A few years ago, the story of one man surviving a Japanese prisoner of war camp inspired millions to believe in the power of the human spirit, the thought of never giving up, and perhaps a religious inspiration to accomplish tasks. Unbroken held a lot of potential, but it wasn't met with the best reviews despite the emotional sequences it brought. Years later, an unexpected sequel is out, to help expand upon the warrior who survived so much. What challenges await and are they worth watching? Robbie K here to give his thoughts in an abbreviated review of:
Movie: Unbroken: Path To Redemption (2018)
Director:
Harold Cronk
Writers:
Richard Friedenberg (screenplay by), Ken Hixon (screenplay by)
Stars:
Samuel Hunt, Merritt Patterson, Will Graham
LIKES:
Fantastic Acting: Samuel Hunt reprises his role well and captures the spirit of a man broken beyond his bonds, his portrayal of suffering from a number of afflictions is spot on, and seldom does he move into the overacting area. His opposite Ms. Patterson also a lovely complement to the character, bringing a driving force to help with the character development and bring some new dynamics to the movie. Chemistry is great, and the secondary actors accomplish their roles of supporting the dynamic duo.
Setting: It's the classic era and the world has been beautifully built to replicate the happening times of the late 1940s to early 1950s. The costumes, the make-up, the cars, and the houses all scream the dazzling decades and bring you into the full experience of time traveling to Zamperini's second journey.
Powerful Portrayal: When it comes to mental illness, the community needs representation to help others understand the struggles they face. Unbroken 2 nailed this portrayal, bringing with it the flashbacks, the reexperiencing, and the nightmares that torture the poor souls who suffer from it. In addition, Zamperini's coping mechanism was not overdramatic, but an accurate representation of the poor nursing habits used to apply a band-aid on the real problem. You'll become immersed in his struggles and perhaps gain some empathy in the process.
Not too preachy: Religious movies sometimes become fancy, big budgeted services that spend their time preaching sermons. While the end of the movie crossed into that territory, a majority of it balanced the word of God with the representation of the protagonist's fall. This balance allowed for one to appreciate the character development, while getting the moral-heavy messages they wanted to teach. The balance is nice and doesn't detract from the story, therefore increasing its entertainment value.
The Music Editing: Awesome musical scores, allow for orchestra work to amplify the scenes emotional kick. This is especially true in the ending scenes, which provides some very powerful dynamics and leads to the scene being exponentially better as it brings out the visual effects of the scene.
DISLIKE:
Predictable: Not many twists, turns, or surprises here, the movie is a bit one sided in its delivery and therefore a tad dull at parts where the movie starts to drag. Being based on history and religious movies, it's no surprise this is the case.
More downfall than hope: The trailers pain this movie about redemption, so maybe you want to see the effects of the redemption. Unbroken 2 though, decides to stick towards the downfall component more than the up-rise, choosing to show his actions in the medium of ending descriptions. I would have liked to see a closer 50:50 portrayal; of his story, getting the best of both worlds instead of just super downfall. At least it sets up for the powerful ending right?
Limited audience: The first installment was able to tell history, sell the drama, and inspire faith thereby expanding to a number of audience members. However, this installment has narrowed the application to the audience members to mostly the religious drama folks. It's not bad, but as a reviewer, the fact this movie is not able to entertain as many as they thought.
Much ruined by the trailers: If you have seen the trailers enough times, then congratulations, you've saved yourself nearly 12 dollars depending on where you live. Unbroken 2 has had much spoiled by the advertising, and if you recall the trailers like I do then you want have much to discover in this performance. Such a shame to see the media ruin the movie like it did here.
THE VERDICT:
It's inspirational, it's beautifully acted, and has some of the most balance religious aspects of the genre. Unbroken 2 is a solid addition to the character development of its protagonist and brings the story to a semi-full closure in regards to the nightmare he endured. Despite all the aesthetics and inspiration, it brings though, the movie is limited to a finite audience, it's predictable plot and lack of historical flair makes it less appealing, especially when it has much spoiled by the trailers. As such, this movie is best reserved to church group outings or left for home viewing.
My scores are:
Biography/Drama: 6.5-7.0
Movie Overall: 6..0
