Against the Wild (2014) Directed by Richard Boddington

This is said to be a family movie but like most family movies, it's mostly aimed toward young kids though, in which the young characters of the movie are also the main ones...along with a dog.

It's a sappy, clean and safe survival story, that luckily doesn't ever becomes over-sentimental and melodramatic or anything truly ridicules but at the same time it also never turns into anything too solid either. The story is a simple and predictable one and the acting really drags the movie down.

It's always a problem with movies that star young actors in it. Generally speaking, young kids just aren't among the greatest or most convincing actors and that unfortunately is the case for this movie as well. It isn't necessarily the way they say their lines or interact with each other but more the fact that they can't play emotions very well that bugged me about the 2 young actor's performances in this movie. They absolutely never look scared, desperate, insecure or even remotely injured and in pain, even though they just survived a plane crash and are lost in the wilderness. They pretty much act the same way throughout the entire movie, regardless of what's happening. I have to say I was more impressed with the dog's performance. It seems that Lassie has a true competitor! Can't say that the adult cast is doing a much better job though. So yes, maybe it's true that some of the blame also should be put on the movie its script and directing and not just on the actors.

But I think that the most important question regarding this movie should be; Will kids enjoy it? Well, even though I have an extremely hard time calling this movie a good one, I still have to say that most kids will probably enjoy this movie. For them, it's a perfectly adventurous movie, without any scary or too tense moments in it. Like I said before, it's some clean and safe entertainment nd the fact that it's incredibly predictable and formulaic movie probably won't bother any of the young viewers.

But obviously the fact that this is such a formulaic and predictable movie still really bothered me. The movie features the kind of stuff in it that every person would first come up with when they have to come up with a story about persons getting stranded in the Alaskan wilderness. There are bears, there are wolves, person get injured in stupid ways, 'dangerous' water streams, climbs and falls, etcetera. It's disappointing and somewhat annoying how this movie doesn't even attempts to ever come up with anything original or surprising.

Absolutely most definitely not a good movie but young kids will most likely still enjoy it.

5/10

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