After the first few previews of [Shadows of War], a lot of critics and online movie reviewers posted early articles with most of them being highly positive and urging the viewers to go see the movie in the theaters.
-Some of the headlines of the reviews posted by famous movie critics.-
<A war drama that might actually give you a glimpse into the horrors of war. Just like its name, the movie depicts the shadows a war can leave in the mind of soldiers. -Holly Times>
<The emergence of a new blockbuster war drama that might be studied in film schools for the next few years. -@Criticye>
<A perfect example of a great storytelling with the main character going on a journey that changes his personality as well gives the viewers the ride of a lifetime. -Rotten Apples>
<A movie that might have struggled due to the personality of the main character that tries hard to be relatable to the audience but the strong performances make up enough for it. There was even a character that made you cry for him. -@BeeTheMovieCritic>
Although most of the reviews were highly positive, there were a lot of negative ones too. Most of the common points in the negatives ones were about how the movie tried too hard to present a relatable main character for the viewers to connect to but failed to execute it well.
One of the negative reviews was by a famous movie website called 'Film Fraternity' which stated, "There's not enough substance in the movie to keep the audience intact to their seats if they are not connected to the main character and Lincoln Bradley failed to learn anything from his last venture and needs to go back to the his first few movies to learn more about making good characters."
Many internet users thought that the review was a bit harsh and others agreed with it. But it was not hard to see that the movie was getting pretty mixed reactions from some people.
Other than that, there was also the point of historical inaccuracy of the movie but Lincoln Bradley, the director of the movie, openly tweeted that the movie was never meant to follow every point of history and was just set in the backdrop of World War 1 to show a journey of a common guy.
One more point that was pretty evident in the negative reviews was that the movie didn't give enough time for the side characters to show more of their personality and they rather were situated in the main character's journey to make him doubt his ideas.
One of the reviews that got very famous after the release of the movie was by a big newspaper which published a long article about why [Shadows of War] had a lot going on in it but it undoubtedly worked in the end.
[[Shadows of War] Is a Movie About the Horrors of War, Told With a Devotion to Beauty and Life
A good movie can be built from any number of components: a great story, distinctive visuals, a haunting score. But sometimes a face can take you 90 percent of the way. And although Lincoln Bradley's extraordinary World War I drama is notable for the technical feat of its cinematography, and its story, it tries hard for you to get invested in the story of the main character, Ethan Blake.
The story starts out with Ethan joining the army and the first thing that is noticeable is how young every soldier around him is - They are all just out of boyhood.
It is then the journey of Ethan begins with him not understanding the horrors of war and believing that he will survive the war, even looking a bit greedy for the glory it could bring him.
The First World War, one of the deadliest wars in modern history, came with no satisfying "The bad guy is dead!" ending. The losses were devastating for all the countries involved, certainly for Great Britain. And the imagery we associate with this war is bleak enough—the dank trenches, the dead horses, the ghostly barbed wire, the rows of grave markers in its aftermath, most of which guard the remains of very young men, make for an especially somber endnote. And Lincoln Bradley presents it very well.
The cinematographer, Jeremy, captures all of the tense sadness, yet the film which is dedicated Linchon's grandfather, a veteran of the war—also has a glorious, pulsing energy. It's largely about death, or the risk of death, but in addressing some of the horrors of this particular war, Lincoln has made a film that feels wholly alive. It is a carefully polished picture, but not one that strives for gritty realism. However its inherent devotion to life and beauty is part of its power.
Now, let's come to the characters. The movie was never meant to be a showcase of men fighting enemies and showing brotherhood. It devotes itself entirely to one character which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.
There's a scene in which we are introduced to a fun character who is killed just a minute after we start warming up to him. This might throw people off, but that's what the movie is all about. How war is far too random, way more than life is.
Another vital character in the movie was one of an Indian soldier who was deported to a war which was never his and this is something a lot of history books lack — We don't even hear his name, an analogy to showcase that history don't have their names — but there are definite records of it. Here, we see one of the best story arcs for Ethan with him forging a friendship with the character and then getting a letter from him. The letter acts as a medium for Ethan to try to stay alive, even if he has given up on himself at the end of the movie.
Still, in the end, we are presented to a very cruel ending. It happens when the viewer is relaxed, thinking that Ethan had survived the war, delivered the letter and now, everything is fine but in the last scene, we find out that he succumbs to the infections he got while being in the war, as no appropriate medicines were developed.
Maybe, that's the true cruel nature of it…]
***
Because of the reviews and a lot of previews, word of mouth about the movie quickly spread and in just the first week, the movie was released with a great reception.
It even started as the 3rd in the North American box office and was expected to gradually go up.
[Shadows of War - 18 million dollars for the first week]
[A day in the life of Jonathan - 6 million dollars in the first week]
Compared to the rom-com that was released at the same time, it had almost triple the business as the audience of the rom-com gave it a bad rating after the guests initial reactions.
Even the critics weren't easy on it. Although Night Hawk studios paid some critics, the movie still turned out to be a disappointment and their only hope was to earn back the cost of the movie and somehow break even.
But with the momentum of [Shadows of War] and the other movies already running in the theatres, it seemed like [A day in the life of Jonathan] was going to be crushed.
***
"I'm so proud of you!"
Uncle Sam slapped Aiden's back multiple times as they came out of the theatre. Aside from that, a lot of people who had just finished watching the movie were chatting among themselves in various groups.
They had just watched [Shadows of War] in a theatre that was near to Sam's restaurant.
Aiden's cousin and aunt also wanted to watch it, but they were busy with other stuff and would have to watch the movie tomorrow. Even Wade, who was handling some things for Aiden's next few gigs, checked the data for how popular Aiden had become in the last few months and how the movie was going to affect him.
He was very busy at work, so Aiden had just come with Uncle Sam who has a constant smile on his face throughout the movie. On the other hand, Aiden was just happy his scenes weren't edited out a lot.
"Have you contacted your mother? Is there going to be a screening in India?" Uncle Sam asked and Aiden nodded.
"Yeah, there are some in big cities. She said she's going to invite all the neighbours."
"She's always enthusiastic about you." Uncle Sam said. "You are leaving for Chicago in three days right? Try to give your best in it as you went through a lot to get that role."
"Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it."
He had gotten the script for [Black Saints] recently and reading it, he was glad that he had done everything he could to get the role.
It was then that they heard a conversation between a group of friends that were standing adjacent to them. The reason the conversation attracted him was because the group of friends were talking about him.
"Who was the guy who played the Indian soldier? His scene made me cry."
"Yeah, his death hit me hard. Search the internet. I think I have seen him before."
"Okay, I hope there's information about some other movies he's part of. He looks like a good actor."
Hearing the praise about him, Aiden felt a little bashful. But this was what he had been working for for so long. Some appreciation for his talent from the public and now, he had finally made his debut successfully.
As he smiled at those words, one of the boys in the group suddenly glanced at him before giving him a confused look.
"Hey, squid face, look at that guy."
"I told you to not call me that. And who?"
His friend looked at Aiden and even felt like he had seen him somewhere before. They whispered among each other before one of them approached Aiden.
"Hey, were you the one who played the Indian soldier in the movie?"
"Ah, yes, that's me."
"Can I get an autograph?"
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