Video summary
The reviewer introduces *The Rivals of Amziah King* as a film that fails to live up to its star-studded cast, particularly regarding Matthew McConaughey and Kurt Russell. While both actors are present in significant portions early on, their screen time diminishes drastically by the second half of the movie, leaving the narrative focused almost exclusively on a young woman named Katiri played by Angelina Jolie's lookalike, "Angelina Looking Glass." The reviewer expresses frustration that this character is not marketed as the lead despite dominating the runtime. Although McConaughey delivers an energetic and likable performance filled with singing, dancing, and beekeeping duties before disappearing from the story entirely, Kurt Russell receives minimal screen time in a role where he appears to be merely a wealthy tycoon without much depth or purpose.
Visually and musically, the film presents as a stunning experience shot on traditional film stock that gives it a beautiful, cinematic quality, complemented by excellent folk music tracks. However, these strengths are undermined by bizarre editing choices, specifically excessive use of freeze-frames and slow-motion shots that disrupt the flow and occasionally break immersion in an uncomfortable way. The director's obsession with filming close-ups of the female lead for long durations creates a strange dynamic where she stares directly into the camera or smiles at it repeatedly without narrative justification. This stylistic approach, combined with sudden tonal shifts from wholesome community vibes to graphic horror elements like bees crawling on skin and bizarre sculpting scenes, leaves viewers confused about whether they are watching a heartwarming drama or an intense thriller.
Despite these flaws, there are moments of genuine engagement where the story shines, particularly in sequences involving bee attacks at schools that showcase McConaughey's character as a community staple who works at a loss to help others. The film attempts to explore themes of life and spirituality but ultimately feels disjointed because it frontloads its interesting content while dragging out later scenes into a slog with a bland main protagonist. A significant narrative disappointment is the lack of communal support for McConaughey's character when he faces his greatest challenges, as expected allies fail to rally around him until an unrelated female character intervenes. The reviewer concludes that while the film has great dialogue and unique artistic vision, it feels like an experiment where various elements do not coalesce into a cohesive whole, resulting in a letdown that is too graphic and tonally inconsistent for general audiences or family members.
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A beekeeper, a folksy musician, and an
adoptive parent walk into a bar and
order a beer. Bartender says, "Hey,
Matthew McConna, because he's all of
those things in a new film called The
Rivals of Amziah King." And I suppose
it's fitting that he's a jack of all
trades because this movie is kind of a
jack of all trades. Not necessarily in a
good way. For the next several minutes,
I plan on telling you about this movie
in a pretty spoiler-freeish fashion as
much as I can. So, if you wouldn't mind
sticking with me, I would appreciate it.
All right, let's begin. I guess he's a
beekeeper.
We have fun here.
If you came for Matthew McConna, that's
inappropriate. Not the place to do it.
But if you watch the movie also for him,
you're going to be both happy and
disappointed because he's in this movie
a lot for a little while, but then he's
not in the movie at all anymore for
reasons I won't go into. If you came for
Kurt Russell, also gross. This is not
the place. But if you watch the movie to
see him, you're going to be extra
disappointed cuz he only has maybe 10
minutes of screen time if I'm being
generous. No, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no. This movie is not about
them. It's about a young woman named
Katiri, played by Angelina Looking
Glass. I have not seen a single trailer
for this movie. I still haven't watched
one as of this review, although I'll
eventually do that when I edit this
thing together and put a couple clips in
early on. So, I don't know if this movie
is marketed as the fact that she's the
lead character, but if it's not marketed
that way, shame on this film. That would
almost be as egregious and disgusting as
when I was told via an executive
decision trailer that Steven Seagull was
going to be a main character only to
find out he dies 2 minutes into the
[ __ ] movie. Now, while this isn't
Samuel L. Jackson deep blue sea levels
of hoodwinkedked. It is really a damn
dirty low down stinking shame that
played by Matthew McConna is gone for
the second entire half of the film
because McConna is so freaking good in
this. He's a character you love to be
around. He has a great energy to him.
He's singing music. He's dancing around.
He's making honey. He's solving some
mysteries. He's saving a school from
bees like he's a bee buster. The Rivals
of Maziah King has a great first 50
minutes of film. Unfortunately,
this is a 2hour and 10minute ordeal. And
as lovely as our young looking glass
actress is, her character is very meh
across the board. There's messages to be
had in this film. It's got some stories
to tell. I think it takes a very cynical
look at life, not necessarily one I
disagree with, and I appreciate that
there are things to unearth in the story
department. I don't think it's a bad
story, per se, but I can't help but feel
at the same time that this director was
really, really into this actress. And I
don't and I mean it kind of in a almost
creepy way because the camera is
obsessed with her. You will spend
probably a full freaking 30 minutes just
looking at her face. This thing is
locked and loaded on her for several
shots at a time. The camera's just going
to be moving around her as she smiles,
sometimes directly at the audience,
breaking the fourth wall. It was odd. It
was uncomfortable. And ultimately, it
was pointless. Had they pulled back on
that along with the excessive amounts of
slow-mo and really odd editing where
they just still shot things
for no reason. I I guess they're like
snapshots in time, right? Really really
taking the moment or something. Who
knows? We could have had a much more
comfortable hour and 45 minute run time
and I think this would have worked a lot
better for me even with MCA going MIA
later on in the game. This is just a
strange film to talk about. A pros for
me. Visually, it's beautiful. This is a
gorgeous looking film. It looks like it
was shot on tried andrue old school
cameras, some real film stock, which is
nice to see. Always appreciated. It
gives the whole thing a very cinematic
look to it. The music is just as good.
