The Wingfeather Saga (Season 2)

The Wingfeather children—Janner, Kalmar, and Leeli—once believed they were ordinary kids. Little did they know, they carried a regal lineage: they were the Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a distant and fallen kingdom. Now, their lives are in peril as the evil Fangs seek to capture them. They must flee their familiar home, navigating treacherous Fingap Falls, twisting Strander Burrows, and the Fang-infested Dugtown. Their destination? The Ice Prairies, where the lizard-like Fangs cannot pursue. The fate of their family, and perhaps the entire realm, rests upon their young shoulders. As the second season unfolds, the world of Wingfeather expands, introducing new dangers, uncharted lands, and friendships forged in hope.

The Wingfeather Saga (S2:E1&2)

With subtle improvements to the animation, the second season of The Wingfeather Saga remains one of the most beautifully rendered animated series of the last 20+ years, with only 2001’s Samurai Jack’s unique aesthetic as serious competition. Unlike Disney’s lazy and sometimes jarring attempt to do the same with the disappointing Wish, the TWS animators have seamlessly integrated the timeless elegance and fluid motion of classic 2D animation into the more immersive and textured environments of 3D CGI.

One of our early expressed concerns with season 1 was that the voice talent, specifically that of the children, had room to grow. That fear has been allayed as the child actors exhibit vastly more confident and nuanced performances, elevating the show’s overall quality.

Unfortunately, these initial episodes sometimes suffer from the same uneven pacing and tendency to say rather than do that hampered a handful of last season’s entries. The writers certainly manage to include some particularly heavy and narratively important events. Still, they are regrettably interspersed with what feels like time-filler side adventures that are wrapped up as quickly and conveniently as they were initiated. The result is a lack of urgency in some key moments that will temporarily take older viewers out of the action.

That said, the strong family dynamic, traditional gender roles, intriguing characters, and overarching adventure are interesting enough to keep children engrossed and parents sufficiently entertained. Furthermore, season 1 should have garnered enough goodwill to keep families coming back for when this series inevitably finds its footing once again.

INAPPROPRIATE ELEMENTS FOR CHILDREN

Consequences

• One of the great things about The Wingfeather Saga series is that it doesn’t shy away from consequences. The other side of this is that it makes for some intense moments that may be too much for the very young.
• Numerous villains are felled, some on screen and some off. However, all are serious and intense, though not graphic.
  • There is one scene in which one of the Wingfeathers celebrates as the youngest boy kills multiple attackers with his bow and arrows, and we even see some of them taking arrows to the heart and falling to their deaths.

WOKE ELEMENTS

Eurocentric Middle Age-Inspired Story

• Obviously, we are dealing with a completely fictional story set in a fantasy realm that is full of things that don’t exist in the real world. However, there is no denying that it is almost exclusively based on the Tolkien model of fantasy in which Eurocentric communities are isolated by geography and the incredible dangers and effort involved with adventurous treks across the land. As such, it makes very little sense for black characters to live in the same village in which the show starts. It’s not a huge deal but it is distracting to those audience members who appreciate continuity and verisimilitude (even in fantasy).
  • On a side note, every other human is drawn wearing something anachronistically relevant to the setting except for the male black character. For some reason, he’s dressed in slacks and a cardigan sweater, making it look like Mr. Rogers dressed him.

The post The Wingfeather Saga (Season 2) first appeared on Worth it or Woke.

Cabrini

“Christian” films are often rightly panned as sappy, low-budget fare with poor production value and worse performers. However, if 2023 taught us anything (aside from the fact that Disney is a barren moonscape of creativity), it’s that films that promote strong Christian values don’t have to be schlocky tales that beat Christianity over audience heads. February’s “Jesus Revolution” set the table while the $200 million dollar blockbuster “Sound of Freedom” served Hollywood some five-star crow.

Angel Studios continues this much-needed trend in entertainment with Cabrini. Every aspect of the film, from the performances of the extras to the massive ghetto street sets, is indistinguishable from the best of its secular counterparts.

Cristiana Dell’Anna, who plays Mother Cabrini, is superb, flawlessly imbuing the 19th-century nun with the fervent and unwavering strength of purpose and dedication needed to surmount the ever-growing number of obstacles in her way. Yet, Dell’Anna doesn’t neglect the subtle vulnerability and motherly nurturing needed to breathe full life into Cabrini. It’s a performance deserving of accolades and awards.

