American Primeval review – this samey Western is far less clever than it thinks it is
Like all modern takes on frontier life, this drama focuses on its brutish nature. We’ve seen it all before – even if it is a gripping yarn
American Primeval opens in Utah Territory, 1857. “Wild and untamed,” says the caption, which is good to know. Furthermore, “the United States army, Mormon militia, Native Americans and pioneers are all locked in a brutal war for survival. Caught in the bloody crossfire are every man, woman and child who dare to enter this American primeval.”
And there, pretty much, you have it. The six-part series is clearly a prestige project – gorgeously photographed, ably directed (by Painkiller and Friday Night Lights’ Peter Berg), priding itself on the authenticity of the physical realities of exercising your manifest destiny, and strewn with fine actors giving fine performances. It is set a little earlier than we are used to seeing our westerns, at the tail end of the Indian Wars and before settlers apparently transformed into rootin’-tootin’ cowboys. Even so, it still somehow feels like we have seen it all before.
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