I'm not really big into folksy music,
but these songs are bangers. All of them
are really excellent. I was a little
worried with the opening number. Not
because the music sucked. Quite the
contrary. I loved it. But the editing
can be bizarre with those freeze frames.
And he kept doing it in the first couple
minutes. I turned to my buddy actually
and said after 5 minutes, "If this keeps
happening, I'm going to kill myself." A
little dramatic. Probably a little
dramatic. But it took me out every time
it happened to the point where I was
scared waiting for the next one to take
place. is like, I'm enjoying this. I'M
ENJOYING THIS. AH, THERE'S A FREEZE
FRAME AGAIN. Everything's in motion.
THINGS ARE HAVE WHY? WHY DID YOU STOP
FOR A SECOND ON THAT? And the freeze
frames are blurry and not good to look
at. It's not like they're these high
crisp beautiful resolution shots. No,
they're like a a hamburger getting
flipped in motion. So, it's like
Visuals are great, music's great. I also
think it's great that this is a wholly
unique film and it's got a wholly unique
director who said, "I don't care what
regular movie goers want to see. I'm
gonna make the weird stuff I want to
see." And sometimes that means you're
just watching a chick get bees crawling
up all over her for a long period of
time and you're not sure why you're
watching it. And at other points, you're
thinking, "Is this a horror film now?
Where where did I go?" I mean, pretty
early on there is a very gross moment in
the flick. And I I thought to myself,
[ __ ] this is intense. Where did this
come from? And I was really on board
with that idea of having this kind of
wholesome almost Disneylike vibe where
people are just living life and living
in the moment and it's it's fun and
magical and spiritual in a sense and
there's community and togetherness, but
then suddenly a dude gets sculpted and
then you're just horrified because it
came out of nowhere and you don't know
what's going to happen next. Now,
unfortunately,
nothing like that ever happens again.
So, they set up this kind of anything
goes deal, but then nothing goes again.
On the other hand, it does lead to at
least some fascinating sections, some
slices of life that don't necessarily
have anything to do with the grander
story, but they just let you get to know
the character a bit more and how he
really was just kind of a a staple of
the community. Specifically in my
favorite scene in the movie where they
head over to a school that's being
attacked by bees. The crazy here keeps
ratcheting up to a very absurd degree.
It's a very fun section of film.
Probably runs a good 15 or 20 minutes. I
loved that stuff. And there are moments
like that throughout. Just these nice
sections that really get you invested
again. Unfortunately, it's all
frontloaded and the later stuff feels
like it's a slog to get through and I
don't care about this main character at
all. She's just so bland. And by the
hour and 45 minute mark, I am so fed up
with the camera just locked on her as
she smiles prettily at the camera for
the 8,000th time and then in slow motion
does something pointless. just get on
with it already. Love me some Kurt
Russell. He's just, you know, a super
rich tycoon guy. Uh doesn't really have
a lot to bring to the table here,
unfortunately. He he's fine. There's
just not much there for him. So, he he
kind of looks cool when he's in it and
then he's he's gone just like that. This
movie really is just a showcase of how
great Matthew McConna can be. And that
excellent is on full display for sure. I
do think there's some very fun dialogue.
There's some witty exchanges, some good
snappy back and forths, and that would
have been even more complimentary with a
quicker runtime. Had he sped this thing
up, cut out all the BS, we would have
got to our destination faster. It would
have operated on a more enjoyable level,
and I think my review would be a lot
more positive. As it stands, this film
feels like an experiment of a bunch of
different things thrown at the screen,
not necessarily all of which stack up at
the end. A big one that stands out for
me is the character Matthew McConnA
plays. Misiah is very much a giver to
the community. He's working at a net
loss at his company where he's basically
giving out this honey for free at this
point. He goes to all the community
events. He plays in this band with all
these people. And yet when the chips are
down, no one seems to really bat an eye
to help. I thought for sure there would
be more of a rallying together in this
town to take on the big business or to
go after the guys that did the
unspeakable deed, but no, it's just kind
of like the he's got some of his crew
that help out later, but it's at the
behest of this aranged girl that comes
back into his life. Ultimately, I'm not
mad I watched the movie, but I am
disappointed. I'm I'm a disappointed dad
on this one. I was hoping it really
would have wowed me. There are scenes
again, like I said, that did, but the
overall package is a little bit of a
bummer. It's a letdown. And I certainly
couldn't recommend it to like my mom or
even my wife for that matter. And it's
mainly because there is that really
graphical scene early on that goes for a
decent chunk of time. Plus, just the
tonal disconnect all around. It doesn't
make for the most enjoyable of watches,
especially while that message is being
portrayed. We're watching this chick up
close getting like a yearbook photo
shoot done. All right, I want to hear
from you though. What did you think of
the film? Did you find it to be kind of
all over the place and a little bit of a
let down like me? Or were you all in for
the ride? You thought it was just
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