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Reviews
Soldier of Destiny (2012)
So much wasted potential
The cinematography was fantastic, and the concept of the story was excellent. The acting was imperfect, but not unbearably so.
But then came the script and implementation.
So before I go into detail, I'll cut to the chase, this film is wholly a Christian propaganda piece. Watching this film was the equivalent of going to a Church preaching session in my living room.
However, perhaps what made it beyond bad, preaching itself is okay if you know that's what you're getting, is the fact that the vast bulk of the film is dedicated to the story of a guy in Africa, who owns a farm where black Africans have to be "managed" by him to produce crops. This came across as almost a piece trying to justify near slavery, or at very least apartheid era white rule. It seemed to very much be trying to send the message that black Africans need a strong white American Christian to guide them and help them survive. Now, it may well simply be that this came about simply because of the naivety and ignorance of people involved in making this film, it may be that it was wholly unintentional because they didn't no better, but ultimately this is a modern film that belongs in an era that has thankfully long gone.
There's harmless propaganda, and then there's this film. A film that's trying to push long discredited and wholly unacceptable ideas- a vision of Christianity that involves white dominance. As such, this is why I can only give this film one star as it wasn't just pushing religious propaganda, but propaganda that has been at the centre of the most shameful aspects of historical Western imperial rule.