Well it's certainly a saga! Against a backdrop of the American Civil war we are introduced to half a dozen different spokes on the wheel of pioneering America that gradually head towards a centre of what I assume will be the creation of the fabric of modern day USA by the end of part four. It begins rather brutally when a woman shoots a man then flees the scene with her infant child. Despite her proximity to the victim he survives and orders his two sons to pursue her. Meantime, there's a wagon train heading across the Apache dominated territory under the command of "Matthew" (Owen Wilson) and, separately, "Hayes" (Kevin Costner) is doing a bit of wintery horse-trading. With the younger Apache restless and determined to do what they can to thwart the encroachment on their ancient hunting grounds, they attack another white-man's settlement decimating the population. It's only after some sterling riding from the young "Russell" (Etienne Kellici) to a nearby army post that we meet "Lt. Gephart" (Sam Worthington) and his sagely "Sgt. Major Riordan" (Michael Rooker) who arrive to pick up the pieces amidst the charred ruins. The survivors include the terrified "Frances" (Sienna Miller) and her daughter "Lizzie" (Georgie MacPhail) whom they rescue from a tunnel in which they were hiding. The two adults immediately click perhaps offering us a glimmer of romance for the remorseful widow? Across the country, "Hayes" arrives in a small settlement where he encounters the good-time girl "Marigold" (Abbey Lee) and her young baby who just happen to be the one the avenging sons are looking for. Needless to say he, and his Colt revolver, have to come to the rescue and they decide it's better to take to the hills to avoid yet more trouble. With the forbidding west outstretched before these characters and the dangers and demons of their pasts never far behind them, the adventure is teed up for part two. To be fair, this looks great with some stunning drone cinematography illustrating really well the the scope of this virgin land that is every bit as hostile at times as those who have lived there for generations. There's also some impressive battle scenes as the maturing natives try to protects their homeland. The style of the rest of the narrative is just all a bit too bitty, though. Costner doesn't really appear until hour two and the substantial elements of the plot draw heavily from a very well established genre that it was always going to be difficult to reinvent or reimagine. The score helps it along rousingly at times and dialogue is sparingly used by most of the characters which is also quite a sensible tactic as we quickly realise we are in for just as long a slog as the settlers. It's the necessary character establishment part of this story which we can only hope will pad out the people more and rely less on the visuals as the story progresses. Otherwise, it's not really much better than a series of episodes of "Bonanza" bolted together.
