The Forge – Review

The Forge – Budget of $5 million – 2 hours and 5 minutes

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Cynthia returns home and summons her son, Isaiah, to the kitchen. He hasn’t cleaned his room, taken out the trash, or done his laundry. Isaiah, 19 years old, decided to forgo college. Cynthia tells Isaiah to get a job and pay rent if he’s not attending school. She gives him one month to do this, or he must move out. Isaiah leaves and sulks in his room.

Isaiah enters Cynthia’s hair salon and asks for her car keys. Stores have job openings, but they are too far for him to bike. Cynthia tells Isaiah he must bring the car back by 5 pm. A supplier is keeping their shop open late so she can get items at a discounted rate. If she isn’t there on time, she could lose the discount and look irresponsible. Isaiah agrees. When Isaiah drives to the store, it’s closed. His friends call to play basketball, and Isaiah goes to the court. He loses track of time and arrives at the salon at 5:30 pm. Cynthia is furious, and her anger grows when she sees sweat on Isaiah’s clothing. He was spending time with friends, not looking for work. Cynthia tells Isaiah he’s acting like his father. Isaiah jumps out of the car, and Cynthia drives away. Cynthia calls her sister, Elizabeth, for prayer support.

Elizabeth arrives at Cynthia’s hair salon with her prayer warrior, Miss Clara. Cynthia wants them to pray for Isaiah because he is following a path of irresponsibility. She wants Isaiah to follow Christ and be the man Christ wants him to be. Cynthia understands it’s hard for a woman to call out the man in their son. So, she asks the warriors to pray for Isaiah to find his way.

Isaiah walks into Moore Fitness and asks for an application. A man, Joshua, enters and asks Isaiah why he’s there. Isaiah snaps at Joshua and demands to know why Joshua questions him. Joshua explains that he is the president of Moore Fitness. Isaiah rips up the application and sulks to the door. Joshua stops him and asks Isaiah to lunch. Joshua offers Isaiah a part-time job and discipleship. He asks Isaiah to come to work 30 minutes early for breakfast and mentoring. Isaiah agrees.

Cynthia cooks dinner, and Isaiah gives Cynthia the great news. He got a job with Joshua Moore. Also, Joshua wants to mentor him. Cynthia knows Joshua because he has discipled Isaiah’s uncle, Tony. Cynthia hugs and congratulates Isaiah. After Isaiah leaves, she thanks God because their prayers worked. She knows the impact Joshua had on Tony. Joshua will show Isaiah the true meaning of a man, leadership, and being a disciple.

The Forge is a force. It’s unnecessary to see War Room, but this film makes a heartfelt reach to the previous picture (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer). This movie is faith-based, but that should not stop anyone from seeing it. The script doesn’t place blame on any parent but recognizes both play a significant role in Isaiah’s development. Cynthia states she leans on Tony for assistance, but he lives an hour away. Joshua needs male figures he can reach and see daily for guidance. This plot talks about forgiveness, sacrifice, commitment, and the power of prayer. Miss Clara states that people treat prayer like a spare tire. They only use it when they need it. They should consider it a steering wheel for their lives. Isaiah’s change has challenges. He has personal and professional setbacks to test his faith. This movie is a teaching tool for mentorship and discipleship, especially amongst men. This funny, spiritual, and thought-provoking piece deserves a second watch.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars

Be a fountain, not a drain – Joshua

I never prayed for robots before – Miss Clara

You are my father – Isaiah

You need to come to church with me – Cynthia

I’ll be praying for you – Janelle

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The Wild Robot – Review

The Wild Robot – Budget of $78 million – 1 hour and 42 minutes

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ROZZUM Unit 7134 is an assistance robot from Universal Dynamics. It activates on a remote, uninhabited island and looks for a task. The wildlife and terrain become a challenge. So, ROZZUM puts herself in observation mode for several days. She learns about the ecosystem and animal linguistics. When she is at 100%, ROZZUM turns on and looks for her owner to give her a task. ROZZUM enters a bear cave while searching. The bear, Thorn, wakes and chases ROZZUM. ROZZUM escapes by slipping and crushing a bird’s nest. ROZZUM looks under herself and finds a dead goose and several broken eggs. Only one is intact. A fox, Fink, steals the egg to eat it, but ROZZUM stops him because he stole it. She chases Fink away, and the egg hatches. The gosling imprints on ROZZUM and follows her everywhere. ROZZUM sends a distress beacon so the manufacturers can locate her, but the gosling breaks it. An opossum, Pinktail, sees ROZZUM struggling with the tiny bird and explains that it thinks ROZZUM is its mother. ROZZUM explains that she doesn’t have the programming to be a mother. Pinktail assures ROZZUM that no one does. They make it up as they go. ROZZUM leaves the gosling behind to find a task. Pinktail tells ROZZUM that her task is to get the gosling some food, teach it to swim, and teach it how to fly before winter. ROZZUM’s programming activates, and she cares for the gosling.

ROZZUM crosses paths with Fink again while acquiring food for the gosling. Fink tells ROZZUM to give up because it’s a runt and wasn’t supposed to survive. However, ROZZUM refuses to accept this because it’s her task. Fink selfishly helps ROZZUM feed the gosling. Later, Fink tells ROZZUM to name the young bird. At first, ROZZUM names him Gosling 001. Fink laughs and says a name can’t have numbers. So ROZZUM calls the gosling Brightbill and tells everyone to call her Roz. Over months, Roz, Fink, and Brightbill become a family, but Brightbill can’t fly and is a weak swimmer. Brightbill finds other geese during a swimming lesson, but they exclude him because a ‘monster’ raised him. They tell Brightbill his origin story, and he looks at Roz in horror. She killed his family. She is the reason he is alone and awkward. Roz feels guilty and ventures around the island. She finds several broken ROZZUMs in a cave. She activates one and updates it on her progress. Roz admits to overriding her programming for months to raise Brightbill. The robot calls Roz defective and starts a return beacon. But Roz disconnects it, steals it, and returns to Brightbill to complete her tasks. She must teach Brightbill to fly. After several attempts, an elder goose, Longneck, promises to take Brightbill under his wing for the migration. But Roz has to get Brightbill ready in a week. Can Roz and Fink get Brightbill prepared for the winter migration?

Based on The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, this movie gives a caring and unapologetic view of parenting (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer). However, it offers it from a wildlife perspective. When Pinktail thinks something has eaten her child, she doesn’t care. She adjusts the number of children in the conversation and moves on. Roz admits to overriding her programming by making things up. Later, Roz deals with separation anxiety. Fink wants her to give Brightbill his independence, but she wants him to be independent while closer to her. Roz excels beyond her programming when she experiences love. The audience should know that the movie goes beyond the migration. Roz’s time with Brightbill helps her become a mother. However, something more makes her a wild robot. The storyline is compelling and unique. The voice actors deliver the lines with emotion and perfect comedic timing. And the graphics are astounding. Viewers should keep an ear open for the A-113 reference. The film is on a cliffhanger because it’s book 1 of a series. Also, there is a short but funny post-credit scene.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars

Kindness is not a survival skill – Fink

You are not my mother – Brightbill

You can tell me – Thorn

This is what I get for taking a walk – Pinktail

The process is the art – Paddler

Endurance, then we’ll talk – Longneck

A ROZZUM always completes its task. Just asks – ROZZUM

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