Carman: The Champion (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Orlando Leone is not in good health, but after inheriting his father’s gym, he finds himself with mounting debt and not enough income to cover his bills.  His only choice is to re-enter the boxing scene and win a high-stakes prize fight in order to earn the money he needs to save the gym.  However, the fight will be against his gravest rival.  Will Orlando’s medical condition keep him from being the hero?

 

Production Quality (2 points)

For an early 2000s film, Carman’s self-titled ego trip is not a bad production all around.  This means, as usual, that video quality and camera work are good, even in the sports action scenes.  Audio quality is adequate, even though there are some minor background noise issues and the soundtrack is sometimes too loud.  Yet there are plenty of good sets, locations, and props, especially pertaining to the sports elements.  However, there are also some editing concerns, mostly pertaining to the sports montages and the slightly choppy presentation.  But on the whole, this is an acceptable, above-average production.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

While there is some potential in this story, mostly pertaining to the realistic circumstances portrayed in this plot, there are also a lot of formulaic elements here.  This film is basically your average sports redemption arc combined with a predictable save the farm with an impossible sports feat subtext, mixed with a dash of the medical complications subplot.  Thus, the characters are too shallow as they mainly function as pawns in the plot’s circumstances that are inevitable regardless of what they do.  Things happen because they need to and mostly consist of typical scenes and sports montages, as previously mentioned.  The romantic subplot is cheesy and rushed and the villain is a strawman.  There are also some unnecessarily edgy elements just because.  Basically, while this was a nice try, it’s not good enough.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Despite Carman being a lead in this film and putting a damper on things, the other cast members aren’t really half bad in this film.  However, there are moments of emotion that are too dramatic and forced.  The villain cast member is basically annoying.  On the while, this is just one of those films that has good elements but is mostly forgettable.

Conclusion

Carman the Champion was a part of an early 2000s push from Trinity Broadcasting Network and others to bring a diverse collection of Christian films to the big screen, but the effort was not entirely successful.  While this movie was sort of the first of its kind in Christian circles, replicating the basic Rocky plot using Carman isn’t really worth doing.  Christians should be more creative than this, so maybe future film makers can take cues from this.

 

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points

 

Advertisement

November 18, 2017January 3, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie Reviews, SportsTags: 2001, 4 points, Betty Carvalho, Bill Boggs, Carman, Code Productions, Cory Hodges, Delaina Mitchell, Eric Mosely, Gary M. Bettman, Gener8Xion Entertainment, Harry Manfredini, Hector Elias, Inspirational, Jay Arlen Jones, Jed Allan, Jeremy Williams, John Runner, Joseph DiSante, Keith MacKechnie, Kevin Rankin, Kimmarie Johnson, Lawrence Mortorff, Lee Stanley, Lorielle New, Matthew Crouch, Michael Nouri, Michael St. Claire, PaSean Wilson, Patricia Manterola, Paul Crouch, Richard J. Cook, Robert Catrini, Romeo Fabian, Scott L. Schwartz, Simon Brooke, Sports, Stephan Blinn, Steve Albert, Tadd Callies, Tony Cinciripini, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Zack Duhame 1 Comment

The Omega Code 2: Megiddo (Movie Review)

Just wait until I turn into a monster…

Plot Summary

Stone Alexander always craved power and always knew that he was meant for something bigger.  As he grew up and rose through the ranks of the military, he was ruthless and unfeeling.  His own family never understood him, especially his brother.  The older he became, the deeper he became involved in darkness and evil.  Stone quickly became a raving, power-hungry madman committed to do anything to achieve world domination.  Ultimately, it comes down to the differing choices of the two brothers and how they affected humanity.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

Needless to say, The Omega Code 2: Megiddo has better production than the previous installment, The Omega Code 1.  Sets, locations, and props are all fairly professional and camera work has improved.  Video and audio quality are also improved, and the soundtrack is intriguing.  However, there are still cheesy special effects and confusing crossfades.  Editing is overall okay, but there is too much useless footage that drags down the film.  In the end, this is just an average production.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

Though it portrays an odd view of the Thousand Year Reign, this story shows an interesting side to the development of the antichrist.  Thus, it jumps back in time to before the first movie ever began and works its way up to where the first film left off.  However, it does fill in missing parts from The Omega Code 1, which becomes sort of a crutch to ‘fix’ the first film.  Also, this filling in is not done in the best way as it relies on information dump dialogue, time jumps, and of course, over-dramatization and sensationalism.  There is, as usual, an addiction to creepy and weird spiritual elements and a fixation on the demonic.  This story gives tons of attention to Satan and barely any to Jesus and Christianity.  Finally, similar to the first one, as this movie goes on, it gets stranger and stranger until it boils down to a very bizarre ending that leaves you scratching your head.  When all is said and done, the plots of the two Omega Code films are the same—ridiculous.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Acting somewhat improves between the two films, but there are still problems here.  Lines are sometimes overly practiced and emotions are often over-the-top and extreme.  However, not all is bad here and there are some bright spots.  In the end, this portion is also just average.

Conclusion

What was ever to be gained from The Omega Code series?  Megiddo barely has any reference to the original dubious premise of printing out codes supposedly hidden in the Torah.  It’s highly unlikely anybody but white evangelical Christians will ever see these disasters, but if anybody else did, they would probably find a good laugh and then forget about them.  The creepy obsession with the demonic in these films does nothing but fuel sensationalism and the messaging only preaches to the choir.  In short, these films are utterly useless and have no part on Christian entertainment.

 

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 10 points

 

January 26, 2017January 11, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Apocalyptic, International, Movie Reviews, Psychological, Sci-Fi, SuspenseTags: 2001, 3.5 points, Andrew Crouch, Apocalyptic, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Chad Michael Murray, Code Productions, David Hedison, Diane Venora, Eduardo Yáñez, Elisa Scialpi, Forbes Riley, Franco Nero, Gary M. Bettman, Gavin Fink, Gener8Xion Entertainment, Gil Colon, Greg Ellis, Hollis Barton, Infinity Omnimedia, International, Jim Metzler, John DeMita, John Fasano, Jonny Rees, Lawrence Mortorff, Leon Pikor, Matthew Crouch, Michael Biehn, Michael York, Noah Huntley, Paul Crouch, Paul J. Lombardi, Peter Bernstein, Psychological, R. Lee Ermey, Richard J. Cook, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Stephan Blinn, Suspense, The Omega Code series, Tim Colceri, Tony Amendola, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Udo Kier Leave a comment