From:
manowarkills@NOSPAMnetscape.net
On 7/4/2021 1:29 AM, Beaver Fever wrote:
This movie rules!
Here's my review, a bit more wordy.
Rowan (James Marsden STRAW DOGS remake), after a seven year prison
stint, returns to his hometown of Rowley in Alaska at the behest of an
old friend. Johnny Cadillac (Adam Beach COWBOYS AND ALIENS), a childhood
friend who stood by Rowan in his time of need, is acting as guide to a
group of poachers who want to hunt in the Grizzly Maze, a section of
forest where it is easy to become lost. Concerned for Johnny, his family
asks Rowan to hike out to the maze and check up on him. Unfortunately
for Johnny, Rowan is a hot head and is busted by the police on his first
night in town when he pummels a pimp for smacking around a woman.
Fortunately, he's busted by Sheriff Beckett (Thomas Jane DARK COUNTRY),
his older brother.
Beckett, while angry still at Rowan for committing the crime and doing
the time, invites Rowan back to the ole homestead. In the years that
have past, Beckett has stopped hunting and is engaged to the deaf triple
threat photo journalist / biologist / conservationist Michelle (Piper
Perabo CARRIERS). The next morning a call comes in about a bear attack
on illegal loggers. Beckett heads out to the crime scene and drops Rowan
at the trail head as he is determined to carry out his mission.
At the crime scene Beckett learns what he is up against; the viewer has
seen earlier in the film the power of the bear when it battered down a
cabin door and mauled a couple of poachers and later the trespassing lumberjacks. Enter crazed bear hunter Douglass (Billy Bob Thornton who
hits all the right notes in his portrayal) who warns everyone that they
aren't up against an ordinary bear; this one is clever. Alarmed that
Michelle is in the woods, Beckett heads after her with Kaley (Michaela McManus), who still pines for Rowan, in tow. On the sly, Beckett's boss
Sully (Scott Glenn SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS) hires Douglass to track
and kill the bear.
It's not long before all the main players are in the woods fighting to
survive against a clever bear.
Killer bear films aren't anything new (GRIZZLY, THE EDGE) and the
broader nature run amok genre certainly has plenty of examples of art
and trash (JAWS, THE FOOD OF THE GODS). INTO THE GRIZZLY MAZE falls
somewhere in the middle of the pack. Filmed in British Columbia,
Vancouver and Utah, director David Hackl (SAW V) and crew deserve praise
for capturing the beauty of the forest locations (I want to backpack
there!). But he fails to generate any tension, even when the main
characters are threatened by the clever bear. The script by Guy Moshe
and J.R. Reher is predictable right down to any character who has done
nature wrong being killed. It was entertaining enough while watching it
but not a trail I'll travel twice.
** 1/2 out of ****
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)