Three virgin, high-school friends 
think they’re on to a sure thing. One of them has found a woman online, that will sleep with all three of them, but they are soon caught in a trap by Pastor Abin Cooper and his Five Points Church. Albin Cooper is based on the real-life head of the Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps.
Five Points protest at funerals with signs saying “Anal penetration, equals eternal damnation” etc. But Cooper believes that homosexuals are sinners and must be wiped off the Earth. In its first half, Red State is almost horror film. A gay man is murdered, quite brutally and the three high-school boys are next. However, half-way through, it turns from a horror film into a shoot ‘em up, action movie. The transition doesn’t really hurt the film. What hurts the film is that the tension that Smith created, in the first half, completely vanishes in the second half. It’s almost two different films. In the first half, Smith showed incredible restraint in not adding much comedy, but in the second half, during the middle of the shoot out, characters start cracking jokes and asking for tea. Which is a shame, the tension could have been cranked up a bit. By far, the first half of the movie is the strongest part.
Now Red state is a massive departure for Kevin Smith. You could even argue that it’s his first grown-up movie. The visuals are stunning, which is really impressive for Smith, he has never been known as a visual director. He’s been criticised in the past, for static camera shots and simple lighting. But, with Red State, Smith has created a style that works incredibly well, for the movie. Shaky camera-work is nothing new, but it is a huge step forward for Smith. The film has no background music, which really makes it more atmospheric, all we get is the sound of bullets and Cooper, singing hymns.
This is easily Kevin Smith’s best work as a director. It’s something different; it doesn’t feel like a Kevin Smith movie. We are seeing him mature here. But, he seems to be lacking the confidence, he needed for this. The introduction of five points isn’t handled in the best way. We learn about them, in a classroom and it’s just too much exposition. John Goodman’s character exists only for exposition, which is a waste of the actor’s talent.
Overall the film is good, it’s just not great. But, it is great to see Smith break away from his comedy roots and try something a bit more ambitious. It’s a shame that Smith, has announced that his next film, Hit Somebody, will be his last, as Red State is such a huge step forward for him, it would be interesting to see what else he could come back with. Let’s just hope, that Red State and Hit Somebody is such huge, global hits that he’ll change his mind and come out of retirement.
Video
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
(less)Subtitles
English, English SDH, Spanish
English, English SDH, Spanish
(less)Discs
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
In which Pete and Martyn are joined by the wonderful Phil from the ‘Who’s He Podcast?‘ They discuss the SFX Weekender, the Big Finish audio Thin Ice and the Official Doctor Who Convention (Martyn will be there).
