From the opening scene, I was surprised at how well-directed this film is. Both dramatic and action-heavy scenes are well-framed and the actions and reactions of the characters are always the focus of the visual storytelling. It makes for an exciting watch!
Additionally, the performances are all quite great. Gina Cyrano probably gives her best performance, and she definitely carries this film with heart and grit.
The writing is much more hit-and-miss. The character introductions are very well-handled and set both the central family and the villains up as tangible people with clear-cut desires, struggles, and goals. Unfortunately, from there, these things are very rarely, if ever, mentioned again.
Instead, we get decisions that are made just to move the story along and give us new situations to watch. Given the villains' goals, what they do over the course of the story doesn't make sense. They seem to be actively trying to make things harder on themselves.
Not to say that the script is bad. The dialogue is often engaging and the pacing is pretty strong. It's just that it feels so contrived and inorganic that it's hard to get as wrapped up in it as the filmmakers wanted me to.
It's a solid western, and there's a shortage of good modern ones. That's about all I wanted.
Additionally, the performances are all quite great. Gina Cyrano probably gives her best performance, and she definitely carries this film with heart and grit.
The writing is much more hit-and-miss. The character introductions are very well-handled and set both the central family and the villains up as tangible people with clear-cut desires, struggles, and goals. Unfortunately, from there, these things are very rarely, if ever, mentioned again.
Instead, we get decisions that are made just to move the story along and give us new situations to watch. Given the villains' goals, what they do over the course of the story doesn't make sense. They seem to be actively trying to make things harder on themselves.
Not to say that the script is bad. The dialogue is often engaging and the pacing is pretty strong. It's just that it feels so contrived and inorganic that it's hard to get as wrapped up in it as the filmmakers wanted me to.
It's a solid western, and there's a shortage of good modern ones. That's about all I wanted.