So here's the thing, I'm a film major, I'm trained to look at film a certain way. I look at each shot composition, each character action, line of dialogue, and each acting performance. On the other hand, I'm also someone who believes most if not all that this film is showing us. So I really wanted this film to be good and really wanted it to work, and overall, it did it's best.
In terms of story, I think AmeriGeddon is actually a pretty solid film. In a similar fashion to both the original and latest Red Dawn films, AmeriGeddon follows the fall of America as a nation due to a strategic attack on America and following this attack foreign troops arrive to "keep the peace". Due to my love for Red Dawn, I honestly had a lot of hope in this movie. However, both versions of Red Dawn I thought were executed better. Nevertheless, AmeriGeddon's plot is actually pretty good! Between the conflicted soldier, the troubled teen, their love story, the politician seeing what's going on around him, and everyone else, I thought, at least on paper, the film worked pretty well.
This brings me to my criticisms, and I by no means mean to be harsh because I understand the importance of films like AmeriGeddon being made and seen by American citizens, however I believe they could have done much better and I don't believe it's a budget issue. I believe there are two primary reasons AmeriGeddon was not as good as it could have or should have been: too much expositional dialogue and sub-par acting.
Let's talk dialogue first. One of the first things you learn in any basic scriptwriting course is to "show don't tell". AmeriGeddon's dialogue, though informative, is unfortunately way too on-the-nose and/or expositional. Between constantly using the words "New World Order" and character's spewing out statistics and phrases like something out of a Survivor's Manual, the screenwriter in me was cringing at times watching this film.
The other biggest issue with AmeriGeddon is the acting. Now, I don't want to give the impression that all the acting was bad, because it wasn't, but unfortunately there were certain character's whose acting fell flat, and sadly I believe this is a direct correlation between the dialogue and the performances.
All-in-all, I am definitely happy to see this film made and that people are actually excited about a film like AmeriGeddon. Do I wish the quality of the film were better? Absolutely, this film should've been as good and intense as the 2012 Red Dawn remake as I referenced earlier, but nevertheless AmeriGeddon is a must see for those who are interested in where America is headed, and if you're a cinephile like myself then I would maybe suggest a different popcorn flick to watch on a Saturday night.
