¡Corre, Escóndete, Pelea!

It seems as with most things these days, politics is affecting reviews.

I like to watch stuff objectively and not try to impose politics on the review. And any issues with the production of the movie or the production company (I am completely aware of the issues with Cinestate. But I don't believe that means this movie should be shunned and buried.)

The acting is pretty good. The production is very well made.

What bothered me most were the convoluted plot points to keep the police away from the school during the shooting/siege. (not really spoilers, these happen in like the first 10-15 minutes of the movie) A field fire? A shed fire? Are those really going to get all the police and emergency response teams in the county to respond to those? And block roads because on lookers want to see what's going on?

I've lived in rural places before. A field fire isn't going to get that many people to block roads to watch it. And we know early on one of the student's mothers called the police. But they couldn't tear themselves away from a field fire or a shed fire to respond to a school shooting.

Weak plot points like this really ruin movies like this for me. If the kid had planted bombs at the court house or other important buildings in town, then we may have had a more believable plot point. But I am fairly confident they'd just let the shed burn to the ground if student lives were at risk, and a single engine fire response could have taken care of the field fire.

Still, a pretty decent movie. But certainly not the strongest from Cinestate. And certainly not going to put Daily Wire on the streaming map, but it's a decent first step for them, I suppose.

Harks back to a time when the word "liberal" meant what it said and heralded more experimental movies, more freedom to script. Entertaining and polished. Which is more than can be said about most cookie cutter movies these days.

A decent Thriller which focuses on the intrinsic value of heroism and selflessness rather than glamorizing and glorifying violence. It does not set out to prove or relay an agenda. This movie is a story of courage in the face of psychological trauma. It's not Citizen Kane, but it's a solid watch with good editing, good acting and a solid art direction. The trailer gave off heavy Die Hard vibes but the movie itself is nothing like it.

Critics won't like it because it provides virtually no political commentary and places all of its value on the importance of courage and doesn't focus on the broader issues at play besides the ubiquitous issue of self-obsession and social media infamy. Conservatives would like it more if they had touched on the issue of nihilism, but again, this movie isn't for the right or the left, it's for everyone.

In recent years, professional critics are most often concerned with the message they want to see, often using phrases such as "this movie provides social commentary which will undoubtedly make the audience think" rather than immersing themselves in the story the movie wants to tell. Comparable to the "problem" with "Hillbilly Elegy", which sets out to tell a story and does it well. Critics don't like it because they don't like the overall message.

Anyway, 7/10, great movie for a night-in with the wife if you're in the mood for a Thriller

Went in with low expectations, came out pleasantly surprised. Main performances were good, and surprisingly I actually cared about the main characters through the end of the film. The cinematography was pretty decent too. As far as story I give it a B for effort. It had some plot holes here and there, although no more than many of the films that come out of Hollywood. They paint the police as completely useless through the end, which was the biggest plot hole and did bother me throughout the film. But there's tons of Hollywood films that conveniently make the help impossible to reach as well.

Honestly the biggest issue to me was the streaming quality. The frames would skip periodically and the audio quality was horrible. This was probably more to do with YouTube than the film itself.

Other than that, the main villain is a little over the top and checks off all the "conservative" points throughout the film. That was a bit much and should have been more nuanced.

Overall I enjoyed it though.

I'm not sure why conservatives are rallying around this movie like it's some incredible movie about the 2nd Amendment. It has absolutely nothing to do with it. This movie is literally Die Hard in a school. It's somewhat entertaining as long as you're not expecting anything great, because it isn't great. Critics have panned this movie because they pan every mediocre action movie, which is exactly what this is.

If you're in the mood for a mediocre action movie about a hostage situation, you'll probably enjoy this, but nobody will be talking about it in a month and it certainly won't be nominated for any awards.