Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hello my friends and welcome back to Movie Deputy Reviews where if you caught Saturday's episode, you know the movie we are talking about today or if you saw the title or the poster, it just kind of goes hand in hand that we are reviewing. I Can Only Imagine 2 this is a follow up sequel to Mercy Me's I Can Only Imagine debut movie in 2018 which was Saturday's review. So if you have not had a chance to check that out, you want to be sure and head on over to check that out. Because honestly if you really want to see this one and you have not seen the other one yet, there are references that are not going to make much sense. So I highly advise that you do check that other one out before you watch this one. Watching the reviews in either order, you know me, no spoilers ever. So you we are good to go there and I actually just saw this one over the weekend and I can say wow. It was not the movie I was expecting.
But sometimes that can be a good thing. So I guess we're gonna have to wait and see. Don't worry, I'm not forgetting the score this time where I don't have to go in and re add that back into that. So my apologies if you're curious what I'm talking about. It's kind of the ending of the last show kind of flubbed that a little bit. But that's one of the things I always promise I'm not going to over edit these. You're going to see the mistakes and all so that I just kind of rolled with it and went with it. So such as it is. But let's get into the trailer for I can only Imagine two.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: I just want to write something that helps people.
This song needs you.
Sometimes your dreams can rise from the
[00:01:39] Speaker A: ashes like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Their story in this one has a very similar correlation.
[00:01:56] Speaker C: You got your dream I can only
[00:01:59] Speaker A: imagine by Mercy Me one of the most beloved songs of all time.
[00:02:03] Speaker C: You inspired millions of people.
What you is going to happen.
You just going to ride off into the sunset.
No more struggles or pain.
So how about you tell me what's really going on.
All these years later? Seems we find ourselves at the crossroads.
The question is sometimes you lose some still headliner material.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: You got another hit cooking.
[00:02:48] Speaker A: This tour is your dream. It's our dream.
I'm Tim.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: I'm Mark's Long enough. This is my first tour.
[00:02:54] Speaker A: You know.
[00:02:55] Speaker B: This is my first tour too.
When did accountant Bart show up? I don't know man. About the Time I invited my diabetic kid along on this writer's block inducing make or break tour.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: Now, if you have already figured out this one is going to be probably even a lot heavier than the first one. Just. And the first one was heavy. Dealing with all of the things that Bart grew up with and the abuses and just all the weight that he carried of the weight that his dad had put on his shoulders and then just his struggle to leave that life behind and the creating his creation of I can only imagine. And basically that was the breakout song for Mercy Me.
It's a worldwide hit and it's just kind of all across the board. But this is taking place many years later.
This is. I mean, he's married, he's got kids, and everything is going on. And this, this story is not just about him and it's not just about Mercy Me. It goes a lot deeper than that
[00:03:53] Speaker B: word am I breaking or he just might fix you.
I just want to write something that helps people through the pain all go through. You will never understand what I'm going through.
Gratitude, grief.
Finding a way to hold them both.
God is in fire and it is beautiful.
This song needs you.
Sometimes your dreams can rise from the ashes.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: This just opened on February 20th of this year. As you can see, this movie goes a lot deeper than just a song. In this one, you are. They're dealing with type 1 diabetes, they're dealing with cancer. They're dealing with writer's block. They're dealing with anger. People think of Christians and they think of these well put together Sunday Christians that don't have a worry in the world. And this shows that they're people too.
They deal with things inside of the church, inside of their family and inside life. And they have stresses and they deal with things. And that is the main focus of this story is they. Of course their music is happening, but it's what's happening behind the music. It's what makes the music possible.
It's not. It's not all about the worship music that is just. That just makes you feel good. This is the stuff that makes you feel.
If you were watching the trailer here with me, you saw that there was a CD that had the title even if. And there's a lot of you out there that are going to be very familiar with that song. And this is kind of how that song came to be.
And there's so many faces that you're gonna remember from the first movie. And there's a lot of new faces. I understand that. It's like Eight years after the first one came out. But it would have been nice to see some of the recurring characters coming back for that. But this one, it really, really goes hard on the story.
It is because you have Bart, and he's not only struggling with the PTSD from his own dad, but he's now dealing with a distant relationship from his own child.
And he's facing a lot of the same things that he's worried he's turning into his dad. And it kind of goes into that. But then the band starts having some other issues. Another member of the band gets very sick, and they're dealing with that, and it's just. You're dealing with life and death. This deals with child loss. This deals with just abuse. Getting past the abuses, you never get over them. We never completely get past them. They live with us. For those who are so survivors, I refuse to call myself a victim. I am a survivor of not. Not what's going on in this movie, but of abuses of many different sorts.
