The Oath

We've seen a plethora of ancient renaissance type films: "Camelot", all the "King Arthur" type films, "The Last Duel", "Gladiator", "Dragonheart",and the like. Now, we have "The Oath" to add to that ever growing list. What makes this a bit different than its predecessors is that this is more of a conflict--a small squirmish as opposed to a huge epic like most are.

400 A.D., in a forgotten time of Ancient America, a lone Hebraic fugitive, a Nephite, Moroni (Darin Scott) must preserve the history of his fallen nation while being hunted by a ruthless tyrant, Lamanite, King Aaron (Billy Zane), but rescuing the King's abused mistress, Bathsheba (Nora Dale) could awaken a warrior's past. Considering Moroni and King Aaron are estranged brothers, how is this confrontation going to play out?

Others to round out the cast are Karina Lombard as Mahigana, the king's best tracker, Eugene Brave Rock as Cohor, Philip Niu as assassin #1, Aron Stevens as assassin #2 and Wase Chief as King's wife.

This was passionately directed with incredible pathos by Darin Scott (three shorts). Working on the shorts this filmmaker produced served him well, because every character in this was delineated with such feeling and realism. The audience experienced the raw emotions that exuded from these actors in a way that left you drained. He should receive more work behind the camera. It was also penned well by writer Darin Scott (four shorts). Again, not a plethora of experience, but working on the shorts certainly helped him with this script. Was this storyline laid out perfectly? No, however the way he crafted this script in an almost intimate way considering it was about survival and subsequent revenge was an interesting twist to an otherwise hackneyed premise. Considering Scott, wrote, directed, edited and starred in this production allows us to see into the heart of this filmmaker in that this was obviously his 'baby' and it simply was as transparent as a piece of Saran Wrap. It was a bit slow in a couple of places, however, probably that might very well have been purposed, And there were a couple of continuity issues, but otherwise was a story that kept your attention. Given more feature film work could only improve this writer, and given that chance, I would like to see what he tackles next.

Certainly if you are into the "Game of Thrones" type of film fare replete with swords, violence and revenge, this will be the film for you. This film is all about those aspects as well as survival, redemption and reconciliation. again, it has eight people that comprise of the entire cast as opposed to an epic film with hundreds of cast members, and this is just as powerful as any of those other films. This is an intriguing film and with a bittersweet ending, it makes it that much more original of its genre. 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                   Rated: PG-13                                       105mins.