Plot Summary
Anwaar Osem and David Sutherland are on the run from the powerful force that has taken over the American government and has sent its enforcers to capture and kill those who resist their anti-Christian rule. As they hide in the woods, they decide to record the truth about Christianity for all the world to see, even though the enforcement tries to stamp it out. Will they be able to spread the truth and save people’s lives before it’s too late?
Production Quality (.5 point)
Despite a somewhat strong beginning and several years of production experience, this Crystal Creek series is not what it should be. Camera work is very shaky throughout, like a camcorder is being used. Video quality is fine, but there are way too many scenes filmed in the dark. Audio quality is also below standard as sound effects that sound like they came from Final: The Rapture are included. The soundtrack is also underwhelming. Sets, locations, and props are severely limited and cheap-looking. Finally, editing in this series is very poor a lot of unnecessary scenes and sequences are included, seemingly just to make the ‘episodes’ longer. In short, a 2017 production should be much higher quality than this.
Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)
Though there are plenty of potentially interesting and creative ideas at the heart of this series, they are never properly developed. This season overall lacks focus as it relies on a very vague and unexplained dystopian premise and stock suspense dialogue. There are far too many unrelated and empty characters that are put through unrealistic circumstances. The subplots are overall disjointed and any ‘twists’ that are employed are actually quite cheesy. Finally, the end of this season is very confusing and really doesn’t inspire one to want a second season. It’s very difficult to see the justification for this so-called series.
Acting Quality (1 point)
Can someone explain to us why Daniel Knudsen consistency uses an obviously fake British accent? It’s very off-putting and annoying. Elsewhere, this is a typical Crystal Creek cast with a few new additions that have some talent. However, acting coaching is still lacking as a lot of the line delivery in this series is monotone and phoned in. Emotions are difficult to grasp. It’s possible that this cast could do better with coaching, however.
Continuity Quality (0 points)
Each so-called ‘episode’ is basically just the same plot over and over again. Thus, there are no character arcs or real plot twists, as previously mentioned. The format this ‘series’ is placed in makes it more like a movie than a season, since the breaks between the episodes are totally arbitrary and unnecessary. They all run together, thus creating zero continuity.
Conclusion
We are certain that the Crystal Creek Media team means well, so we hope they will accept constructive criticism and use it improve in the future. They have the drive to make movies and series, which is good, and they have the means to consistently produce them, though not very well. They definitely like to build strong messages in their stories, but they need to build strong stories to hold their message properly. They need to pool their resources to make one good production rather than a collection of bad ones. Finally, their acting pool is limited, but they can be worked with if better coaching is employed. We know all of this is easier said than done, but it’s so worth it in the end.
Final Rating: 1.5 out of 14 points
Box Office Revolution 