Queen Cleopatra, a new Netflix series and the second installment in theAfrican Queensfranchise produced byJada Pinkett Smith, currently has a 1% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The first installment in the series,African Queens: Njinga, released back in February to a similarly icy reception from audiences, though it fared far better with critics thanQueen Cleopatrahas managed so far.
African Queens: Njingaearned an 88% critic score fromreview aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, significantly higher than its 22% audience score. There isn’t nearly as big of a gap between with the critic score and audience score forQueen Cleopatra, which has been panned by critics and fans alike.
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At the time of this writing,Queen Cleopatrahas a mere 13% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes versus a shocking 1% audience score. The extremely low audience score can be explained by an apparent review bombing effort by people who are upset about the casting of thetitular Queen Cleopatra. In the Netflix series, Cleopatra is portrayed by Adele James, a black woman, which has upset people in Egypt and reignited the debate about the ethnicity of the real-world historical figure.
It’s clear that the casting of Cleopatra is the primary reason why the series has been hit with so many extremely low audience scores, but setting that aside, it seems that many aren’t impressed with the show in general. Looking at some of the professional reviews that have been written about theQueen Cleopatraseries since the show premiered onNetflixon May 10, the series has been criticized as being “bland” with lackluster performances.
Even thoughQueen Cleopatra’s Rotten Tomatoes score is clearly the result of a review bombing effort, it seems unlikely that it would have fared much better had there been noreview bombingat all. The consensus seems to be thatQueen Cleopatrais not a good show regardless of the casting controversy, and a clear step down fromAfrican Queens: Njinga. It will be interesting to see if there is a third season of the show and if so, how it fares compared toAfrican Queens: NjingaandQueen Cleopatra.
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