I read the premise of this movie and knew I wanted to see it. It’s not every day you have a male Apache Warrior inhabiting the body of a female bent on revenge! I was curious how that was going to gel. The movie reminded me of the movie The Crow which I loved. This review will have a few minor spoilers. The movie now available for limited release In LA theaters and Video on Demand.
Amanda Adrienne stars as the character Zoe, who gets brutally murdered by bigoted men when she tries to be a good samaritan. Adrienne brings a vulnerability and strength to the protagonist. Since Zoe was deaf and could speak very few words, Adrienne had to rely on body language and emotion to convey what was going on and I think she did a great job of that overall. I was rooting for her to have her revenge against those that brutally damaged her. Her chemistry with Marc Anthony Samuel who plays her fiancé Dane was solid. Even though they had very few scenes together, I was able to believe that they cared for each other. The ending was especially poignant and I actually started sniffling.
I did like the determination of Dane’s character in trying to find out what happened to Zoe. What bothered me though was there appeared to be no communication between Dane and Zoe’s sister who we meet in the beginning of the film about his progress in trying to find Zoe. He did the best he could in a dangerous situation. However, I was irked that Dane was not able to defend himself against Trey (Rodney Rowland), West (Tom Ardavany) or any of their crew. I would have liked for him to put up some kind of the fight even if he was overpowered by numbers, at least have him get some decent punches into one of the guys.
The villains in this tale were certifiably crazy and the actors did a great job in making me hate what they stood for even more. Rowland and Ardavany were especially vicious and you couldn’t help but cheer when they met their end. I definitely believed they were racial bigots. Unfortunately one of their deaths was a little disappointing because of the weapons used to fight which made the scene move slower than the others. There was a scene near the end that was particularly disturbing because it showed how families can be raised from generation to generation to hate . I did think that some of the bad guys that were there were not necessary as long as the core were still alive.
I was not sure how the movie would blend in the spirit of an Apache Warrior chief who takes over Zoe’s body. Since real life Apache chief Mangus Colorades was the spirit it made me very intrigued about his story so the historical aspect of the film was a nice touch by Mr. Ojeda, writer and director of the film. Albeit predictable, it was cleverly done and understandable why this particular Native American chief decided to take the opportunity to use Zoe as a vessel. At first I was confused as to whether the chief was in complete control of Zoe’s body but it was explained later on in the movie.
The special effects blended pretty well with the grittiness and realism of the film. I appreciated the overall cinematography in keeping the movie as grounded as possible. The make-up was also done very well and the decision of how Zoe’s body was to be treated with both her and the Apache Warrior’s spirit made sense and made the avenging aspect more realistic. The violence was very graphic. It was not for the faint at heart. There were several parts where I winced because it just looked painful. One scene in particular involving a body part took me by surprise because I wasn’t expecting it.
With any revenge type movie, there is predictability. However, the movie did its job in making me want the villains to die a horrific death and I rooted for the avenging hero. It’s worth a watch especially giving the history involved!
