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Scorecard Weekly—'Bird Box'

Do not take off your blindfold!

By Donovan BarlowPublished 5 years ago 6 min read
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What a lovely day! Three more days until Christmas, completely behind schedule, yet here we are. We’ve had to overcome a lot throughout our lives—we shall not be broken! Okay. Okay. You’re right, we’re being a dramatic, but I want to be a star BABY! (Seriously, I must stop with the random outbursts.)

Before we begin, quick reminder, if you’d like to make any suggestions and/or comments, please head over to Facebook and LIKE our page, @ScorecardWeekly. There you will get the latest and greatest news about our series. As always, thank you for your continued support.

WELCOME TO SCORECARD WEEKLY! The place where you come to get honest, uncut, and uncensored reviews of the newest and oldest, TV series and movies. Before we begin today’s card, let’s recap on what we are grading shall we? Please turn your attention to the invisible, non-existent whiteboard codename JARVIS—

Using our state-of-the-art scorecard, we grade:

  1. Setting/Characters
  2. Obstacles/Conflict
  3. Tone
  4. Concept

The minimum score for a section and card is one. The maximum score is five. Finally, we decide if it’s a recommend or pass.

Nothing speaks to us more than new releases, why you ask? Simply because they’re always hit or miss, and we just can’t get enough of them. So, as we continue our time-honored tradition—not really, we’re going to be going blow for blow with Bird Box brought to us by Netflix and starring Sandra Bullock.

1. Setting/Characters

Walk by faith, not by sight. I couldn’t help myself. You know with the blindfolds and everything. Anyways, you’ll see early on within this film that it’s hard to pin the film setting to a year or era, but for the sake of things and based on some of the technologies featured, we can assume that it’s much closer to present day. That’s all well and good, except for the fact that we’re bombarded with flashbacks to the point I was asking, “Wait. Is this present time or is it another flashback?” I guess the superimposed titles indicating that became too expensive. Something so small won’t make or break this film especially with the diverse cast we’re given to take on what seems like the end of the world.

Our main protagonist is a rather interesting woman—that’s both good and bad. One thing for sure though, she is terrible with children and she might need to read a couple of those parenting books when she finds the time. Seriously, as you watch this film, you’ll witness firsthand just how firm and sometimes cruel she can be to the point to where you wonder why her? Why the hell is this woman leading the charge? However, you’ll also see that she GOES HARD for her babies, enough for you to just let the other shit slide because momma don’t play! Mix her fierce personality in with some of the few survivors that are left and its beautiful music.

Now, when it comes to our main antagonists, one could say it’s whatever causing this apocalyptic vibe but we’re going with crazy humans. You will see for yourself exactly what that means once you’ve sat and watched the film. I could go on and on about these characters with some being more developed than others but none in our opinion, are one dimensional and that’s a win for everyone.

Score: 4

2. Obstacles/Conflict

Pretty much, when does shit hit the fan? Well, for our main protagonist she’s got her own issues to worry about especially given the fact that she’s attempting to ignore her pregnancy, in hopes that her “problem” will go away—that’s heavy. Still, the biggest obstacle of all, is surviving in a world on the collapse without their vision. We all know when shit hits the fan, humans can sometimes be primitive beasts with this “only the strong will survive” complex. This leads to clashing of ideals and views, which always lead to the death of one or many. This film as with every other apocalyptic film, TV series, or book showcases just how true that is. Ultimately, we become our own threat and slowly but surely, we decimate our numbers—damn, that got deeper than I had hoped.

Along with our human threats, our protagonist and her gang are facing an invisible threat, one that we never see but if you were to see it. Well, it has some lethal effects. How do we combat a force that we can’t look at? EASY! We wear blindfolds and hope to get where we’re going. Throughout the film, you’ll question what the hell is happening. You’ll question what’s wiping out our species. How did they get here? How do we fight them? And much more. But you know what you’ll love the most? None of your questions will be answered (I love it when the entire plot comes together).

Score: 3

3. Tone

Despairing. Threatening. It’s like every step you take could potentially be your last. The film does great with building the tension until it’s ready to burst, then it doesn’t. At the start of the film, we’re given this life or death scenario, which sets the bar for how the film should be. It never reaches its potential. The mood is switched from despairing and threatening to lighthearted and “peaceful,” but we know the truth dammit! There’s no time for stories. There’s no time for fun and games. All that’s left is the war!

Score: 3

4. Concept

The true highlight of this film, the idea. This film is an adaptation based on the 2014 novel with the same name written by Josh Malerman. As with many apocalyptic films, it plays along the same plot structure as several others, yet, this is just fantastic. It makes you think about the impossible and what your strategy would be to survive an event like this. When you’re back is against the wall, WHAT WILL YOU DO? If you’re a parent, what will you do? When an idea can take hold of your thoughts and truly make you wonder, that means it works. This film through and through truly works because it follows the same process of all those that came before it, not original but still a winner.

Score: 4

Overall Score: 3.5/5

Final Verdict: Recommend

Final Thoughts

This film offered us so much, gave us hope that we’ll finally be given that edge of your seat thriller and at times it did. As we reflect one final time on this, we can assure that you will enjoy this film if you don’t have over the top expectations. Don’t go into this film thinking that this will be the new standard in post-apocalyptic thrillers because it isn’t. This film at times will put you through a roller coaster of emotions but it will turn around and disappoint you, if you expect too much from it. It’s very entertaining and you will be happy that you sat down and watched it because it is WORTH the watch—You must see it. Just open your eyes…

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About the Creator

Donovan Barlow

Screenwriter, Father, King of the pirates, Demogorgon Killer, and The People’s Champion (Sorry Rock)

Follow me on Twitter

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