Far Cry

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Beginning in 2004, and lasting up until now, the 'Far Cry' game series is definitely among the most popular game series out there. With this film being 2008, it was released with only the first of the now six games done, and the second was well on the way. The fist game follows a Special Forces operator turned boat charter named Jack Carver. He is hired by a Valerie Constantine to take her to an uncharted island in Micronesia. The boat is attacked, Valerie goes missing, Jack goes searching, and there's arguably a real 'Uncharted' vibe to it, complete with plot twists, strange creatures and interesting connections between characters.

As the film opens, we get a mercenary squad attacked by some sort mutant creature, as they attempt to track down a number of escaped test subjects. We soon meet, watching the event with seemingly great interest, Dr. Krieger (Udo Kier), who is obviously up to no good, but we're not altogether sure exactly what it is he's up to. We just know it has something to do with whatever it is attacking these mercenaries. Asked to stop his "research" after these attacks, he refuses. Although this is a Boll film, I'm going to give a nudge of credit to Kier's performance here, as he is actually quite a creepy guy, and easy to buy as a madman type of villain.

In the meantime, we meet Valerie Cardinal (Emmanuelle Vaugier), who is secretly receiving information about Krieger's secret project. She soon agrees to meet with her informant in person for further information. Like in the game, Valerie is a journalist who hires ex Special Forces Operator, Jack Carver (Til Schweiger) to take her to the island. The boat is attacked by mercenaries, Valerie is captured, at first, but soon enough things switch gears a bit. While Jack insists on leaving the island, Valerie refuses to without her informant, her uncle Max, who evidently once served with Jack, though Jack claims not to know him. So basically, rescue mission, and stop the madman.

Perhaps its a bold statement, but as far as Boll's video game adaptations go, this one feels a little more "right on" than most. The only real problem with it is some of the writing ("surprise") and direction (another "surprise"). I feel like if this whole idea could have been put in someone else's hands, this could have been a decent film. Not great, but at least pretty passable. I may say it passes as a video game adaptation, but that's only really in that the plot is very similar. This doesn't pull any sort of 'Resident Evil' gimmicks, trying to make it something separate. It's at least trying to be like the game, and in the right mind-set it's possible to enjoy this... mildly, and ironically, but possible.

One thing is for sure though, after this, I'm looking forward to not having to touch anything else Uwe Boll-written and/or directed (that is, until I do my next part of "The Arcade" sometime down the line, covering animation and straight to video releases) after this. The adaptations that lie ahead may not be great, but Uwe Boll films just have this certain strange feel to them - like watching the acting in a pornographic movie, but without any sex, and if there is any sex, it tends to feel a bit awkward. This had a moment or two, and I might suggest it's not as bad as it could be, but it's still quite bad. Don't take my word for it though, check it out on YouTube for free and judge for yourself.

2/5

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