(If you’re curious, my review process. It’s also pasted at the end of this post. I don’t believe in Rotten Tomatoes. I just believe in me.)
(***all-purpose SPOILER ALERT*** there may be some in this review)
acting 7
directing 7
effects 9
editing 7
writing 8
SW SCORE: 38
3.8 out of 5 🐙
++
The oppression of indigenous people by European colonial powers is well established. Along with films about the Holocaust or slavery, I can’t watch films that concentrate on this horrible time in human history. I don’t begrudge the stories being told and there are doubtless endless worthy stories to be told but it just breaks my heart and I find no joy in it. I know what happened. I’ve read about it. I’ve educated myself about it. But I just can’t stomach it anymore. That said, it’s a decent, powerful, and heartbreaking example of a particularly nuanced and brutal episode of this epoch. Some might say the ending is noble defiance but I say it’s just sadness. But if you know you are about to view a raw tragedy with little light in its darkness, by all means, give it a viewing.
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(1) Shark Wrighter (SW) Score: Based on a sum of 5 sub-scores (acting, directing, writing/story, effects: cinematography &/or animation &/or effects, editing) with 1 being terrible and 10 being terrific.
(2) Octopuses (0-5 🐙, with 5 being fantastic and 0 being feces)
(3) Octopuses are my unquantifiable feeling…not that SW score is scientific…but this one is even less so
(4) ++ This optional section includes any incredibly *brilliant observations that don’t fit into simple quantitative slices like the scores and octopuses *(they are likely NOT brilliant)