Imagine my surprise and delight when I decided to check what was new on Netflix and saw the movie Far Cry. I didn’t even know they made a Far Cry movie. I wondered if it was based on the game, or just happens to have a similar title. My surprise turned to fear as I read the description and discovered that not only was it based on one of my favorite games, but it was directed by one of my least favorite directors. The reviled Uwe Boll.

Uwe Boll (which is German for “Terrible Director”) has made a living (and angered a whole lot of people) taking beloved video game properties and transforming them into terribly wretched movies. Does Far Cry continue the trend or has Uwe Boll finally crafted something somewhat enjoyable?

Featuring the girl from Need For Speed: Carbon, the buff German guy from Gladiator, the creepy vampire elder from Blade, and starring some other German guy from Deuce Bigolo: European Gigolo, Far Cry tells the story of a mad scientist doctor with a secret research facility on an island where he has been conducting genetic experiments on people, transforming them into bulletproof killing machines. Jack Carver is a charter boat captain who gets caught up in the mysteries of the island when he agrees to take a journalist to the island.

The lush tropical island of the game has been replaced with the Pacific Northwest (right in WingDamage’s backyard). Palm trees are now pine trees, and the silent sneaking through the forest picking off soldiers has been replaced with bad dialog and completely unrealistic chases.

The problem with this and every one of Uwe Boll’s movies is the acting (well there are a lot more problems than just the acting but it’s a start). Everything feels completely stiff and unrealistic. Even skilled actors need a couple of takes to get things exactly right. Uwe Boll seems like more of a “one take” sort of guy. This pretty much negates any sense of character development or any of those things they try to teach you about in film school. You are too busy trying to figure out whether or not actors in Uwe Boll movies put the role on their resumes to care about them as characters.

There is supposed to be some kind of romance between the two leads, but there is no chemistry between them. This is exacerbated by the weak dialog. When they are hiding out after a crazy escape they seem so casual that one would think the last scene involved buying milk and cookies at the grocery store and not a death defying car chase.

The special effects are okay, but the terrifying genetic monstrosities from the game have been reduced to really pale guys. This was one of the highlights of the game and was clearly a wasted opportunity to create a truly terrifying monster. I am sure it had more to do with the special effects budget than anything else, but it is still a letdown.

Boll actually plays around with some unique camera angles, like he was trying to channel Sam Raimi. They don’t really do much, but it does seem like he was trying to liven things up a bit.

Uwe Boll’s films are usually so bad they pass by the “so bad that they are funny” range. Of all of Boll’s movies I have seen, this one is my favorite. I am not sure if it is because Mr. Boll has gained some directing skills or he assembled a decent cast, but Far Cry feels like a pretty decent Sci Fi channel movie (no way am I calling it SyFy.) There are a bunch of decent action sequences, a fairly attractive female lead, some over the top gory blood, and some big explosions.

I don’t think any reasonable person should pay actual Earth dollars to own or watch this movie, but it really is not that terrible. At no point during my time with the film did I want to stab myself or someone else. This is highly unusual for a Uwe film. Most screenings result in at least 3 people being taken to the ICU.

Tags: farcry, Jack Carver, Movie Review, movies, uwe boll

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 11:41 am and is filed under Movies and Shows, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.