coastdaze

I stumbled upon Banished, a 2015 series. It looked interesting, esp. The subject matter. But after only 1 season it was not renewed! A good series like this, not renewed? I read one of the cast members said it was because of the series, Poldark (another good series). What did the two have to do with each other, I wonder? Banished was, imo, engrossing and easy to binge. While it is fiction, it did give rather realistic insights to the cruelty of man to one another. The cruelty of the British empire, a country of "royals" who apparently have been corrupt to say the least. The one season of Banished is worth the watch, again imo. Though unsatisfying in the ending which was premature.

I've be a big Alien fan since the first ground-breaking Alien movie with Sigourney Weaver. I'm not usually shocked at a movie these days, especially one that I was so looking forward to seeing. The storyline was boring at best. Nothing, imo, innovative or interesting. I didn't care about any of the characters, they were not interesting, not up to the previous chracters in the franchise's movies. I could always find them interesting, at least. I sat there waiting for the movie to "take off", it took a while from the start of the movie to get anything going. And then it was pretty much really loud music and one traumatic scene after another. At the end, my brother said, "Wow, they threw everything but the kitchen sink in that one." He's a big Alien fan, too. I had to laugh at his comment because it was so true. All the action scenes, big music and scare tactics don't make up for a lack luster screenplay and uninteresting characters. I'll admit this, at every moment where they went for the shock/surprise factor, I did jump. I sat through the movie feeling embarrassed (can you imagine) for the franchise. I don't like great movie franchises going down in this way. I don't regret seeing it though. I can't imagine the franchise going on, but if it does, I'll probably continue to hope for another great Alien movie. Sorry I don't have much to say about the movie...there wasn't much there for me other than the loud music and action scenes, neither of which made it a good movie. If there was a "Meh" category, that's where I'd put it.

I'll start off by saying the cadre of actors in this movie was much less compelling than I would have thought with the likes of the production company, Epoch, and the actors Sorbo, Gooding, Jr. The saving grace of this movie was the story that it was based on. That story is moving and inspiring. Other than the main character, I did not care about the other characters. At best the actors portraying them were "acting" and at worst they seemed like untrained newbies. This story could have been much more meaningful and compelling, it just seemed someone had to cut corners or something. Something like this happening in a foreign jail should have had a stronger script and much better acting. I am a Christian, not in name only, but in heart and soul and this review is difficult to write. But it's my truth. This is definitely a movie followers of Jesus Christ can relate to because we can generally see past the imperfections to the intent of the movie makers working with a probable low budget. I was moved to tears toward the end of the movie because of the story. I don't see it as a loss because I know of a story that I never heard of before. But those who are used to the big-budget Hollywood style movies may not have the patience to sit through this movie. But in all honesty I hope they do. It's the message that is vitally important and true. Go see it with that in mind and you may come out a changed man or woman, I pray so.