The filming was great, not cheap. The actors were pretty good. Not stiff and wooden.
I read a few reviews that hated the lead male for being a "wimp". The irony of their review being so negative about that...it was kinda the point. He was young, inexperienced/naive, and heavily influenced by his mother in gentleness. He was tough when he needed to be and only after he realized that was the only thing that would work. He grew up.
My problem with the movie was the mixed messages and unfinished business. I thought the movie was trying to teach us that oil fracking was bad, yet the repercussions/outcomes/impacts was barely touched. The story background on the sex slavery was foggy. It was a great opportunity to shed some light on a real problem, yet there was almost no detail. It was primarily about one native woman, in particular. Clearly, she had been tricked into the sex slavery. The story had a chance and even started to tell more about it with the other native women...but nothing - it needed a much stronger message. They just appear and disappear. We don't even find out what happens to the group of 3 women from the shelter that the villain re-kidnaps. I guess some of those parts might have wound up on the cutting room floor - it felt a bit jarring and, well, unfinished.
Otherwise, I rather liked the twist at the end. I knew something was coming with the hero's uncle but even that took me by surprise. I don't want the endings to be completely boring and predictable, so that was good.
I read a few reviews that hated the lead male for being a "wimp". The irony of their review being so negative about that...it was kinda the point. He was young, inexperienced/naive, and heavily influenced by his mother in gentleness. He was tough when he needed to be and only after he realized that was the only thing that would work. He grew up.
My problem with the movie was the mixed messages and unfinished business. I thought the movie was trying to teach us that oil fracking was bad, yet the repercussions/outcomes/impacts was barely touched. The story background on the sex slavery was foggy. It was a great opportunity to shed some light on a real problem, yet there was almost no detail. It was primarily about one native woman, in particular. Clearly, she had been tricked into the sex slavery. The story had a chance and even started to tell more about it with the other native women...but nothing - it needed a much stronger message. They just appear and disappear. We don't even find out what happens to the group of 3 women from the shelter that the villain re-kidnaps. I guess some of those parts might have wound up on the cutting room floor - it felt a bit jarring and, well, unfinished.
Otherwise, I rather liked the twist at the end. I knew something was coming with the hero's uncle but even that took me by surprise. I don't want the endings to be completely boring and predictable, so that was good.