The Reaping Film Review By Bradson Longsworth

Plot Summary:
Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank) is a college professor at LSU who doesn't believe in miracles and goes around the world disproving them. She was a newly ordained minister on her first mission, when the locals in an attempt to bring rain to their land killed both her husband and daughter, since then she lost her faith and turned her back on God. Whenever Katherine is called to investigate a miracle, she is able to prove that what people believe is a miracle can be explained using scientific facts and no divine intervention has occurred. Her next case is in her own backyard in Haven, Louisiana. Doug Blackwell (David Morrissey), a schoolteacher, is asking for Katherine's help. The river has turned to blood, and the townspeople believe that Loren McConnell (AnnaSophia Robb), a young 12-year old girl, has brought this plague upon the town. They also believe that this is the start of the Biblical ten plagues that are about to occur in Haven. Katherine and Ben (Idris Elba), her partner, go to Haven to investigate. At first Katherine is able to explain all the strange occurrences with science, but she soon comes to the realization that science can't explain all of them away. Katherine must reclaim her faith to fight these evil forces.

The Reaping directed by Stephen Hopkins hit theaters in April 5 of 2007, where it was met with mixed reviews. This film has a very impressive cast with award winning Hilary Swank, Idris Elba, AnnaSophia Robb, David Morrissey and Stephen Rea. This live action film crosses many genres including: Thriller, Horror and Drama. The religious aspect of the 10 plagues of Egypt befalling this small Louisiana town may cross it over into science fiction. This film was watched on DVD on Sunday April 20th at 5:00 pm.

The visuals in this film were very strong especially for those with a Christian or Catholic background. Anyone who has read about the 10 plagues of Egypt can appreciate how they have been taken from the pages of the Bible and brought to life on the big screen. Below you see a clip from the movie showing the Plague of Locusts.


As one can see from the above clip, the visuals played a critical role in the movie. The camera angles used both the 3rd person view as well as 1st person perspective shots and made the viewer feel as if they were experiencing the scenes themselves. It should be noted that while the majority of the film was shot in the 3rd person, it did not have an omniscient feel where; as in some slasher films like "Nightmare on Elm Street" or "Friday the 13th", the audience sees things that the characters do not.
While the DVD gave the option of viewing the film either in wide-screen or full-screen, it was viewed in wide screen. Throughout the course of the film there were many panoramic shots in order to give the viewer a feel of the entire scene. Conversely zoom shots were widely used to heighten the sense of drama in a particular shot. The cinematographer rapidly moved from a wide-angle shot to a telephoto shot in one continuous movement that was quite effective.

Technology did not feature extensively in “The Reaping”. The most popular technology used in the film was the cell phone, however it was not used in the typical way as connecting to a network (because in the film the town "Haven" was out of service range) but as two way walkie-talkies. These were only used by the characters Katherine and Ben, to keep in touch with each other. The Ipod (or some form of mp3 player) made a short cut in the film, with Ben being the user. There was almost a continuous use of computers (especially laptops) throughout the film, as well the use of an over-head projector.




In my opinion, the combination of special effects, appropriate use of technology and camera angles makes this a very enjoyable film.