And I. I've learned from that. And I use that to help myself grow, and I use that to push myself forward. And this. That's probably the biggest thing about I Can Only Imagine, too, is resilience.
And you probably heard some other songs in here that you're familiar with from Mercy Me and some other hymnals that are classic as well.
And you may be curious what the red X is for on the Wrist. And don't worry, I'm not going to spoil that for you, but like I said, this really goes deep into, like, what makes them who they are. It's not just about the music group. It's not just about their songs. It goes so much deeper than that. And it's realizing that as much as we look up to these celebrities and to these creators and to these singers and we can appreciate the joy and the feelings and the emotions that the music brings out in us.
We have to recognize they're all. They're real people, too, and this is what happens. And so as vulnerable as this is on so many levels, I'm glad that they shared this.
I was. A little part of me was conflicted, like, okay, should they have called this I can only Imagine two? Or should they have come up with another title?
But it is a continuation of their story. But this, the movie is not about just the song.
There's not another version of. I can only imagine the song coming out.
This is just a continuation of the story. So it makes sense that it has this title, but at the same time, you're just kind of left going, should they have called it something else? But like I said, it really ties into that.
And then you get to see the growth of the family, the growth through these hard times.
And they really have a choice. They can let these hard times either divide them or they can let them bring them closer together. And that's something that we all struggle with. We deal with stresses and we deal with things in our everyday lives that can either make or break us literally. And that is very much what they're dealing with here.
So in the creation of all this music and the creation of all the inspiration, it's not all happiness and rainbows and smiles. It's the hard times. It's the tears, it's the anger, it's the frustration, it's the hatred.
And yes, there deals, it deals with that too. And it's hard.
It's not supposed to be easy. But they're just here to inspire people to let you know that that's not the end. Just because you're facing those challenges and you're running into those roadblocks time after time after time again, that doesn't mean that's the end. It just means it's another roadblock to get through. And if you can't get through it on your own, there's people around you, whether it be family, whether that be friends, I mean, there's reach out. You never know who's listening.
And sometimes it may be the people you least expect.
And that kind of comes out a little bit in this too.
So you're probably wondering, score wise, where I ended up with this. And I was really debating on this. I was like, okay, it's a completely different story than what we see the first time. Some of the characters are different, some of the actors and stuff are different, but it's a continuation of the story and it does so in a way that's going to touch a lot of lives.
So if you are dealing with something, if you are, if you've ever dealt with something, if you have a difficult relationship with family, with friends, if you just need something to like to help you feel that you're not alone, this is a special story like that. So I am giving, I can only imagine two. I'm giving it again a guarded, innocent rating. I think for the youngest of viewers, it might be best to watch it with them just in case there are questions about certain scenes. Nothing. There's nothing scary, Nothing. I mean, it's a Christian movie, so they're not going to have any content that is like over the top or scary or anything bad like that at all.
And it deals with, like I said, a lot of really hard issues and I think it does so in a caring and compassionate way. So I'm actually going to kind of surprise a few people here I like. So I was debating back and forth on this. I am coming in, I can only imagine too, at the exact same score I gave. I can only imagine we are coming in with this at a 7 out of 10.
I was really debating like 65675 and I'm like wait, the story here is important, the message is important and it's done really well and it, it makes you feel and there are scenes where you will laugh out loud. Like I could not contain my laughter. I saw this in the theater like everybody else and I could not contain my laugh. Like it was full on belly laughing to where my stomach hurt with one particular scene.
And but there was also scenes that made me cry. And I think some of the best stories do that to us where it takes us through the gamut of emotions but at the heart of it, it makes you feel like you're not alone.
So I hope that this will help you out a little bit. Like I said, be sure if you want to go see this, there's references that you do check out the first one first or if you haven't seen the first one in a long time, maybe check it out.
But yeah, this is one that you don't want to miss. And this is goes for believers and non believers. Like you don't have to have a relationship with God to enjoy this movie. This is not just about Christian beliefs and Christian values and stuff like that. This is about struggles and regardless of your beliefs, we all struggle.
So I hope that this will help at least a few people. This has been an adventure as always and I hope if you are having as much fun on this adventure as I am or if you are touched, I hope that you will be sure to subscribe and turn on that notification bell so you get the latest and the greatest movie deputy content. But as always I will be back soon so bye.