Another standout is Romana Maggiora Vergano, who plays Vittoria, a young woman orphaned on the streets of New York and taken in by Cabrini and the sisters of her order. Vergano imbues Vittoria with both the fragility of someone who has been hurt repeatedly and often and the strength of someone who has chosen to survive despite her pain, resulting in a damaged young woman who finds peace and purpose.

While most everyone gives a performance worthy of praise, surprisingly, John Lithgow’s brief turn as the Mayor of New York, Jacob Gould*, is somewhat lackluster in comparison. Lithgow’s natural flamboyance, in combination with his beautifully crafted and period-accurate costumes, culminate in something more resembling a mustache-twirling villain from a silent film than the deeply bigoted aristocrat that he and the filmmakers were going for. Fortunately, his screen time is incredibly brief and does little to detract from the overall quality.

Helping to raise everyone’s performances, Cabrini’s script, penned by the same duo who brought us Sound of Freedom, is replete with crisp and economical dialogue that knows when to be grounded and when to soar. However, there are a handful of very brief instances in which the dialogue seems to reflect more modern sensibilities than perhaps makes sense.

For instance, there is a scene in which Mother Cabrini is trying to get a special dispensation from the Pope to become the first woman to be given a mission in the Church’s almost two-thousand-year history. Despite this and the fact that she is an early 19th-century nun in Italy (a country that didn’t give women the right to vote until the end of WWII), when she is turned down, she defiantly turns to the Pope and brazenly asks, “is it because I’m a woman?”

Well, of course it is. Within the context of history, region, and vocation, it’s a silly question and one that seems unlikely to have been asked. That said, these are rare instances in the extreme and likely only noticeable by nitpickers.

As excellent as Cabrini is, it never quite builds to the emotional crescendo that one might expect from a story about such grand and far-reaching accomplishments made in the face of millennia-built bigotries and traditions. This is in part due to the film’s grand scope. It is a deeply personal story that attempts to squeeze in one too many of Mother Cabrini’s accomplishments, which in turn dilutes the needed focus.

Ironically, what hinders the depth of audience connection most is the voice that the writers have given Cabrini and the other people of faith in the film. In its efforts to avoid being a “Christian” film, they couch far too much of what would normally be religious dialogue in secular vagaries. In fact, God is never directly mentioned. The result is that Cabrini’s accomplishments come across as her own and glorify her instead of God. In a film about a pioneering woman whose faith ran so deeply that no fewer than four miracles are attributed to her, God’s absence is a startling omission.

That’s not to say that God’s presence is never felt. His precepts and philosophies of behavior, as well as the aesthetic trappings of Catholicism, are omnipresent throughout the film.

Ultimately, Cabrini is an uplifting and beautifully rendered story of an amazing woman whose fervent life of selfless devotion to God is a must-see for the faithful and faithless alike.

WOKE ELEMENTS

I sincerely struggled with this section due to some of the dialogue. Ultimately, I’m giving Angel Studios et al the benefit of the doubt.

• It takes place at a time and location that was not among our history’s brightest moments. How the Italian immigrants were treated was despicable, but there were moments when it seemed like the script was making a commentary on today. I’m not sure if I’m being overly sensitive or if it was there.
  • The same goes for some of the dialogue about being a woman at the time.
    • At one point, Cabrini asks, with total defiance, “Is it because I’m a woman?”
      • Obviously, it’s because she was a woman. She was raised in late 1800s Italy and has followed a calling to be a part of an organization in which women play supporting roles (important supporting roles but supporting roles).
        • Women couldn’t even vote; there had never been a women-led mission since the Catholic Church’s founding in 30 A.D.
          • It would be a completely alien concept, and surprise at the male leadership’s position seems inappropriate.

*The real Mayor Gould was a Democrat. Just wanted to point that out. You guys are always on the wrong side of history.

The post Cabrini first appeared on Worth it or Woke.

