Same level of sensitivity as a Jean-Claude Van Damme

Rating: 1/10 (21 January 2006)

This film was not my worst ever, but nearly. Historical dramas are I could say my favorite genre. I grew up in a very small town right next to a "native reserve" from which I counted a couple of my best friends. I've always had empathy for the Americas original inhabitants and am always interested in how they are portrayed in movies (which is usually disappointing, but I keep trying) so this was my frame of mind when I paid for this movie at Regal Cinemas. Within approximately 45 minutes, my disappointment had already started.
I think most nature lovers agree, when the sun's rays shine through leaves, it is a beautiful sight, and running through tall grasses can certainly have an appeal, but in this movie, these 2 images fill nearly a third of screen time. Followed closely by images of the 2 non-lovers staring into each others eyes or His hands groping at Her (she's a child!!!) By the middle of the movie, the endless slow motion clips of the sun's rays and swaying grasses were reminding me of a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. That's exactly his gimmick: take a severely lacking script and dress it up with endless slow motion shots of sunsets and nature. Don't get me wrong I am a sucker for cinematographic portrayals of nature, but one can't repeat the same shot over and over and over again. Take March of the Penguins, nature shooting at it's finest.
An hour and a half into this film, I can't even use the word movie anymore, I'm thinking, when is the story going to begin! I have learned absolutely nothing about this period in history, people's thoughts. All we know is the "naturals" are flip-flopping between bringing gifts or warring with the colonialists, and Pocahontas's narration can probably fit into one page with large print. She repeats the same things over and over again, which only served to make the Indians seem really lacking in intelligence. Actually, that is also a sentiment that came over me, this movie completely lacks respect for Native American culture. It unfortunately made them seem like simple minded grunting beasts. Outrageous.
I never walk out of a movie. Movies are my favorite pass-time and I will sit through most anything. However I do sometimes fall asleep (maybe 8 times in total, out of 4 shows a week for a quarter century) and I didn't in this one, but many other patrons did fall asleep.
And then oh surprise, Christian Bale came on screen (I didn't know he was in this), and I thought "finally, maybe we'll get some resolution" but no, nothing new (nor in the story nor in the acting) came of his presence. In my opinion, Christian and Collin both have strong acting skills, but they absolutely require strong direction because otherwise they both come off as very wooden.
By the end, I was so disappointed. Mind you, my expectations were not that high, as I've only ever liked 2 each of Collin's and Christian's movies (The recruit, At home at the end of the world, The mechanic, Batman begins). But when I have low expectations, usually a movie will leave me not completely dissatisfied. Not the case here, this movie will not go down in history as anything. It will be forgotten and the story of Pocahontas remains untold.