River Wild

"River Wild," the highly anticipated film of 2023, unfortunately falls short of the excitement and thrill one would expect from a riveting adventure movie. While the premise held promise, the execution left much to be desired, resulting in a lackluster cinematic experience.

The film follows the story of a daring river rafting trip taken by a group of friends seeking an adrenaline rush in the heart of nature. With its stunning landscapes and potentially intense water sequences, "River Wild" had the potential to be an edge-of-your-seat adventure. However, the plot fails to harness the tension that should come naturally from such a perilous journey.

The character development was a missed opportunity as well. The main cast had the potential to be multidimensional and compelling, but their actions and motivations often felt contrived and forced. This made it difficult to fully invest in their fates, rendering several pivotal scenes emotionally unimpactful.

The pacing of the film was another major issue. It struggled to find a balance between building suspense and advancing the plot. As a result, certain scenes dragged on unnecessarily, while others crucial for character development seemed rushed and underdeveloped.

Visually, "River Wild" had moments of beauty, capturing the grandeur of the natural landscapes. However, these moments were fleeting, often overshadowed by inconsistent cinematography that failed to create a coherent visual tone for the film.

Even the usually reliable soundtrack felt disconnected from the events on-screen. At times, it attempted to create tension, but more often than not, it seemed out of sync with the unfolding scenes, further detracting from the overall experience.

While "River Wild" attempted to combine the elements of a suspenseful adventure and a character-driven drama, it ultimately struggled to find its identity. The potential was there, but the execution faltered, resulting in a film that left me feeling unsatisfied and detached from the story.

In conclusion, "River Wild" falls short of its promise, failing to deliver the gripping adventure it advertised. With a weak plot, underdeveloped characters, and inconsistent pacing, the film struggles to engage its audience. While it's not entirely without merit, it's certainly not the cinematic thrill ride one would hope for in a 2023 adventure film.

This movie is a classic case of stupid decisions being made to further the plot.

The acting is serviceable, Brody doing the heavy lifting.

But the plot suffers from cliches and tropes. The script is, at times, painful. With clunky, stilted expositional lines that just can't replace the solid script theory of "show don't tell."

it gets ridiculously "I am woman, hear me roar" towards the end.

I appreciate a good attempt at something indie. It has promise. It kept my interest. I actually did feel invested.

They did a lot of things right.

But at the end of it all, stupid people doing stupid things is what keeps this movie moving forward.

IN A NUTSHELL:

Two siblings fight to survive deadly rapids while on a river rafting trip with a small group of strangers, one of whom has a dangerous past.

The film was written and directed by Ben Ketai with writing help from Mike Nguyen Le.

In case you're wondering, this movie has nothing to do with the 1994 movie The River Wild starring Kevin Bacon and Meryl Streep. The stories are completely different, although this one was released on the 29th anniversary of the first one.

THINGS I LIKED:

The cast includes Adam Brody, Courtney Chen, Eve Connolly, Matt Devere, Taran Killam, Leighton Meeter, Olivia Swann, and Nick Wittman.

Adam Brody and Leighton Meester are a couple in real life.

It must have been difficult to keep the camera steady on the river during the day and the night. The cinematography was very good. The various shots of the waterfalls were gorgeous.

It's good to be a doctor or, at least, to know some First Aid in an emergency!

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:

Sometimes, the camera goes out of focus during action sequences.

I've seen the movie listed as River Wild as well as The River Wild. Which one is it?

There are some plot holes and a serious escalation of bad choices.

I hate watching characters make stupid decisions.

It's really hard to see what's going on in the dark, night scenes.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Profanity and crude expressions People flip the bird.

We see blood.

People die.

Various weapons are used in several fights.

River Wild 2023 is a fairly thrilling Netflix movie. There are definitely some parts where it lingers too long on dialogue and stock footage of northern American wilderness but otherwise its fast pace keeps your attention. There's plenty of action, combat, and white water rafting.

The story is fairly standard, an unhinged ex-con gets into trouble on a camping trip and goes on a crime spree trying to avoid jail. You only really care about the two main characters, Gray and Joey, because they're the only ones with character arcs. There are a few plot holes here and there, a couple really dumb decisions that'd give a cheesy slasher a run for its money. So if you're easily frustrated by dumb people in horror movies, best to avoid River Wild. I didn't mind it as a fan of shlocky horror.

All-in-all, the stunts are good, pretty scenic shots, well-choreographed fistfights, thrilling life or death situations. I wish they spent more time white water rafting, but otherwise it's an enjoyable high-stakes thriller netflix original.

Pretty standard action/thriller survival movie set in the mountains near Canada.

Things this movie has going for it: location is beautiful (entire film is outdoors), some solid acting and directing on scenes that are logistically challenging (rapids, fights in water, etc)

Things this movie struggles with: plot holes, some really stupid character decisions and other things that just didn't make sense, overall pretty lame plot that doesn't really add up.

In the end it was entertaining enough, with enough tension in act 3 to pull it off and keep me interested. Some of the action shots are pretty dope and leighton meester does a great job as the doctor sister role. 5.7/10.