The Shift

A mysterious figure tries to recruit grieving father, Kevin Garner, to help him sow chaos throughout the multiverse. When Kevin refuses, he finds himself stranded in a dystopian world that is not his own. Never giving up hope that God will lead him home, Kevin uses his time to spread The Word to a people in bondage and misery.

Starring Neal McDonough (Yellowstone) and Sean Astin (The Lord of The Rings), The Shift is an audacious undertaking, especially for a Christian movie studio best known for a series about the life and teachings of Christ and a biographical film about child sex slavery. With The Shift, Angel Studios has reimagined the story of Job as a multi-verse-spanning sci-fi thriller, and the seriousness of their desire to compete against secular fare from the “big guys” is apparent in every frame.

With his barely restrained menace and piercing stare, McDonough shines as The Benefactor. Fans of McDonough know that he’s no stranger to playing the villain, and he brings his 30+ years of experience to bear in The Shift, providing audiences with a nuanced if sinister evildoer seething with dark ambition.

The film’s lead is the relatively unknown Kristoffer Polaha, who some may recognize from his small roles in Jurassic World and as “Handsome Man” in Wonder Woman 1984. Pholaha infuses Kevin with a sincerity and heart that keeps the audience rooting for him throughout, but more than that, we see in him the Godly and stalwart Christian that each of us hopes we would be were we to find ourselves in similar straits and through his tribulations, we glimpse the promise of God.

Written and directed by Brock Keasley, whose feature-length resume includes The Shift, The Shift, and The Shift, The Shift gets a lot right. There are scenes of nail-biting suspense and moments that Christians (especially) who have felt the seductive call of decadent temptation will find incredibly poignant as Kevin is offered all that he wants and more for seemingly so little in return. This, along with the strength of its leads, carries The Shift, even through some of its more repetitive moments.

With all that it gets right, The Shift is tantalizingly close to crossing that barrier from “Christian film” to mainstream offering that is incidentally Christian, and being able to see the finish line makes the fact that it doesn’t quite cross it that much more frustrating. It’s always a gamble for a film’s writer to direct it. Understandably, they can get too close to the material and have blinders on as to what should be cut or smoothed out, and The Shift suffers from this, giving us some cumbersome dialogue and overtly convenient moments.

Based solely on Keasley’s thin pedigree and the weight of his dual roles, that the film is only occasionally problematic rather than a total dumpster fire is a testament to his potential as a filmmaker. However, it does falter in some key areas. The story is peppered with well-meaning subplots designed to elicit sympathy for Kevin, but they are unneeded and serve to fill time instead of narrative buckets. The result of this lack of focus is a film with interesting yet underdeveloped characters and an interesting yet underdeveloped plot.

Even though The Shift is imperfect, and the script would have benefitted from one more draft, it’s still Worth it. Not only is it crucially important that we support films such as this, but for all its flaws, The Shift is a stirring sci-fi thriller that holds a mirror up to the faithful and asks them, “Who are you, and how deeply does your faith run.”

ROLE MODELS IN THE SHIFT

Kevin is a model of Christian faith. Even though he has every excuse known to secular man to hate God, he chooses to serve Him and lean on him in his darkest hours. He does so, not in the hopes of rewards but to honor the creator of all things.

WOKE ELEMENTS

None.

The post The Shift first appeared on Worth it or Woke.

After Death

On the heels of their surprise megahit, Sound of Freedom, Angel Studios isn’t slowing down. After Death, set to be released in theaters on October 27 of this year, documents the experiences of several men who, after undergoing extreme physical trauma and being deemed clinically dead, attest to having crossed over to the other side before their miraculous return to the material plane.

In today’s secular world, filled with scientific explanations for everything from loyalty to happiness and technological marvels bordering on magic, it is easy for believers and non-believers alike to dismiss these types of anecdotal tales as simple hallucinations and dreams. However, After Death presents compelling evidence and heartfelt testimony that may not constitute proof but certainly provides enough material for thought-provoking contemplation.

Due to the inherently qualitative nature of the content, the average viewer could easily find their thoughts veering into skepticism as they begin to pick apart the individual narratives. However, thanks to the expert craftsmanship of its talented directors (Stephen Gray and Chris Radtke), who masterfully conduct every component of this storytelling symphony, your attention never has a chance to stray.

