Sons of Thunder, Season 1 [2019] (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Simon, ever since becoming a Christian, doesn’t want to be in his motorcycle gang anymore, but the gang leader won’t let Simon out very easily. Afraid for his girlfriend’s life and uncertain of the future, Simon decides to go on a road trip since he thinks this will keep everyone safe. Along the way, Simon hops from town to town, trying to make enough money to pay his way. In each area, he’s able to magically help someone before he has to return to his pursuit of unknown goals. The question is, will he ever be safe from the grasp of the biker gang?

Production Quality (2.5 points)

For the most part, in keeping with the new ways of a well-funded PureFlix machine, Sons of Thunder sports a respectable production. This is evident in the video quality, camera work, and audio quality, including a pretty good soundtrack. Sets, locations, and props are also above average. Despite some obvious continuity errors and less-than-perfect editing, this production improves as it goes. Thus, this section is easily the strongest point of the series.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

From the get-go, the first season of Sons of Thunder is full of constant narration, which is only combined with cheesy, juvenile dialogue that’s quite obvious and expository in most scenes. Many of the plot’s circumstances come off as unrealistic and trumped up, and many of the situations characters find themselves in seem quite staged and contrived just to move the narrative forward. This makes it difficult to know who the characters actually are and why they do what they do other than the fact that they are pawns in the whims of the storyline, which forces everything to reach certain conclusions, no matter how unnatural the premises may be. Some characters have extreme swings in their behaviors without legitimate explanations or catalysts, all just to make specific instances transpire. Besides these obvious problems, the fact that the protagonist can just stumble from town to town without any clear direction or objective and always find some kind of sticky situation to patch up with his wisdom before quickly leaving without good explanation is pretty ridiculous. Why would so many people trust him and benefit from him right in a row, and how would one person benefit from so many coincidences? Elsewhere, the villains and ‘bad’ characters are beyond cheesy strawmen, and basically all of the action sequences are unrealistic. However, surprisingly, not all is bad in this section since there is a consistent presence of partially effective flashbacks that build some semblance of a backstory for the main character. Further, there are some interesting themes explored in a few of the episodes, such as desperate people doing illegal things for desperate reasons, but any good is easily wiped out by the cringe-worthy climax that leaves the viewers with a painfully obvious attempt to create a second season of this madness. Therefore, only half a point can be awarded here.

Acting Quality (2 points)

Moreover, despite obvious plot problems, the acting of this series actually isn’t half-bad. Though there are moments of unsure delivery and while some performances could be better, this section is at least above-average. Dramatic scenes are a bit overacted at times, and the villain cast members were presumably coached to be absurd. Nonetheless, this aspect of the season shows improvement with time, which is enough to warrant this score.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

Sons of Thunder follows a typical recurring drama model that hearkens back to The Lone Ranger where every episode has different characters save for the main ones. As such, the protagonist hops from situation to situation, easily resolving problems within the given episode time frames. In this pursuit, episode conclusions aren’t backed up by logical progression and are rushed for the sake of time. Every episode ending is essentially the same, and while the flashbacks tend to interrupt this mold, it’s not quite enough. Another predictable aspect of this series is its use of the premiere and finale episodes to explore the bigger subplot outside of the smaller episodic ones, and though not all is bad, it’s just not quite there.

Conclusion

Despite itself, this series is actually best PureFlix Original series to date, which is really saying much considering the other options (see The Encounter, Hitting the Breaks, Malibu Dan the Family Man, and Hilton Head Island). Sons of Thunder has moments of potential and is definitely well-funded, but it just commits too many avoidable errors, mostly pertaining to poor writing. However, this isn’t anything new when it comes to PureFlix, so, at this point, we unfortunately don’t expect anything less from them.

