Sadly fooled by the media hype

Rating: 3/10 (11 September 2014)

I was very excited to see this movie! I have heard so many good reviews and comments about it from people and from the press.
I felt the cinematography was fantastic! A lot of luscious colors and intriguing camera movement at times, especially the shots of the ferry and swamp.
However, I started to get disinterested about 45 minutes in. Yes, there were some really intense scenes, and to this day it is still very tough to watch slaves be beaten. However, I felt the acting was very 1-dimentional, and sad to say, I felt this even for Solomon's character. No doubt i felt bad about the actions brought unto the slaves characters for their emotions showed it, but as far as dialogue between characters, it was very monochrome.
Maybe part of why I felt it was emotionless and dry was the fact that I felt this story in which the attitudes and actions that were done onto the slaves from the owners were "sugar-coated" compared to how they were portrayed in "Roots", "Django Unchained", "Amistad" and others. Obviously being born in the late 20th century, the only way I would know of what it was like is through books & cinema, but it has seemed that the way this intense, heartbreaking topic is better portrayed in films previous to this one.
This is a very touchy subject to this day, and I strongly believe it should be told and retold again and again. This is a horrible event in history, no doubt. One of the great factors of cinema is not to only entertain, but to inform the audience even if it's not for a great subject. Unfortunately, this particular flick didn't present an angle that kept me from turning it off 1.5 hours through.