Gray and Radtke have successfully crafted a captivating work that provides viewers with the opportunity to fully absorb the documentary, readying it for later discussion and debate.

Presented through high-quality reenactments, narrated by the real-life subjects themselves that may just have you dabbing at your eyes more than once, and interspersed with insights from medical, psychological, and philosophical experts, After Death is a dynamic documentary brimming with gripping tales of resilience and optimism.

WOKE ELEMENTS

None

The post After Death first appeared on Worth it or Woke.

“Because God’s children are not for sale.” – Tim Ballard

Every 40 seconds, a child goes missing in The United States of America. Of those taken, millions are sold into sex slavery. The average life expectancy of a child sold into sex slavery in the United States is 7 – 10 years of age, and The United States of America is one of the top destinations for human trafficking and is among the largest consumers of child sex.

**STOP** Before you read any further, click this link to pre-purchase your ticket as well as Pay it Forward, and purchase a ticket for another. This cannot be another “conservative” film that does “well for independent films.” It must and can be a blockbuster, but it takes all of us DOING something about it. Buy your tickets now, and help to spread the word.

Sound of Freedom

How often have we heard some moronic actor and filmmaker say that their piece of garbage propaganda piece posing as a film is “important?”

Well, here is one that actually is, not because it’s excellent (it is), not because it’s gripping (it is), nor because it will haunt you long after the curtain falls (it will), but because its message is so very necessary and it’s goals so very attainable.

Sound of Freedom follows the early missions of the real-life Tim Ballard, played by Jim Caviezel, as he hears God’s calling to rescue children sold into slavery worldwide.

Simply put, Sound of Freedom is nearly perfect. Its gripping story is bolstered by superb performances, a crisp screenplay with economical yet powerful dialogue, and scenes of such terror as to give you nightmares, and even though it is the stuff of the most twisted horror films that will have you sweating and checking in on your sleeping children, it’s not graphic.

Much like how 1999’s Fight Club used the atmosphere and the reactions of those ancillary to the surrounding horrors to elicit the audience’s emotional investment, Director Alejandro Monteverde masterfully allows our imaginations room to breathe and us the freedom to fill in the monstrous blanks ourselves.

Very often in films with multiple children and most certainly in low-budget independent films, it’s a matter of course to have several performers who are not up to the level of its leads or the material. However, from the “smallest” role and up, God’s hands unquestionably guided everyone’s performance, with each delivering impressive and unprecedented emotional presentness. Even the child extras were pitch-perfect, a movie miracle.

Yet, in a movie full of exceptional performances, Jim Caviezel’s genius was laid bare for all to see. Undoubtedly, Jesus has a special place set at his Heavenly table for men like Tim Ballard, and in Sound of Freedom, Jim Caviezel shows us exactly why. In The Passion of The Christ, Caviezel captured what was certainly only a fraction of the otherworldly love of Christ, limited as Caviezel was by virtue of being only a man. Still, it was enough to transport the audience back 2,000 years to the side of our Lord and Savior. In Sound of Freedom, he expertly displays Ballard’s haunting sincerity and righteously obsessive drive in a complex performance worthy of every accolade.

Not to be forgotten is a sometimes funny, sometimes moving, and consistently superb performance by Bill Camp, who plays a one-time criminal turned figurative saint. Camp’s larger-than-life presence provides the film’s few but much-needed moments of levity without ever compromising the film’s emotional core. He is the perfect sidekick to Caviezel’s determined Ballard.

Although the child actors were already mentioned, no review would be complete without exhorting the nuanced and moving performances of the children who play brother and sister kidnap victims, Miguel and Alanna. It would have been easily forgiven had these two young performers been wooden or melodramatic. However, both were touching and compelling and will undoubtedly bring you to tears more than once.

Of course, no movie is flawless, and Sound of Freedom is no exception. The first act’s last few minutes suffer from minor pacing problems, and the cinematography, while mostly excellent, tends toward the utilitarian when something slightly more dramatic would better serve the narrative. Finally, there is a very brief scene set in the remote jungles of South America, in which Caviezel’s Ballard is texting with his wife on what appears to be a standard cell phone. It’s a nitpick, to be sure, but it was a momentary distraction in an otherwise laser-focused movie.

