I had never heard about this movie and for some reason I came across the trailer. I wasn’t interested… until… I saw that Missy Peregrym was in it! I absolutely love her as Andy McNally in Rookie Blue, so I had to see this movie.
It intrigued me that it was based on a true story, and bears are terrifying. I was ready to pay $5 for this on [Canadian] iTunes, but they didn’t even have it! I’m hoping it won’t be campy – no pun intended.
***SPOILER ALERT***
When it came to the plot, it’s obvious that Adam McDonald (the director) changed the story a bit from the book (I haven’t read the book). The synopsis you read for the book focuses more on Jenn and Alex getting lost and having to deal with the black bear. The synopsis for the movie seems to focus more on Brad, the creepy Irish guy. Why, I don’t know, but what I do know is that the time spent establishing the creepiness of Brad could have been used more effectively developing Jenn and Alex’s characters. I think this story had so much potential because bear attacks are a real thing, and a bear stalking you can translate to film in a very suspenseful way.
There’s only so many stupid mistakes people can make before you start to not care about either character… not that I cared to begin with. Unlike some reviews I read, I don’t think there was good character development and the acting wasn’t that good.
Jeff Roops character Alex was not likeable at all. Right from the get-go, and his stupid sing along, the movie tries to make him out to be a fun, goofy guy, but I just saw right through that. So because I didn’t care for Alex from the start, I didn’t care what happened to him later.
You could tell that Jenn didn’t want to be there right from the start and that she was only going for Alex. Clearly he didn’t appreciate that enough to put his own arrogance and stubbornness aside and be smart enough to take a map considering he hadn’t been there “since high school”. Umm, I’m pretty sure THINGS CHANGE… especially in the wild! Way to impress your girlfriend Alex! First you get them lost, then you put her life in danger. Way to go! - insert slow sarcastic clap here.
As for Missy Peregrym as Jenn, well, lets say that I didn’t find this to be her best performance. Like I said earlier, I love her in Rookie Blue, and she was the selling point for me watching this movie (and the only reason it got a 1/5). I feel as if she did the absolute best with what she was given; she didn’t have much to work with, so I wouldn’t say it was a fail on her part – basically nothing about the movie supported her to succeed in this role.
Overall, the movie spent too much time on things that didn’t matter and not enough time on things that did. The plot wasn’t as suspenseful as it could have been. And the characters were flat.
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