Proud Mary; The Year of Black Cinema

     2018 is looking lit for Black cinema, and my New Year's resolution is to throw all my money at it.

     Slowly but surely, Black people are getting the recognition they deserve on the silver screen. 2017 was the year of the iconic Oscar nab by Moonlight over La La Land, the overdue first Oscar win for Viola Davis, and the release of the record-setting film Girl's Trip. The seeds sown in 2017 have yielded a crop full of new opportunities for Black films in 2018 and I, for one, am doing my very best to make sure that every single one has my money in its opening weekend numbers.

     First up is Proud Mary.

     As soon as I learned that Taraji P. Henson would be starring in an assassin film, I put the film's release date in my calendar. I was hyped as hell for the film. As time went on though, I found myself slightly upset with the lack of publicity for the film's release. It was not publicized well and with such a powerhouse as Henson in the lead role, one would  think the film would have been advertised better.

     I went opening night, January 12th and I have tix pix to prove it. 

Still finessin that student discount. Excuse the low quality, y'all. It was late.

     Right off the bat, the film has bumping music. The film opens with a bad ass vintage montage featuring Henson's character, Mary, flexing and prepping for her day. The whole thing is underscored by the Temptations' "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." It sets the tone for what should be a new addition to a classic genre of super spy and assassin films.

     Unfortunately, that's about as good as the film gets. 

     Proud Mary has a stellar cast.  The main band of players includes Taraji P. Henson, Margaret Avery, Danny Glover, and Billy Brown's fine ass. It should have been a hit movie, but it wasn't.

     Where  Proud Mary falls flat is within the writing itself. The plot is aggravatingly basic. There is no plot twist. There are no surprises. The characters make it clear what it is that they want to do, and then they do it. The performances are all solid. Special mention goes to Jahi Di'Allo Winston who, at only 13, delivers a performance that manages to be nuanced, layered, funny, and endearing. But all the talent in the world can only go so far with a mediocre script, and unfortunately, that's what Proud Mary has. The film is perfect if you're looking for something that will occupy your time and require minimal effort to follow. However, if you're looking for the next great assassin film, this just isn't it.

     All films that are a part of the Year of Black Cinema Series will be rated on a scale of 1 - 10 out of several categories. Those scores will then be averaged out in order to find the mean and final score. The categories are as follows:

Composition: Based on how many Black people the cast is composed of, how much screen time they're given, and what kind of roles they occupy.

Content: Based on the writing and plot of the film, because you can put all the Black stars you want in a movie but if the writing is wack, it don't matter. 

Culture:  Based on what the film is contributing to the culture. Because that's why we do this.

     Proud Mary's cast was Black as hell, earning it a perfect 10 in Composition. As for Content, the film fell flat, landing it a meager 4. In Culture, the film scores a 6.5 for showing a healthy adoptive relationship between Mary and Danny, and for giving us all the gift of Taraji's bad ass final fight scene where she takes down everybody.

     Overall, Proud Mary  finishes with a 6.8, which is good, but it isn't great, and I was really hoping it would be great.

     If you have any film suggestions for the Year of Black Cinema series, comment them below so they can be added to the running list.