When all is said and done, Sound of Freedom is a must-see movie for everyone over the age of 15 and older (depending on your child’s level of sensitivity – I would let my 13-year-old daughter watch it and pray that it helps to keep her safe). It is most definitely Worth it.

Sound of Freedom ROLE MODELS

We’ve recently added the Role Models section to our site. The purpose of this is to highlight movies, regardless of overall quality, that possess characters with traits worthy of adoration and emulation. For instance, in the movie Air, Viola Davis plays Deloris Jordan, a strong (but not mannish) woman and mother. She’s an ardent and wise steward of a son whose future excellence she recognizes and helps to foster.

Sound of Freedom is replete with male role models who are self-sacrificing, determined, and possess the potential for just danger, which they righteously visit upon the wicked.

That being said, Oscar-winning Mira Sorvino plays Tim Ballard’s wife Katherine, and even though she is only on screen for fewer than five minutes, the real-life Katherine is as much of a hero as her husband. Knowing that she could end up raising their six children alone and that she would be doing so without the aid of Tim’s pension, she encourages him to quit his job ten months before he can access it so that he can put his life on the line to save the most innocent and precious among us in a venture that begins with no financial backing and virtually no real plan.

WOKE ELEMENTS

None

Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.)

“Tim Ballard spent more than a decade working as a Special Agent for the Department of Homeland Security, where he was assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and deployed as an undercover operative for the U.S. Child Sex Tourism Jump Team.

He has worked in that role and since in every type of case in the fight to dismantle child trafficking rings. He’s worked in the United States and in multiple foreign countries to infiltrate child trafficking organizations. He has successfully dismantled dozens of these organizations and rescued children from slavery and exploitation.

While working for the government, Ballard saw how much more is needed in the fight against child trafficking and exploitation across the world. In 2013, he and a team of former government operatives left the security of their careers to accomplish the work of rescuing children as a private foundation – Operation Underground Railroad. At O.U.R., Tim has created a team that can work in any jurisdiction and in conjunction with law enforcement to rescue children directly. That team exists today and operates all over the world.” – O.U.R.

To donate to O.U.R.

The post Sound of Freedom first appeared on Worth it or Woke.

The Wingfeather Saga (S1E1 – Leeli & The Sea Dragon)

Episode 1 of The Wingfeather Saga introduces us, not only to the inhabitants of Glipwood Township in the land of Skree but to the Igibys as well. They are a somewhat broken family who is still feeling the effects of the loss of their husband and father some years before. Much like the rest of the local population, the Igibys are just barely getting by thanks to the oppressive rule of the Fangs, but all is not darkness and desperation. The Igibys have love and, thanks to the strong and steadfast influence of their grandfather (who lives with them) and their stalwart and hardworking mother, they have discipline and stability as well.

Episode 1 deals primarily with the Dragon Day Festival. It’s the one day of the year that the Fangs let the local populous let loose a bit and enjoy themselves with good food, entertainment, and general frivolity. It’s also the day that the Sea Dragons congregate below the cliffs at the edge of town. There they sing their mournful songs as townsfolk look on in wonder and are magically filled with different emotions.

During this year’s festival, the Igiby children get themselves into a bit of trouble that promises to turn into a lot of trouble as the series progresses, but they also discover that each of them may possess a special quality, something magical that will surely have life-changing consequences.

The Wingfeather Saga is one of the most beautifully animated programs that I’ve ever seen. It’s full of imaginative creatures, and Episode 1 lays enough foundation upon which to build a truly enjoyable program. However, the first episode has some pacing problems, and the voice talent has some growing to do, but when the setup was done and the action began, the show showed promise to become something wonderful for families to experience together. We are very much looking forward to episode 2. Stay tuned.

INAPPROPRIATE ELEMENTS FOR CHILDREN

There are some tense and intense moments of threatened violence that may be too much for the littlest of children.

WOKE ELEMENTS

There’s some diversity for the sake of diversity that doesn’t fit in a fictional land largely influenced by Tolkien and British mythology and geography.

