By Sean McNamara
I have finally been able to see Soul Surfer, which did not disappoint. This movie lost points for bikinis, but gained points for cinematography, plot, acting (except perhaps Carrie Underwood), dialogue, and Christian values. Mission trips are promoted, obedience is promoted, love, respect, and honor are all encouraged. Bethany is not forced to surf (she is pressured by her dad, which proves to be a good thing), but when she decides to, she does it with the full support and help of her family. AnnaSophia did a phenomenal job, showing all the emotion and determination that Bethany Hamilton had in this movie. The only points where I feel that it fell short is that the girls are constantly wearing bikinis (which makes for a more realistic viewing, if slightly uncomfortable), and that when Bethany finally succeeded (which is the climax of the film), I had been anticipating it for the whole entire movie so I didn't feel as though I was succeeding with Bethany. The plot was so obvious that I was expecting the ending the whole movie, and I felt as though Bethany could succeed and should succeed, so I felt as though she was merely doing her job, instead of overcoming great odds. Whether this is the filmmaker's fault or because this is how the real story is, I don't know. A minor detracting point that added to the too-predictable plot was that the soundtrack is not memorable, except for the credits song.
Overall, this movie was really really good, and it adds dramatically to my respect for AnnaSophia Robb as an actor.
Review by Beckyelsie
Wow you and I thought a bit differently on this movie,
ReplyDeletethe bikinis did not bother me. Carrie Underwood I thought did an amazing acting job, eager to see her in more stuff. and for me the ending was so amazing and so inspriational.
i loved the music. (that was something I thought was amazing)
The plot was predictable because we all know the Story of Bethany, and you wouldn't want to change an already great story.