Wicked Spring

Plot less and inane. This incredibly boring movie made Gods and Generals look like an action flick. It seems the writer/director really doesn't have much to say about the Civil War experience. What little story there is could have been told in a fifteen minute short. Filming a few re-enactors shooting at each other in the woods is not much of a plot. On top of this the lead characters are flat and uninspired. What is also of interest is the fact that in the making of video the filmmakers emphasize the historical accuracy of the movie. I counted at least 9 major errors, the most glaring is the totally out of date train. If you claim historical accuracy you best deliver.

Wicked Spring is like a beautiful blonde that you see across a crowded room. She looks great, everything is in the right place. You decide to approach, and as you get near you begin to see the flaws carefully hidden beneath the make up. Still she is very attractive up close. But then... She opens her mouth to speak. And you discover she is a total vacuum with absolutely nothing to say. Instantly, you wish you were somewhere else talking to anybody but her. Wicked Spring looks good on the surface. High marks for period set design and wardrobe. But then you realized this writer/director is more impressed with surface gloss than any real substance or depth. I agree with one of the other comments that said Wicked Spring would have been better with some severe editing, turning it into a short. At a more abbreviated length it might stand up a bit better as one could overlook the lack of character development and lack of any meaningful drama.

I have to disagree with most of what's been said about this film. Sure, it's pretty to look at and the uniforms are right, but where's the plot? Where are the correct sound effects? Where's the character development?

The only good things about this film are Brian Merrick and DJ Perry. The scene with the letters is completely moving and believable. Too bad it takes that long to get to something meaty! The stuttering kid and the monkey-faced man could have been completely eliminated as they provided absolutely nothing.

The opening sequence was a waste - the facial hair change on DJP was too drastic - it didn't explain enough - and it was so dull it didn't catch my attention to make me really want to watch the film. That and the voiceover was just completely overacted (like most of the acting in the film).

Wicked Spring could do with a re-editing (it's really only got enough good material to be a short), some additional character development (why the heck was Harrison so upset when the guy in the beginning died?), and some realistic sound effects. Oh, and something that makes this interesting to the non Civil War buff.

Yawn.

This film might be described as a non-existent drama. First, we are subject to a long non verbal montage of the soldiers and their wife's/lovers before the war. Without the benefit of completely developed scenes in this prologue, we do not really get a chance to "feel" for the women and the men that must soon leave them. The lack of feeling for the characters leaves their interactions flat and lifeless. The war part of the movie makes up a majority of this film. Throughout most of it we witness the Battle of the Wilderness with a non existent story line. Soldiers from both sides attempt to slaughter each other and we are supposed to "feel" something for them. Unfortunately, because we did not get to know and understand them in the beginning, and now war scenes have taken the place of character development, their is little compassion that we can have for such two dimensional characters. Throughout we never manage to have a "stake" in the character's lives. We never care for them, because we never really get to know them. So, by the end of the movie whatever happens to them becomes meaningless and inconsequential. This could have been a good film. But, like most of what Hollywood is offering as of late, this independent tries to cover up an incredibly weak story with visuals that they hope will both impress and camouflage. It doesn't work. This film was doomed from the start because of a lack of a good script.

First and foremost is the story. No matter what kind of special effects or horrific battle scenes you toss in, you've got to have a story. This film lacks even the rudiments of a good story. This film is so plotless that it makes it difficult to criticize. Its hard to discuss something that isn't there! In other words, the plot is so very simplistic as to be non existent. It seems that the director was so dazzled by the cinematography, so wrapped up in capturing the boys in blue and gray, that he utterly failed to bother with plot or character development. What you end up with is a "pretty" film with no substance. The movie equivalent of a beautiful blonde with the intelligence of a gnat. Unfortunately even this glossy initial appearance fades quickly as well. The battle scenes are pedestrian and unrewarding. Attempts to use sound design to fool the viewer into thinking there are a lot more soldiers than what we see on screen, fail abysmally. And the failure of the director to actually take the viewer into the battle, leaves you with an unemotional "third person" documentary feel. So what you get after looking past the apparent glitz and glamour of this Civil War movie, is a very weak, overly simplistic, lackluster montage of battle scenes.