Far Cry (2008) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

Germany, Canada 2007
Director: Uwe Boll
Cast: Til Schweiger, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Ralf Moeller, Udo Kier, Natalia Avelon, Michael Paré
Rating: R
Release Date: 2 October 2008 (Germany)
Running Time: 1 hour 31 minutes

The Movie Review

Far Cry film still 1


FAR CRY
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What you don't get to play, you get to see it in a movie. We could get bump into many videos with any major games as the basis, it is that easy to find. Sometimes after seeing one lame movie based on a video game, it made moviegoers feel extremely reluctant to play one, or for fans of the original game it made you feel very disappointed seeing your favorite game turned into emotion-less motion picture. As that is the case for most movies of Uwe Boll. Far Cry is another movie from him, another movie that highly likely will entertain general moviegoers, as for I personally never had the chance to play Far Cry which according to my buddies is astounding time-waster which matched by astounding PC specs. And so probably I watch this film as a part of general moviegoers and not as a fan.

Ok now, hop we'll go! Far Cry is about an ex-soldier named Jack (Til Schweiger) who is currently working as a guide for whale-spotting tours. One day he is hired by a reporter named Valerie (Emmanuelle Vaugier) to bring her to an Island near Jack's "workplace". An island which is filled with scientists led by Dr. Lucas Krieger (Udo Kier) and heavily armed security personnel conducting a top secret research. Val's intention is to make a report of any mysterious activity conducted there and to meet her uncle Max Cardinal (Ralf Moeller) who works as one of the security personnel. Coincidentally Jack has served together with Max in the Special Forces before. Unfortunately, Max is nowhere to be found and Val even finds herself being trapped. Jack got dragged along with the problem. Both are now trying to cope with the problems and figuring the whereabouts of Max while realizing their relationship is on to the next level as they got deeper into the island. What is really happening in that island? And could Jack and Val get out of there alive?

Beyond belief, Far Cry is not disappointing! It's got action, drama, gore, pyrotechnics, a bit of horror sci-fi and even comedy. Kudos to Michael Roesch, Peter Scheerer & Masaji Takei for all of those humorous scenes in this action flick, it gets to remind me that action games is not all about action, is about entertainment, I don't think I've played serious game with enough comedy in years. And Far Cry made me chuckles. The jokes are subtle but quite a rarity these days.

But of course, Far Cry is not a perfect movie. And some of the flaws are really irksome, which is also the responsibility of those three writers. Such as, how could a band of tough dudes turn into a bunch of cowards facing one cute petite girl, Katja Chernov (Natalia Avelon), especially when she could be easily taken down? And it's worsened by the fact that Natalia is not convincing to be a tough girl, she reminds me of Mena Suvari's performance in Day of the Dead (remake 2008). And the biggest flaw is the inconsistency of entertainment, or in other words, confused storyline. The action sometimes sucks and is sometimes intense, e.g. the boat chasing scene is very ordinary and even dull. It is neither interesting nor funny (the jokes are way too forced), but the chasing scenes between Jack and the Genetically-Modified Soldier in the lumber mill is intense with a bit of Parkour and gory finish. The jokes are also suffering from inconsistency, ones that are not forced and involving chemistry between Jack and Valerie or Jack and Emilio the Food Guy (Chris Coppola) are natural and amusing. However some jokes are also very kiddies, cheap slapstick that don't fit in with the atmosphere of a movie, these are the ones that make Til Schweiger completely wooden and Chris Coppola completely ridiculous. Facing a burly genetically modified soldier doing some Kung Fu style by Emilio? Oh man, how old is that joke?

All in all, if you're feeling for a little bit action which are not too serious and could even make you chuckle (at the very least probably smile), Far Cry fits to the agenda. It even intrigues me (more) to find out what Far Cry game is all about. However for fans, it would be very personal and it's purely your decision. I know I was furious with (to name a few) the results of The Punisher (2004) and Max Payne (2008).