During the time of the wild west, a few men are riding on a train, discussing plans for establishing Dodge City in Kansas. One of the men there is Colonel Dodge.

A few years go by. Dodge City is now the “longhorn cattle center of the world.” That includes thieves and other dangerous people. And any new sheriff who gets sworn into office gets thrown out of the town by a terrible man, Surrett and his cronies.

While in a bar, one of the men shoots an innocent person, Matt Cole. The next scene switches to his funeral. After that, his young son, Harry, is left as the “man of the family,” including for his mother.

Later, Colonel Dodge’s friend, Wade Hatton, is coming from the east coast and leading a bunch of potential settlers. One of them includes a beautiful young woman, Abbie Irving. Her irresponsible brother, Lee, who has drinking problems, comes, too. He messes around by shooting things with his gun. Eventually, a guy named Hatton shoots him as a way to defend himself.

Although heartbroken by the loss of her brother, Abbie eventually falls in love with Hatton.

But stakes are on the rise…

Despite the promising clip I saw before watching this movie, it ended up not pleasing me a lot. One of the biggest reasons is because it was hard to follow. And unlike with some of the other movies I’ve seen, the POV-switching was not the reason. It was how the plot unfolded throughout the film. It just was not linear enough.

I also disliked the heavy use of guns, even though it is probably historically accurate.

That being said, there are some perks this movie had. One is how women are not portrayed as weak or whiny. In fact, the bar the men enjoy going to is called the “Gay Women’s Club.” Back when this movie was made, gay meant happy. And the women perform fun songs that entertain the guys.

Another strength is how black people are not depicted in offensive or stereotypical manners. They work as servers on the train and are not mistreated.

I am impressed that the filmmakers showed women and black people similarly how movies in the 21st century would today – during the late 1930s. This differs from many other films from that time where females and minorities were portrayed in insensitive ways. That was because they didn’t have the same rights as they do now.

But overall, Dodge City hardly kept me engaged. It did, however, get lots of good reviews from the general public.

One thing to keep in mind is that even though the film is not rated, it is not suitable for young children. Amazon Prime Video suggests that the movie is best for those ages 13 and up.

Regardless of the strengths, the weaknesses were stronger. So, I give Dodge City 2.5 out of 5 stars.