Mohawk

Maybe I'm being too harsh; maybe there are too many other examples, before and since, that really are better, next to which this pales in comparison; maybe this altogether struggles with various shortcomings generally. One way or another I do like 'Mohawk,' but I'd be plainly lying if I said that the issues I recognize didn't so significantly weigh against it and make it less enjoyable than it could have been. I claim no authority by which to judge the historical accuracy of the costume design, makeup, or weapons, but it does very much seem that there is significantly less detail in these facets than one would hope; what we see comes across as the most basic interpretation. Unfortunately, these facets are representative, for "the most basic interpretation" is rather the key phrase when speaking of most everything here. For example, I love the root ideas of what filmmaker Ted Geoghegan and Grady Hendrix wrote: a polycule of a Mohawk woman and man, and a British soldier, struggling for survival as they're pursued in the wilderness by bloodthirsty, racist Americans against the backdrop of the War of 1812; we also get some measure of conflicts and varied personalities among those Americans. Too much of the dialogue is weak and ill-considered, however, to say nothing of how the Mohawk language is reduced to occasional flavoring amidst a script full of English (quite modern English, at that, with modern accents). The scene writing and characterizations are also great on paper, though there needed to be more dynamics between the Americans to heighten the disquiet; though all too realistic and true to life he might be (past and present), villain Holt is very heavy-handed; and there's just not enough careful detail in the scenes as written to make them pop out.

And, well, then there's Geoghegan's direction, which I think is strangely troubled relative to what we saw a couple years prior with 'We are still here'; too much of 'Mohawk' is orchestrated in a manner that's simple, unsophisticated, and straightforward, and often soft and restrained. Action sequences tend to be robbed of their impact; the violence and even the blood and gore feel diminished. Tension, suspense, and would-be unease and apprehension are rarely felt - only in the last act, truthfully, and even then only in fits and starts. The dark vibrancy and major emotions that the course of events should reflect and elicit are significantly reduced, coming across as only a shade of what they should be were more a more thoughtful, mindful, nuanced approach taken. The forest that should be looming and dangerous seems more like the woods behind our house. This is a picture of action-horror that is so lacking of the desired and required potency that most of the length comes across as a modestly realized short film that somehow expanded to a full-length feature, and where that potency is more earnestly present it's still only in a less complex, intelligent form, and therefore less interesting. The acting is affected in turn, often coming off as dull, forcibly subdued, halfhearted, or just plain meek; the stunts and effects at least look splendid, though any hand-to-hand fighting we see is a tad thin under Geoghegan's direction. Even Wojciech Golczewski's score has me doubtful; I like it in and of itself, but to be frank I think the music is ill-fitting for what 'Mohawk' is, and even more so for what it should have been. Percussion and pronounced beats belong in an action-thriller more in line with those of Luc Besson or Paul W. S. Anderson, and it would have been understated ambient selections that I think would have been more appropriate in this case.

I like 'Mohawk.' I don't think it's outright bad. It's just not the movie it should have been, however, and I'm left wanting to like it more than I do. With more delicate, judicious care the cast could have thrived and made us feel the vitality of every moment; with more delicate, judicious care the atmosphere would have been suffocating, and the violence horrific. Sadly, what could have been a gnawing, grim, absorbing blend of action, horror, and thriller instead becomes a ghost of its best self - all the right ideas, all too little vitality. I appreciate what all involved put into this, and I look forward to seeing more from all in the future; I've no doubt, for example, that Kaniehtiio Horn and Eamon Farren would show themselves to be fantastic actors, if given the proper opportunity. This does not represent that opportunity, though, and I can't help but be disappointed that such superb potential was not borne out in the final product. I'm glad for those who get more out of this flick than I do; I just believe that whatever it is the premise promises, and whatever it is we want out of it, 'Mohawk' is regrettably not strong enough to fully make good on those assumptions.

This was listed as a horror movie by Netflick. It is not a horror movie by the "conventional" means of paranoia/ghosts/random asshole murderer, but more along the lines of Heart of Darkness type horror. This is quite obvious by the tone set in the film, and the low-key music constantly throbbing like a nihilistic slasher flick.

what made this film compelling to me was its depiction of American soldiers in the war of 1812. well aware it was a very cynical and exploitative war which did not see the best of America in any real way, and depicting each American character with a hint of ugliness and griminess that is at once artistically driven while also completely believable and realistic. It would likely make more sense for the small group to mostly consist of young men with barely shaven beards, rather than the motley arrangement of human horrors we get.

The scene in which they come into contact with the protagonists, a british agent Joshua trying to persuade a local Mohican group to join them in the war against the americans, and the niece and nephew of some of the leaders, "Oak" and Calvin, who despite another reviewer complaining of Oak having blue eyes, are both played by actual Native American/Mohican actors.

Much of the film becomes a bloody hunt as the tiny detachment of American soldiers try to capture the british agent and have to deal with him and the mohawks with him.

It does get bloody at times, but it was nowhere near the level of gore or blood that would've been expected. We never get any real "gore" until the very end, and even then in a very quick, split-second shot of someone's hand split in half.

Throughout the hunt, we are mostly focused on the Americans rather than Oak and Joshua and Calvin, and as such we get to see them interact privately in a way that drops their initial "Ugly American" bravado and humanizes them in a way which makes their continued actions the more gruesome for their brutality.

but the problem is that not enough of this is actually shown, nor even really mentioned. There's a few references to off-screen massacres that had happened, committed by the Mohawks, followed by a sort of reprisal by the Americans, but we are simply not given enough in the way of building up the "journey" for this group.

They are not inherently evil, yet they are doing some inherently evil acts, and it is clearly affecting them all on a psychological level. Even Oak and her group find themselves becoming hardened to the bloodshed, but not in a way that really crosses over into that realm of "darkness" that could metaphorically push a man to become a beast.

It is a similar sort of "journey" that makes up the story of Heart of Darkness / Apocalypse Now, but there's really just not enough happening in this journey to fully arrive at the dramatic "turning point", so that the events as they unfold start to become repetitive, and the movie goes into its ending without much satisfaction.

It's not terrible, it's not good either.

Terribly uneven performances. Ezra Buzzington is pretty good in it. Some of the others are terrible, light southern accent on New Yorkers for instance.

Some of the script is good, sometimes they say "injuin" I've seen a lot of whinging in other reviews about "wokeism.," in all honesty it's not far off from real history.

Heaven forbid these people view a much superior film about Native experiences like Thunderheart they'd blow their gaskets.

Overall the film is an old fashioned cat and mouse pursuit film that ends a total wash, not good enough to really like, not bad enough to really hate.

I wouldn't recommend spending money to watch this film. Putting aside the lackluster acting, effects, and storytelling. Mohawk is riddled with tiny fragments of potential. I dare say the lack of budget and acting isn't its biggest weakness. Plot and pacing secure Mohawks position in the lackluster section of Indie movies.

This is an above average action film, but what makes it unique is the intensity of its anti-American sentiment. The patriotic, white soldiers of the early USA are depicted as savage, racism-driven monsters fit only for destruction. Indeed, the only decent white character in this movie is a British noble trying to form an alliance with the Mohawk tribe against the genocidal forces of Yankeedom. I think the fact that this film got made at all demonstrates that the USA is being better understood as having been a racist, murderous colonial project from its inception.