Review of Bone Tomahawk (2015) by Shag00 — 10 Sep 2019

Is it reasonable to expect that a movie which is rated above 90 is simply superlative? Well this one was and it falls a long way short of superlative, are file reviewers a waste of space? A lot of negative reviews are the result of one actor being chopped in half in one scene, frankly I think that is gross over reaction by the prudish puritan fraternity and really has no bearing on the film in its entirety.

The film falls down in my opinion because it is so jarring in it's presentation of the wild west, it is set somewhere around 1870. What is jarring is that the director has managed to insert so much 2015 in circa 1870.

The opening scene of 2 deadbeats, with audio only you wold swear they had a 21st century education, being able to discuss how many veins in a person's neck was not common knowledge, I'd be prepared to wager, back in 1870, even in 2019 probably only some doctors could answer that. Shortly after the opening scene we have a shot of the village announcement board, announcing the village name and population of around 250. It looked like a 21st century tourist trap, I thought then that the movie was a spoof. Then we move into the house of one of the main actors, at first you think it's a dump, old unpainted floor boards with a one inch gap between each one and then you see the above floor furnishings which could have been taken from Vouge magazine.

And in this bustling of around 250 people we have 2 doctors and people prancing around dressed like they are headed for the Oscars. It is so out of place that it just jars you. People, in 1870, who lived in villages with a population of 250 would have maybe a general store and that's it. But wait, this town has a sheriff and 2 deputies, more than 10% of the entire population.

One bloke has a leg injury which is very opaque, I am never sure whether it is broken or just lacerated but he can walk for days on end with a crutch. It is very silly and unrealistic. They decide to travel at night and somehow manage to navigate to where they want to go, I particularly liked using a telescope in the dead of night - really gave me a sense these guys knew what they were doing.

So we are back to familiar territory, people being in places and doing things that could not exist or are just not possible.