Terror on the Prairie

I wanted to give 10/10 so bad- love these people, but there was no family chemistry and it was too slow. It felt both over And under-acted at times. Do more, keep going, but this was a little bit of a let down.

I love westerns and wanted to love this one but, like the previous film Shut In, there are just far too many stupid choices and, in this case, bad shots, So many bullets fired, so few targets hit. Frustrating.

This was...very slow. Very very slow. Even by 1970's western standards, it's slow. It seems to be the trend now for westerns to move at a snail's pace. If you compare it to "The Power of the Dog", they're about even though this movie has some action sequences, they both dwell on things a lot longer than they should. In "The Power of the Dog" they tried to be profound, and though they didn't achieve that goal, this movie wasn't even trying to be profound.

The lighting was shockingly bad. About as bad as the acting. Sound design and set dec was fine. Directing was lackluster. (For example, there are some shots that get punched in on with an insert to make sure you don't forget a key piece of exposition...and I do always prefer exposition that is shown rather than said, but at least work it into the shot you're using and for God's sake, don't return to the same shot once it's done.)

I mean, I guess if it's on in the background while you do something else, it's fine. Please don't ever give Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone lines in a movie ever again though.

Lemme just say, I love that Daily Wire is getting into entertainment. I've been a subscriber for over a year, and I'm not leaving any time soon. However, this movie is not good.

I'll start with a few positives. The movie looks pretty good, and I think the decision to go with no score was a good one. There are some exciting moments, but overall, the movie really failed to excite me.

Now the bad. The characters here are so paper thin, that I find it hard to really care how things turn out for them. The arcs are so generic and predictable, that they might as well not even be there. The villain is very cliché, riding around spitting intimidating Bible verses and scalping people. However, he is probably the best thing in the movie.

The acting is competent, but fails to sell me on anything deeper than surface level emotions like fear or anger. The plot drags on for way too long, considering the fact that nothing really happens. On top of this, Spoiler Alert (though not really), we are treated to another feel-good ending where everything turns out perfectly for the characters without having to sacrifice anything, which is so frustrating.

Watching this movie made me realize the pattern that is forming with DailyWire movies. They all follow "strong, independent" female characters who either have to rescue the men who are incompetent, or defeat the men who are evil. If I want the feminist messaging, I can go to Hollywood, they have plenty of that. This is supposed to be DailyWire, a company that stands for traditional values and against the wokeness of Hollywood.

If it were one or two movies from them, I wouldn't have a problem. Hell, movies like Alien that follow strong female protagonists are some of my favorites of all time. I just want some variety from DW, especially in an era where masculine man are increasingly rarer and under attack.

We are four movies in with DailyWire and they are yet to make a movie that is particularly interesting. Shut In is still the high water mark for them, but even that was only ok. So yeah, strong 4/10, not good.

Good thing - the movie has some nice cinematography even though the palette is a bit dull. The bad - plot holes and Gina cannot act.

Story is simple the protagonists are simple though some may argue she unnecessarily provoked the fight alone instead of waiting for husband. In her defense it was revealed during the fight that the baddies were after her husband. The movie had some tense moments but quickly fell in the heroes favor. Overall a slow burner with built up suspense until it collapsed faster than expected.

But DW honestly needs to think about Gina's acting she was wooden almost the whole time. She is a genuine strong woman with genuine MMA skills and hence they need to cast her as such and not for her acting skills which need to improve by a lot. (She did exhibit the strength needed but was unconvincing since it was not played to her real strength)

One time watch but wishing DW luck. And oh...please tone down a bit on the christian themes and values...nothing wrong in it but I am part of a diverse audience who are in the fight against woke but not a christian myself.