The Good: The first two opening shots had me hooked right away! Hands down the cinematography and visuals of the film were amazing. Shooting in full blown Utah mountain blizzards and almost the whole film in the snow made for some amazing shots that would be nearly impossible to duplicate. The music was perfect for the genre and really added to the beauty of the film. The performance of the lead character was good. Strong performances from many of the other cast members as well. The concept was big, and I think it meets a lot of the expectations you'd have for a post-apocalyptic setting. There are some really, really interesting characters that are introduced as well.
The Less Good: Now, I am aware of the budgetary restraints that indie films like these have, so the "Less Good" things I'll address are things I think could have been done a little better which wouldn't increase the overall budget. I think the biggest less good issue would be the script, I think the flow of the story was slightly confusing, I wasn't sure if things were flash backs or flash forwards. I think a lot of the motivations of the characters choices were purely to service the plot and didn't make sense on why they made those choices, or how they knew certain things about the main character. The amount of really intriguing characters that were introduced and then very quickly eliminated within the same scene mostly, was jarring, and muddied the script with unneeded scenes, characters, and distractions from the flow of the story.
Ultimately, its a fun watch and an accomplishment that the filmmakers should be proud of, it was ambitious even for a large budget film, and the talent and perseverance of the filmmakers is clear in what they accomplished. I would encourage filmmakers to watch it as proof of what can be done with a great team and great leaders. I would also encourage non-filmmaker to watch it as well to see something original, and not an over done Hollywood's sequel, prequal or re-make!
The Less Good: Now, I am aware of the budgetary restraints that indie films like these have, so the "Less Good" things I'll address are things I think could have been done a little better which wouldn't increase the overall budget. I think the biggest less good issue would be the script, I think the flow of the story was slightly confusing, I wasn't sure if things were flash backs or flash forwards. I think a lot of the motivations of the characters choices were purely to service the plot and didn't make sense on why they made those choices, or how they knew certain things about the main character. The amount of really intriguing characters that were introduced and then very quickly eliminated within the same scene mostly, was jarring, and muddied the script with unneeded scenes, characters, and distractions from the flow of the story.
Ultimately, its a fun watch and an accomplishment that the filmmakers should be proud of, it was ambitious even for a large budget film, and the talent and perseverance of the filmmakers is clear in what they accomplished. I would encourage filmmakers to watch it as proof of what can be done with a great team and great leaders. I would also encourage non-filmmaker to watch it as well to see something original, and not an over done Hollywood's sequel, prequal or re-make!