The Last Manhunt

I can understand some of the other reviews if this is the first time you've heard of Willie Boy. First of all the scenery alone was awesome and genuine. Having lived by Gilman Ranch and hearing of Willie Boy in 1991, reading Mr. Lawton's book, then watching the previous movie, it was so refreshing to see this story told from a native point of view. I appreciated the fact the characters were not based on fiction but on what limited facts have survived, even if that hindered character development. I would trust oral histories passed down through generations before news reporters concocting yet another fairy tale. It's about time!

I was a little confused at first because I didn't recognise the format or genre but gradually as the film played out I began to see it's meaning.

We have grown accustomed to many stereotypes in Westerns and I'm always looking for films that try to portray a more realistic narrative. There are some fairly decent performances in this film and the simple story is reasonably well told but of course some of the actors based their performances on fiction instead of reality which distracts from the overall experience. However this does tend to work in concept and I can see why it was tolerated. It's not easy to develop character profiles without recognisable stereotypes but it would be possible with a good director and better script.

Without a little artistic license this wouldn't be much of a story and certainly not worth making a film of, there is one sentence in text at the beginning and another sentence at the end and that is what the whole film is based around.

Not a blockbuster, more of a curiosity but worth watching in it's own right.

The whole treatment of this re-telling of the fact-based Willie Boy story is too minimalist to fully engage the viewer. If I had not had prior knowledge of the story it was trying to tell I'd have given up a short time in (in fact my audience did). The style is impressive with fine visuals and settings, but the screenplay just seems to get lost in itself and leaves the viewer struggling to remain involved.

While the earlier late sixties version (Tell Them Willie Boy is Here) is not that much better it at least does a better job of keeping the story elements on track. Maybe there was not that much of a story here to cover a feature movie - a documentary could have been better.

IN A NUTSHELL: This dramatic movie is based on true events from the oral history of the Chemehuevi Indian tribe of California. It was written by Thomas Pa'a Sibbett, and directed by Christan Camargo.

The story takes place in the early 1900s Wild West. Willie Boy falls in love with Carlota from the Chemehuevi tribe despite being forbidden to be together. A fatal incident forces the young couple to flee the only place they know as home.

This is a remake of the 1969 movie Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here based on the novel by Harry Lawton. The story was first filmed in 1911 as a short called The Curse of the Redman.

THINGS I LIKED: The cast does a great job and includes Martin Sensmeier, Mainei Kinimaka, Zahn McClarnon, Tantoo Cardinal, and Jason Momoa.

Beautiful musical score.

We get to visit Joshua Tree in California.

It's cool to see various desert survival skills that the Indians use.

Lovely cinematography.

In the end, we get to see photos of the real people involved in the events.

We see the consequences of revenge played out in various ways.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: Fans of Jason Momoa have to wait 30 minutes before he appears in the movie. After that, we rarely see him in the movie. Using his name and image to advertise the movie is a bit deceiving and will frustrate Aquaman fans.

The movie is very slow-moving.

We don't get to know many of the characters involved. Some of them seem easily interchangeable.

Some of the crew were illegally fired twice during the filming of the movie. Rumor has it that the working conditions were terrible and even dangerous.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Some profanity Lots of gun violence Hand-to-hand combat Various weapons We see some dead and bloodied bodies.

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The Last Manhunt, supposedly based on a true story is an extremely boring movie. The slow pace for sure didn't help making it interesting to watch. Jason Momoa wrote the story. Can someone please tell him to stop writing? Because if that's what he's going to write in the future he'd better stop immediately. He's also supposed to act in this monstrosity but his screen time is about two minutes and his lines could be remembered by a five year old. He's just a poster filler trying to attract people in watching this movie. Another poster name was Zahn McClarnon, an actor that plays in every western where they need an indian, dies after five minutes. He's normally a decent actor but here he's just another bait. The only good thing about this movie is the scenery, you get to see desert images and joshua trees, that's about it. All the rest is garbage. Avoid at all costs.