The Crossroads of Hunter Wilde (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

In the aftermath of a world war that left mutants and ISIS rebels roaming the earth in search of their next victims, Hunter Wilde fights to survive and protect those close to him. However, when a new threat emerges that he has no idea how to fight, Hunter does what he typically does: run away. Will he be able to rekindle his faith before it’s too late?

Production Quality (1.5 points)

Despite seemingly having adequate funding, this production fails to meet quality standards. This includes background noise that sometimes conflicts with spoken audio as well as a loud and generic soundtrack. The sets, locations, and props don’t effectively portray what they’re supposed to portray. Also, the camera work is wild, including poor shots in action sequences. The video quality is mostly stable throughout, however, and the editing is average. Despite some less-than-inspiring special effects, some elements of the production do improve as it goes on. Nonetheless, it’s only enough to earn a middle-of-the-road score for this section.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Besides the fact that this film is based on a ridiculous premise and bizarre plot elements, it also contains a really bad and slightly incorrect portrayal of the spiritual dimension. The writers seemed to be obsessed with sensationalism, shock, and awe as well as fixated on pro-prepper messaging that seems to want the world to descend into chaos so that they can do whatever they want. Despite being a large-scale idea, the story is based on clunky narration and stock footage. It’s also full of forced drama and purposely creepy supernatural elements. In the character department, the so-called protagonist almost always saves the day via unrealistic action sequences. Other characters are built on forced cardboard dialogue and awkward conversations that make everything drag out. The villains are extremely cheesy, and the narrative decides what happens to the characters and what random things they’ll do without good reasons for doing them. Things only get more ridiculous as they go, mostly due to the fact that the movie confuses itself with wacky inter-dimensional subplots and terminology. The concepts of other realms are extremely difficult to grasp, and the screenplay’s questionable view of spirituality tends to play fast and loose with reality. In the end, this is a pointless storyline full of madness and nonsense.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Between overly theatrical emotions and forced line delivery, the cast was seemingly coached to be very serious for no good reason. Too often, tones and feelings don’t seem to appropriately fit the situations. Makeup is also an obvious problem, and the villain acting is laughably ridiculous. In the end, despite some okay moments that keep this section from being zero, the acting tends to worsen as it goes forward, which rounds out an overall absurd creation.

Conclusion

It’s difficult to understand what the makes of this film were really going for. Mixing a dystopian premise with muted political overtures, much like The Reliant, is basically a losing formula from the get-go. Combing this with poor production and acting aspects sends this movie down to the basement of Christian entertainment. However, the market is thankfully changing for the better, which will no longer allow screenplays like this to exist.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 10 points

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July 22, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Apocalyptic, Drama, Horror, Movie Reviews, Psychological, SuspenseTags: 2.5 points, 2019, Abel Becerra, Alin Bijan, Apocalyptic, April Hartman, Bridgestone Multimedia Group, Chuck Huber, David Timmes, Drama, Greta Norris, Haulston Mann, Horror, Jordan DragonKing, Kaci Hill, Kat Rowland, Kenneisha Thompson, LaRonn Marzett, Mike Norris, Norris Moving Pictures, Psychological, Rafael Villegas, Suspense, Ted Ferguson, Valerie Norris, Vernon Reeves, Zane Tabari 2 Comments

Closer to God: Jessica’s Journey (Movie Review)

Grandpa’s angry

Plot Summary

Jessica is struggling in her battle with cancer while her mother struggles to hold it all together emotionally and financially.  The last thing her Jessica’s mother expects is for her father—Jessica’s grandfather—to show up at their house unannounced in the midst of it all.  Her mother has no choice but to let Jessica’s grandfather watch over her daughter while she is at work.  Through it all, will they be able to mend their broken family ties even in the midst of the battle with cancer?

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

Closer to God is another one of those productions that has good effort behind it but not enough funding or creativity to sustain it.  As is usual for these types of productions, video quality and camera work are fine.  Audio quality is good, but there is virtually no soundtrack.  Sets and locations are quite cheap and limited to a few houses and vehicles.  Another common element for this sort of production is blasé editing, which is also true for Closer to God.  There are a lot of lagging scenes and confusing transitions.  Overall, this is an average production that could have been more.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

While based on true events, Jessica’s Journey follows the predictable progression of a simplistic disease plot.  It is less dramatic than this type of story usually is, but it is instead filled with a lot of activities of daily living and meaningless sequences.  The characters are somewhat flat and one-dimensional due to uncreative and non-starter dialogue.  Perhaps the most identifiable element of this film is the creepy grandpa character depicted above.  A majority of the story is him wandering around the house spouting unusual dialogue.  While there is a vague recollection of meaning in the ending of this film, the rest of it is simply too much for it to matter.  We are unsure what was trying to be insinuated by the grandfather character, who dominates most of the movie, but perhaps they had no control over this actor…

Acting Quality (1 point)

It seems like the grandfather actor has been set loose on this set with no real direction except to use annoying and overly-enunciated line delivery.  He overshadows the other cast members, some of which are fine.  However, casting Ben Davies as a character older than he is simply does not work at all.  Some emotions are overdone throughout this cast, but there is some positive here, yet not enough to compete with creepy grandpa.

