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| Source: Imdb |
This adventure film with Daniel Radcliffe was not half-bad. The pacing of the
story was interesting as half the movie was dedicated to friendships under
pressure, and the other half to survival. The film started by romantic
illustrations of a backpacker’s life that kindle a yearning to just drop
everything and go. It continues with an adventure that sounded like a fun idea
at first, but turns into a breaking test for friendships. It’s interesting to
see the strain mounting on the relationships between the characters, and witness the
first hints of approaching catastrophe. The second half is dedicated mostly to a tale of
survival against impossible odds (it took a few pages out of “128 hours” for
that), and the beauty of unwavering friendship.
The acting
in this was spot-on. I’m always impressed by Daniel Radcliffe and how
completely he has left behind “Harry Potter”. In this, he gives a hands-on
performance with just the right balance of subtle and brash. His character is
learning about himself, discovering his true heart, and you absolutely buy it.
Visually,
this was expertly done. It really does look like genuine jungle. The
cinematography was beautiful, with wonderfully composed shots and a lovely
palette of colour and contrast. Though they did put in a few tropes and
clichés, it wasn’t too glaring. I wonder how they managed Daniel’s
transformation from ripped traveller to starved skeleton.
Overall, a
good adventure film. The only flaw it had was that it failed to engage me fully
on an emotional level and therefore felt a bit long. 3/5
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