Emperor (2020)

Dayo Okeniyi is Shields Green, a slave and “organizer” on a South Carolina plantation who dreams of the day he’ll be able to purchase freedom for himself, his wife and his son.

But when his owner loses the plantation to gambling debts, Randolph Stevens (M.C. Gainey) takes over and brings along Hank Beaumont (Patrick Roper) as overseer.

And things quickly change on that plantation.

Green heads back to the fields, is branded for a mistake Beaumont makes, then snaps when his son Tommy is whipped after being caught reading a book.

Barging into the overseer’s cabin, Green kills Beaumont and one of his companions and escapes, but not before his wife is shot and killed by pursuers.

From that point on, the price on Green’s head rises as word of the Emperor’s deeds spread across the south.

The plantation owners even pool their resources to hire a bounty hunter from Texas to help track Green down.

As for Green, he hasn’t given up hope of securing his son’s freedom.

Frederick Douglas offers to help him start a new life under a new name in Canada.

Instead, Shields Green decides to pick up a musket and join John Brown for the raid on Harper’s Ferry.

Review:

A well-intentioned film that benefits from the look that comes with a big budget and from a fine performance by Dayo Okeniyi in the lead role.

But the script includes way too many “huh” moments for the movie to be entirely successful.

A slave owner who loses his entire plantation in a game of poker? A hero who recognizes John Brown and Frederick Douglas at first glance?

A busty slave girl who puts her life in danger to rush to the defense of a killer she just met?

And while second-billed Ben Robson has a cool part as bounty hunter Luke McCabe, ask yourself these questions.

Are southern plantation owners likely to bring in a bounty hunter all the way from Texas to search for a man in South Carolina? And is the bounty hunter going to make that trip, then negotiate his fee?

Didn’t anyone read this script and think, “Well, that isn’t very plausible?” Several times.

The ending also rewrites history. Hint: There’s a small image of the real Shields Green in the closing credits. It comes from a drawing of him awaiting his hanging on Dec. 16, 1859, at age 23.

Directed by:
Mark Amin

Cast:
Dayo Okeniyi … Shields Green
Ben Robson … Luke McCabe
James Cromwell … John Brown
M.C. Gainey … Randolph Stevens
Kat Graham … Delores
Keean Johnson … Rufus Little
Patrick Ropoer … Hank Beaumont
Harry Lennix … Frederick Douglas
Naturi Naughton … Sarah Green
Mykelti Williamson … Truesdale
Brad Carter … Grady
Charles “Lil Buck” Riley … Meshach
Paul Scheer … Duvane Henderson
Bruce Dern … Levi Coffin
Trayce Malachi … Tommy

Runtime: 99 min.

Memorable lines:

Sheilds Green: “When we go up North, I want my boy to be able to read.”
Sarah Green: “I want him to be alive.”

Shields Green: “You know why they call me Emperor?”
His son shakes his head no.
Shields: “Cause my grand daddy, your great grand daddy, was a king. Now that make you a prince, right? Which means one day you gonna be a king.”
Son: “Is that really true?”
Shields: “It’s true to me.”

Sheilds Green, after his young son has been whipped: “Why?”
Hank Beaumont: “Cause this is God’s country. That’s why. We white folks, we’s made in his image. And in God’s country, I can do whatever I want.”

Outlaw’s brother: “How can you think of money in a time like this?”
Outlaw’s second brother: “Cause we ain’t got none.”

Shields Green; “I took lashes my whole life. Kept my head down. Didn’t cause no trouble. But when I seen what they did to Tommy, when I seen the life ahead of him, I don’t want him to be like me.”

Frederick Douglas to John Brown, about his planned raid of Harper’s Ferry: “If you go through with this, it will only serve to make them hate us.”
Shields Green: “They already hate us.”