Far CryThe adaptation of the very famous videogame, directed by Uwe Boll. Just like there is no rain without dark clouds, there is no Uwe film without bashing. It has a 3.1/10 on IMDb. And «Stoic», for example, one of his upcoming films has a 1.9, and it isn't even out yet. Sure. That's totally non-biased and not fixed. Just like the American presidential elections.
Well, as for «Far Cry», I haven't played the game it's based on. Mostly because I don't like horror FPS's. It is rather strange, because I like horrors on film, and I like FPS's, but the combination of the two does not appeal to me. When I shoot someone, I like to know who I'm shooting and why – that not being the case with horror FPS's because there is always some crazy creature jumping out of nowhere and the explanation for them being either hellspawns or some mad scientist is to blame. The latter being the case in «Far Cry». Strange, I feel like I said this thing about me not liking horror FPS's somewhere else in one of my other reviews. Well, it doesn't matter.
The story of the film is changed from the one in the game. First, of all – Valerie Constantine became Valerie Cardinal. Dr. Krieger lost his first name(s). Jack Carver remained Jack Carver. The film introduces new characters in Katja Chernov, the sexy Russian(?) mercenary and Max Cardinal - Valerie's uncle, among some others.
The game took place on a tropical Pacific island in Micronesia. It dealt with Dr. Krieger's experiments on humans that later became monsters. In the film, you don't really know where it takes palce. It's an island, with plenty of woods, but it isn't tropical for sure. Also, there are no monsters in the real sense of the word – i.e. tri-headed hellhounds on human bodies – just enhanced genetically modified soldiers (GMS).
«Far Cry» is a nice action flick, but nothing more than that. Although not bad, something's amiss and I couldn't quite figure out what. Not enough action and humor? The acting? I don't know. I definitely expected more cheesiness out of a Boll flick. I love cheesy and I admit it. There is nothing better than a badass blowing someone's head off and then letting out a typical one-liner. That's kinda missing here. The action also wasn't quite what I expected, although the last 15 minutes satisfied me. Also, the battle scenes involving the GMS's are awesome – because they move faster and every normal soldier is in slow-mo (from their point of view). The scenes reminded me of Jet Li's «The One».
My biggest disappointment was the acting. Yes, Til Schweiger looks good, buff and fit and really looks like Jack Carver. But he can't act. He has some good moments, but then again he delivers some lines just awfully. Emmanuelle Vaugier is a nice sight. My favorite character would be Katja Chernov plyed by Natalia Avelon. But then again, that's always the case. Why? There is just something appealing in her type of character. You know, the uptight badass female commanders? They always, and I mean always look very hot. Like, here I am in my tight uniform, I'll woop this 2-times-bigger-than-me-guy's ass who thought he'd mess with me. And while doing it I won't break a sweat and all of these guys around will just think of how they'd like to fuck me. That kind of character Katja Chernov is. And they could've given her some more screen time. There's also Ralf Moeller in the role of Max Cardinal. Last, but not least is Udo Kier as Dr. Krieger.
The trouble is, Til Schweiger is the worst of the lot, and you have to put up with him for the most of the time as he's the main character.
The original score music was composed by Jessica de Rooij (who else?). The ending song which name I forgot is also good. But that's no surprise either in Uwe's films.
The summary: «Far Cry» will have you entertained for an hour and a half, but it's not a very memorable film and I doubt you'll be seeing it again anytime soon. But it's way better than all the ratings and reviews say.
Rating: 6/10
- review by Ventilation Shaft
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