Atlas Shrugged: Part II
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Street Date: February 19, 2013
Available On: DVD and Blu-ray

The Film: With the world’s economy caught in a downward spiral the U.S. government launches various programs designed to help the masses while stripping the hardworking rich of their physical and intellectual property.

The Extras: Behind-the-Scenes featurette, Deleted Scenes, Extended Sean Hannity Segment

Recommendation: For the second part of their planned trilogy the producers recast all the returning characters. Because I didn’t see “Atlas Shrugged: Part I” the recasting wasn’t a distraction. Those looking for Taylor Schilling will be disappointed. The film is fairly heavy-handed with its message and reduces society into two groups: the workers and the looters. It’s not uncommon for a film with an agenda to over simplify the issue at hand, but this goes a bit too far. The production values aren’t great. The film tends to feel like a glorified Syfy film with a mix of good and mostly bad special effects. The acting is uneven, but not terrible. Basically it’s an ambitious B-movie with ideas that are bigger than its budget. It fails not because of its message, but because of its delivery of that message.

-Ryan Michael Painter