough. Still, her leadership and courage throughout the film elevate Ellen Ripley as one of the most iconic heroes in cinema. Ripley’s compassion and protection for an orphaned colony girl make her easy to root for. You also are beyond annoyed at the rest of the crew that keeps mucking up things throughout the film. If they had just listened to Ripley, many more could have come home alive. However, Ripley kicks so much alien butt on her own that you wonder if she ever needed the rest of the expedition team in the first place.
2. Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
HBO Max
George Miller takes us back to his Mad Max hellscape in a crazy and thrilling spectacle for the eyes. Yes, this is a Mad Max film, but Furiosa (Charlize Theron) steals the show.
As the lieutenant to the warlord Immortan Joe, Furiosa is sent on a routine mission to retrieve fuel. Instead, Furiosa uses the mission as a cover to free Joe’s wives (more like sex slaves) from his grasp. What follows is the most astounding car chase in movie history.
Charlize Theron’s Furiosa is the hero we didn’t know we needed. Making a personality as big as Tom Hardy appear relatively pedestrian is tough. Although Hardy is the titular character, Theron is the shining light in this weird, twisted world. Theron’s presence on screen made it impossible for audiences to slide her into the cliché female supporting role in action movies.
By leading quality action vehicles like Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde, and The Old Guard, the Academy Award winner makes a strong case as the best female action star in history. It is a shame that George Miller elected to do a Furiosa prequel instead of giving us the Theron-led sequel that we have been clamoring for since 2015.
1. The Bride in the Kill Bill Saga (2003, 2004)
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The Bride (Uma Thurman) wants vengeance for what was done to her. On her wedding day, she is shot and left for dead by fellow members of the Deadly Vipers and their boss (and her lover) Bill. The viciousness of the betrayal was further exacerbated by the ruthlessness of their actions, knowing that The Bride was pregnant. Unfortunately for them, The Bride survives and wants revenge on all who wronged her. Most importantly, the Bride vows to Kill Bill.
You get everything you want from Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2; a compelling story, sharp dialogue, and brutally inspiring action scenes. In other words, it is Tarantino doing Tarantino things. Uma Thurman excels as the vengeful action star you love, making the most devout pacifists root for her bloody cause. Thurman is sexy but not a sex object, believable in every fight scene, and possesses a ruthlessness not seen from any female characters in film. Thurman’s bride is not a hero or anti-hero but a deeply flawed person navigating a deeply flawed world. Without these masterpieces, it is hard to imagine a world that includes John Wick or any of the dozen copycats we’ve seen since.
Fans are clamoring for a Kill Bill vol 3, and Tarantino hasn’t entirely dismissed the idea. Maybe it can center on the daughter of Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), who witnessed The Bride kill her mother in her home. I beg you, Tarantino, please make this happen!