Conclusion

Films like this are very safe and marketable, but they have no staying power.  They don’t make the difference they hope to make and they rarely return the money that is wanted.  They are especially bad when they are remembered for weird offbeat characters like the grandfather in this film.  Elements like that are all that is remembered of these types of films because they have no dynamic elements to truly affect the market.  Once again, this is another one to throw on the pile.

 

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 10 points

 

July 7, 2017January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2.5 points, 2012, Andrew Carlson, Ashley Noel, Ben Davies, Bill Suplee, Camara Davis, Caroline Bentley, Chris Yanke, Clarence Thomas III, CMD Distribution, Creepy Grandpa, David Garcia, DGC Enterprises, Disease, Dmitri Schuyler-Linch, Donald Chambers, Evan Underwood, Inspirational, Jacqueline Hickel, Jahmilla Jackson, Jax, Jenn Page, John Soren, Joseph Carrillo, Lark Voorhies, LaShanay Donise Reita, Lucas Adams, Malia Miglino, Michael Joiner, New Conquest Pictures, Savannah Rae Linz, Ted Ferguson, Tina Ivlev, Veronica Rodriguez 4 Comments

Maggie’s Passage (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Maggie hates the life she lives on the streets under the control of a pimp and other men who constantly use her for their own gain.  She wants to escape, but she sees no way out, until she discovers a Bible and learns what God really thinks about her.  As she flees her captors, she finds herself alone and on the streets again with no one to turn to.  Then she meets a woman who takes her under her wing and shows her the love of Christ.  Maggie must fully surrender to God and trust people again in order to find healing.

 

Production Quality (1 point)

Though it seems like the creative meant well in making this film, there are quite a few production errors.  Video quality and camera work are fine, but there are too many instances of poor lighting.  Outside sounds are sometimes too loud, as is the soundtrack, while other scenes are too dead and lack sound or expression.  Sets and locations are very cheap and limited.  There is not really any editing to speak of since there is really enough content to require editing.  While this is a commendable effort, the production of Maggie’s Passage is too underfunded.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

This film depicts several unfortunately realistic circumstances and is thus thought-provoking.  However, it is sometimes hard to follow what is happening as there are a lot of empty sequences and vague narration that fill time.  It seems like this idea is not taken to its fullest potential as the backstory of the characters is started but not finished.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to connect with the characters because their development is unfinished.  Even though there is a lot of talking, there is not enough meaningful dialogue.  The plot relies on one too many coincidences and overall lacks focus and driving purpose.  There is hardly enough content to sustain this story into a feature length film.  Thus, more subplots, flashbacks, and complexities are needed.  In the end, it really does seem like the writers meant well—they just needed a little more direction to make this story all that it could be.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

While there is some good in this cast and it seems like they mean well, they are sometimes too flat.  Emotions are sometimes too extreme and there is sometimes too much yelling.  But there are plenty of good moments, thus making their performances overall average.

Conclusion

Overall, it is clear that the creators of this film meant well and that it intends to share an important message.  The biggest problem is that Maggie’s Passage is it is mostly an unfinished idea, even though it has a lot of potential that is untapped.  The production is too underfunded to be effective and the acting is not coached enough.  It’s a shame that this film falls short of what it could have been.  It really deserves a remake because the ideas behind it are worth sharing.  Perhaps one day the ideas will be used again in a better way.

 

Final Rating: 3 out of 10 points

 

July 5, 2017January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2009, 2nd Fiddle Entertainment, 3 points, Ali Faulkner, Barry Brown, Chris Bessey, Douglas Edward, Emily De Nisi, Ethan Hirschy, Grant Barker, Inspirational, Jack Elliot, Janine Turner, Mike Norris, Nate Rubin, Norris Family Films, Raymond Normandin, Sheran Goodspeed Keyton, Ted Ferguson, Tex Marshall, Thomas A Treml, Valerie Norris, Wesley Trammel 1 Comment