IMDb plot summary: After their plane crashes in Alaska, six oil workers are led by a skilled huntsman to survival, but a pack of merciless wolves haunts their every step.
Directed by Joe Carnahan. Starring Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, and Dallas Roberts.
(Minor spoilers regarding the tone of the movie.)
When I first started watching it, I thought, "OK, typical thriller." As I kept watching, I thought, "OK, surprisingly artful thriller." And as the credits rolled, I thought, "That was so much more than a thriller." It's almost a meditation on life and death and survival, and I found myself extremely moved by the ending. The movie makes great use of the visuals and the sound to bring out the isolation and, at times, the hopelessness of the situation. It looks great, it sounds great, the music is fantastic... It's just so much more than I thought it was going to be. 4 stars. Maybe 4.5 on another viewing.
Flickchart: #342 out of 2011, below Buried and above Paul.
Rent on Amazon for $2.99.
2 comments:
Good review Hannah. A lot better than what people give it credit for, which is mainly to praise the cast involved here. Mainly Neeson, who really digs deep into a sad, beaten-up soul, who still doesn't back down when death is staring him right in the face. Sounds corny, but the guy makes it work.
Agreed, Neeson does go above and beyond his normal action fare here. I found myself very drawn into his performance from very early on.
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