“Unbroken: Path to Redemption” Movie Review

    
    When I first saw the poster for "Unbroken: Path to Redemption", I was intrigued by the notion of a follow-up to the film.  Then I looked it up out of curiosity and was a bit shaken up.  As it turns out, the film was basically a "spiritual sequel" in that it follows the events of the first film but has no returning cast or creative talents behind the scenes returning.  The film simply takes elements from the book "Unbroken" not used in the original film and focuses on them.  In this case, the film focuses of Louis Zamperini's struggles after returning from the war and his journey to finding God.

    So, this movie is a faith based production from Pure Flix studios.  I am not big on religiously driven movies.  I am not an atheist or anything like that, faith based films are just not usually my films of choice.  That being said, after watching the movie, I respect the approach they took to a religious themed film.

    In this followup, Samuel Hunt takes over the role of Louis Zamperini.  I have to say, Hunt did a decent job carrying the film considering I have never heard of him before.  Hunt does a fair job conveying the horrors of alcohol addiction.

    As I said earlier, I don’t tend to enjoy faith based movies mainly because I don’t enjoy feeling like I am being preached at.  For all the negative reviews this movie might get, it is not overly “preachy” though and while religion does play a key aspect into the final act of the film, most of the film depicts the horrors of alcohol addiction.  Does the film escape all the trappings of a religious themed movie?  No, it certainly does not, and the scenes at Billy Graham's revivals feel a bit forced (although that may be because the filmmakers cast Will Graham to portray his grandfather.  They sound very much alike but Will Graham is no actor).  The biggest problem with the film seems to be the budget, which isn't surprising since faith based films don't tend to make a ton of money at the box office so their budget tends to be on the low side.  There were a few scenes that just looked cheap, almost like something you would watch on YouTube.

    To me, a movie's score boils down to if the film had any positive aspects and if the movie was entertaining.  "Unbroken: Path to Redemption" is a harmless faith based film.  It also made a good attempt to make a religious oriented movie entertaining and that should be commended.  While this movie isn't the type of film I usually watch, I would highly recommend this movie to those who enjoy religious films or for those looking for inspiration.

Grade: C+