Hey everyone! Today I am trying something new and I am going to be reviewing a movie that I have watched recently. I feel that over the last year of lockdown, I have watched several new movies and tv shows and I thought I would give my honest opinion of them. I am one of those people who is very critical of TV I watch and I always analyse the storylines and plots. It may just give you what you need to go and watch yourself! I have recently purchased Netflix so of course most of them come from that site.
Movie: News of the World : Found on Netflix
This movie was one that I found whilst browsing one evening when I had just finished another TV show. I have my Netflix matched to certain genres, based on things I normally watch, and this movie was one that popped up at an 80% match. Unlike my dad who is someone I regularly watch TV with, I like to watch the trailer to gather some information and insight onto the basis of the film and normally I will then decide from that whether it is something I will like. Some would argue that trailers do not do this and they are mostly pointless but for me it is the way I understand the general plot of the movie.
The movie was average, I found the general plot enjoyable and throughout it I did not find myself getting distracted or bored. I would say it is fairly plain film but despite that, it still had details that were interesting and made it stand out. It is a historical movie based around the time the Native Americans occupied America and around the time they were being pushed out, but it centres around a news reader, Captain Kidd, who travels from across America reading the news to people in remote towns and villages that may miss or not hear about it. During his time travelling he meets many bumps in the road and has a task to carry out that he did not expect. That task is returning a young girl called Johanna back to her family from living with the Native American's who abducted her. I have seen better movies that are based in that time in history but again it still had a continuation of the theme all the way through and it highlighted issues that went on during that period as the focus is not solely on the Civil War.
I have seen a few of Tom Hanks movies and in my opinion this is one the best. I am not a huge fan of comedies and I cannot think of any of his other movies of the top of my head (apart from the obvious Saving Private Ryan and Toy Story which are amazing) . However, he portrayed the character Captain Kidd well and he definitely fitted the role. The girl who played Johanna also gave a very powerful performance and her character definitely tugged at my heart strings, I feel this is a positive for the movie as that is what you are intended to grasp from her story.
The movie really made me want to follow their journey and even though it was minimal, it was a very well rounded plot. My expectations of how the Native Americans acted were certainly different from that which was shown. Furthermore, the fact the story panned out like that shows it isn't predictable. Predictability often plays a huge part in whether I rate a movie high.
In reality maybe that is not showing them for who they were but when you really think about it, we are given this idea of how they acted and it poses the question: do we really know if that is the truth? News of the World shows them in a less violent manner which we do not often see in movies that portray them. It is a very uplifting movie and brings it close to home about how children were often taken from their homes against their will at that time to live and adopt the lifestyle of the Native Americans.
Overall, I would say that it is mostly realistic and if you enjoy historical movies, - particularly the era of post-Civil War/Native American displacement - then I would definitely say give it a watch. It does not have a lot of substance or a huge involvement with the Native Americans so if that's would you are looking/expecting then maybe its not the one for you. It certainly is not action packed and even though I love them sorts of movies, I also like ones that are not so littered with violence. I would say it is more of a toned down movie and is intended to show you a different side of that era. Rating: 7 1/2 :)
As always I hope you enjoyed and it was an interesting read! Stay safe, Lucy xoxoxo
'We're all journeying across the prairie in a straight line and looking for that place to be. And when we find it, we go straight out, and we plow it, and we plant it, all in a straight line.' - Captain Kidd -
Comments