|
For my money, Iron Will is still the best movie that
has dog sledding in it but Eight Below is a good attempt.
Based on a true story of a Japanese dog team from the fifties,
Eight Below takes some obvious liberties, like the dogs
battling a deadly leopard seal but it's a solid movie where
the story of the dogs outweighs Paul Walker being Paul Walker.
***
If it seems that I have an axe to grind with Walker,
I do. He has the pretty boy good looks that a bonified Hollywood
star needs but he lacks the acting chops to back it up.
It doesn't even seem like he's ever trying to improve. Compare
his character in Eight Below to the ones found in The Fast
and the Furious or Into The Blue or any other movie Walker
finds himself in and you'll notice an alarming trend. He's
the same character in all of them. Ridiculously good looking
and ridiculously vapid on the intellectual front. He doesn't
even come across on screen like somebody who would be nice
in real life. ***
Eight Below has Walker tackling the challenging role
of Gerry. Challenging, in that he has to channel his usual
surfer vibe in a cold climate. He's the expedition guide
down in Antarctica and he's going to lead professor David
McClaren (Bruce Greenwood) through the frozen lands of Antarctica
to Mt. Melbourne so that the good doctor can track down
the first ever meteor from Mercury. It's late in the season
to go and Gerry has a little bit of attitude about going
but is ordered by his boss to take the professor. ***
Gerry, was, of course right but not before locating
the meteor with the professor. Tragedy befalls them when
professor McClaren slips onto some ice, it cracks and he's
sent into the frigid waters. The dogs, led by the lead dog,
Maya, get a rope out to McClaren and end up saving his life.
Since nothing can go right and they need to strand the dogs
by themselves, a huge storm hits and they can only take
the people and a few supplies back. Gerry is promised that
they will go right back for the dogs but all air travel
in the region is suspended with the onset of the biggest
storms Antarctica has seen in the last twenty five years.
***
What's sad about the whole ordeal isn't how the dogs
being left in the cold, it's seeing poor Jason Biggs in
trite like this. Biggs had a bright future after the American
Pie series but now he's playing second fiddle to Paul Walker.
Biggs has a minor role as the goofy Charlie Cooper, the
cartographer (map guy).***
All Walker moaning aside, Eight Below is a straight
shooting family picture that surprisingly doesn't get all
schmaltzy and teary eyed. Director Frank Marshall, who last
directed Alive back in 1993 (he's a prolific producer, most
of the time) must have a thing for movies that are set in
snowy settings because there is a lot of the white stuff
on display. Snow, shot properly, comes off as a great setting
and the mountains and ice fields sure do look pretty in
the opening half of the movie. It's also nice to see Astoria,
Oregon, the home of everybody's favorite Goonies get a little
screen time again. ***
While Marshall selects some wonderful backdrops for
the movie to unfold in front of, Eight Below moves far too
slowly for an audience that is mostly made up of kids twelve
and under. Even for the older folk, the film moves slowly
as it takes Walker far too long to mobilize the rescue effort
and not enough time is spent with the dogs. The dogs, while
they are stranded, only have a few precious scenes of importance
while the film focuses on poor Walker being devastated that
he had to leave his dogs. ***
Walker's love interest in the film is inconsequential.
She doesn't really share any chemistry with Walker, she
just flies the planes. The real stars of the picture are
the dogs, led by Maya and Max. It's hard to tell the dogs
apart at times but any animal lover is going to really enjoy
the genuine affection that seems to resonate from them.
Actually, you might even have some dog haters turning into
lovers. ***
Eight Below does what it needs to and nothing more.
It's not particularly good because of some stilted acting
from Walker and Co. but the dogs really do a lot to make
the film more human. Oxymoron but its true. Combine that
with some pretty cinematography and triumphant ending and
you've got a crowd pleaser, even if it's a little to vapid
for my liking. ***
Image and Sound:
DVD's with a lot of snow tend to not be able to hide
behind a bad transfer. Disney does a great job with Eight
Below, giving us some really great, crisp scenery. The Antartic
really looks good here. The sound is front and center, sounding
appropriately booming and loud during the more tense moments.
***
|