The Wingfeather Saga (S1E2 – A Mysterious Map)

There’s very little to say about Episode two of The Wingfeather Saga, as it revealed next to nothing that was germane to the series’s story. This entry continues a few days after the end of Episode 1 and focuses almost exclusively on the Igiby children’s daily lives. While the animation remains beautiful, this episode primarily consisted of establishing that this world is different from our own, hinting at the future importance of certain characters, and positioning other characters where they need to be for upcoming set pieces. In fact, only the last five minutes served the overall narrative in any meaningful way.

The Wingfeather Saga still has great potential but if it doesn’t get started soon, it’s going to run out of gas before it even gets out of the garage.

WOKE ELEMENTS

Nothing new from Episode 1 to report.

The Wingfeather Saga (S1E3 – The Catacombs Below)

Episode 3 of Angel Studios’s The Wingfeather Saga continues the story of the Igiby children, Janner, Tink, and Leeli as they navigate life in the magical and dangerous world of Aerwiar. The Catacombs Below is an improvement over episode 2, in that it finally begins to move the story along. In the last episode, the children found a hidden map that they think will lead them to the secret hideout of a rumored group of freedom fighters, whose sole purpose is to free the citizens of Aerwiar from the evil clutches of Gnag the Nameless, and his cruel army of Fangs from Dang. In this episode, they actually take action and follow the map. However, even though it is a much more complete episode with a clear motivational catalyst that leads to contextually logical action being taken by the protagonists, the first five minutes of the 30+ minute episode are spent re-establishing the world and characters that were already established over the course of the two previous episodes. That being said, it’s a huge improvement over the last installment which did virtually nothing to further the season’s narrative.

WOKE ELEMENTS

None.

The Wingfeather Saga (S1E4 – Escape to Peet’s Castle)

Hot dog! The show has finally begun. We’re done with all of the expositional setup and gas has been tossed on the fire. It took a little too long to get there but the show that I suspected was coming looks to have arrived. Episode 4 continues immediately where the previous episode left off. The Igibiys are still trapped in the catacombs of Anklejelly Manor and it doesn’t look like the horned hounds are going to leave on their own. Fortunately, Peet the Sock Man just happens to be there and comes to their rescue. He’s also very likely more than he appears.

This episode not only gives us some much-needed and relevant action but it gives us meaningful hints about the mystery that is the Igiby children, their absent father, and why they appear to have some special abilities that others don’t seem to possess. It is by far the best episode to date, precipitated by thoughtful action and the realization that Peet isn’t just the town idiot but, much like the Igibys, he is something much more.

WOKE ELEMENTS

None

The Wingfeather Saga (S1E5 – Fruit for Zouzab)

In the previous episode, Grandpa and Momma Igiby had been captured by the Fang. Now, they sit in the local jail waiting to be taken away by the Black Carriage, while the children plot their rescue.

While it’s not quite as good as the previous episode, and it still relies too heavily on exposition, by the time it hits the midway point, Fruit of Zouzab takes off and gives children and parents alike an entertaining and engaging story. It reveals more about some of the hinted mysteries and sets up, what looks to be, a satisfying and exciting season finale.

WOKE ELEMENTS

None.

The Wingfeather Saga (S1E6 – The Jewels of Anniera)

The final episode of the 1st season of The Wingfeather Saga was fantastic. It was well-paced and told a cohesive and compelling story with weighty consequences. As satisfying as it was, its tight focus and economical storytelling stood in contrast to many of the episodes that came before. If Angel Studios can keep up the momentum that they’ve built, season 2 is sure to be a family classic.

WOKE ELEMENTS

None

FINAL SAY (THE WINGFEATHER SAGA – Season 1)

Season 1 of The Wingfeather Saga is more than just another cartoon series for Angel Studios, it is a testimony that timeless Christian themes like self-sacrifice, bravery in the face of implacable foes, and the importance of family can be made into a program fit to stand along mainstream entertainment as its equal and in many cases its better. Furthermore, it proves that gratuitous violence, sexually explicit content, and questionable language do not a quality program make.

While the first season of The Wingfeather Saga was not perfect, spending much too much time expositing and rehashing things from previous episodes, if the showrunners can economize their storytelling and build from what they’ve done so far, this series will easily become a classic that families will be able to share with one another for generations.

The post The Wingfeather Saga (Season 1) first appeared on Worth it or Woke.