MovieChat Forums > American Primeval (2025) Discussion > Liked it, except for the lead actress an...

Liked it, except for the lead actress and kid

posted a month ago by Nanook (2047)
5 replies | jump to latest

Anything with Shea Whigham is going to be at least good in my book. Enjoyed the sparse mise-en-scène, aside from the odd overuse of wide angle close-ups.

Alas, two of the main characters were freaking annoying af. The woman actually finds her "magic warrior-guide" and then proceeds to pester him relentlessly and any time he instructs her to do something for their own safety, she does the opposite and gets them in trouble.

I actually liked the kid character at first, but in he third act 70% of his dialogue was "Mr. Reed!" and "Where's my mom?" Got a little tiresome.

It's got good violence, suspense and dialogue. Keep expectations in check and it should scratch a violent western itch.

[–] hoosiergirl (222) a month ago

I started watching it solely for Betty Gilpin, but I have to agree that her character was annoying because she wouldn't listen when warned. For me the show was okay, but not overly great. I thought The English with Emily Blunt had more cruel violence than this did.

[–] Nanook (2047) a month ago

Hadn't even heard of that, so that might get watched soon. Thanks!

[–] yvesyves (713) a month ago

i guess the writers made her do stupid stuff to highlight the difference of lives of well off people living in the conofrt of big cities in the East and how hard, dangerous, ruff and tough life and people were in the West and on the frontiers, still she was way too naive and "humanist" to travel West in the wilderness, apparently she never had it rough or never had to fend for herself so she just could not comprehend and understand how people she met on the frontiers were.

[–] TylerAArse (2938) 17 days ago

She was annoying as fuck, but it made sense. She was from the east, and there was every indication she had an affluent life. Someone like her, who is probably used to getting her way, is all of a sudden thrusted into a way of life she knew nothing about and was unprepared to deal with. She found out fast how the west lives and that the only thing that's important about her is her money.

[–] Nanook (2047) 17 days ago

If she had the sense to commit and get away with murder, justified however it may be, and arrange to pick up roots and travel halfway across the country minding a young boy. That's admirable, at least. The character I saw from the moment the mini-series started appeared to me to have zero sense, and acted like she wanted to get her and her son killed ASAP. IMO anyway... *shrug*

Oh, and The English was good, too, while being quite different, and Emily Blunt a much more sympathetic character. A lot more believable, although the time-jumping storytelling got a little old, fwiw.