Final Rating: 6 out of 14 points

Advertisement

May 19, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Series Reviews, SuspenseTags: Acorye' White, Adam Cope, Alec Rayme, Amanda Joy Erickson, Amos Elseth, Anna Zielinski, Benjamin Schile, Chaz Taylor, Claire Seneca, Creek Wilson, David A. R. White, Deke Anderson, Don Swayze, Donna Morrell Gafford, Drama, Emily Peachey, Gabriel Sabloff, Gerald Brodin, GiGi Erneta, Grady McCardell, Inspirational, J.B. Barrett, Jeffrey Decker, Jeremy Lawson, Jesse Gallegos, Johnny Ray Gibbs, Jonathan Glenn, Katherine Elseth, Kimberley Bliquez, Loren F. Gilley, Martin Elfrey, Mavrick Von Haug, Mayra Leal, Michael Kruger, Michael P. Collier, Ned Yousef, PureFlix, Randal Reeder, Red State Entertainment, Remy Carter, Rex Mundo, Richard Reeder, Sam Medina, Susan Gallagher, Suspense, Tom Zembrod, Vanessa Angel Leave a comment

Sweet Inspirations (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When four women who feel like they aren’t making a difference through the church events they attend are inspired to somehow help a struggling women’s shelter, they begin an unanticipated journey that takes them to the unlikeliest of places. Their church has recently acquired a dilapidated restaurant, so the four friends take it upon themselves to renovate the establishment in order to use it to raise money for the domestic violence ministry that’s in financial straits. However, things don’t go as they planned, and they must each learn unique lessons about trusting God and not living in their own strength.

Production Quality (2 points)

Although there are some random moments of inadequate production in Sweet Inspirations, such as some instances of shaky camera work and some inconsistent lighting in certain scenes, the movie’s production quality does overall improve as the film progresses. The sets, locations, and props are mostly well-constructed throughout, and the video and audio qualities are up to industry standards. While the soundtrack is a bit generic and the editing sometimes uneven, this is a passable production albeit one that could have gone a bit further than it did.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

Sweet Inspirations tries to do a lot in a limited amount of time, and it’s not all bad. It tries to present an interestingly complex storyline about relevant, real-life topics, but the many characters who are used to pull this off tend to crowd each other out and make the narrative go in many different directions at once. Some characters are downright unnecessary while others have relatable personalities and characteristics; the same critiques can be applied to the conversations among the characters as some of them are really meaningful and worthwhile while others are completely pointless and fruitless. Similarly, there are some great messages to embrace in Sweet Inspirations, such as no longer wasting time on useless church activities, waiting on God, not trying to do everything in your own strength, and doing too much ministry work to the point of exhaustion, but some of these are pushed too hard on the audience, and at times, they are undermined by illogical coincidences and unjustifiable character actions that seem condoned by the writers. In the end, the high number of romantic subplots, the desire to cover too many things in one story, and the generally wasted scenes overshadow the otherwise interesting and realistic ending that could have capped off a very good effort. There was a lot going for this movie, but there may have been too many proverbial cooks in the kitchen and not enough trimming before the project moved forward.

Acting Quality (2.5 points)

For the most part, the acting of Sweet Inspirations is its strongest point as many of the cast members are comfortable in their roles and realistic in their performances. Though there are some who are trying a bit too hard, they are not as prominent as the better actors and actresses. Also, the emotions are a mixed bag but are overall acceptable. Thus, this rounds out a slightly above-average effort that could have been a bit better.

Conclusion

In the end, Sweet Inspirations would have benefited from taking its own advice that it gave to one of its main characters about not trying to do everything “good” at once and not attempting to accomplish things in their own strength. It’s clear the creators had a lot of intriguing ideas along with meaningful messages, but trying to include all of them alongside too much pedestrian content was this movie’s ultimate downfall. Nonetheless, there is enough positive here to keep many viewers interested, and some audiences will find it to be worth their while.

Final Rating: 5.5 out of 10 points

February 26, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2019, 5.5 points, Bill Rogers, Blake Elder, Brittany Yost, Candyce Hinkle, Cassie Self, Cupcakes Movie, Dean Cain, Demara Titzer, Drama, Elizabeth Jilka, Evelyne Matthews, GEM Entertainment, Inspirational, Janelle Schremmer, Katherine Forbes, Kayleigh Calaway, Kerri Elder, Lauren Sweetser, Lesley Armour, Maria Canals-Barrera, Mark Beasley, Mark Landon Smith, Mollie Armour, Natalie Canerday, Noah Chacon, Pancho Burgos-Goizueta, PureFlix, Rockhill Studios, Rodney Wilson, Shelley D. Needham, Steve Marzolf, Tommy Blaze, Vanessa Angel, Verda Davenport Leave a comment