Movie Review

Eight Below

If you haven't had enough snow for the past couple days, director Frank Marshall's "8 Below" has a bitingly cold look to it that will send a chill down your spine. It also has eight furry stars that will warm your heart. The story is "inspired by true events" that took place in a harsh snowy wilderness. Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker) is the survival guide on an Antarctic research base. His team is a group of sled dogs, all of which he considers family - because after all, you're going to be pretty isolated on a research base in Antarctica. Along with the dogs is Jerry's friend and cartographer Cooper (Jason Biggs), and his bush pilot Katie (Moon Bloodgood), who he would like to be more romantically involved with - cause after all, you're pretty isolated on a research base in Antarctica.

The arrival of a geologist named Davis Mclaren (Bruce Greenwood) gets everything rolling. Mclaren knows that a meteor has landed on the snowy mountain, and to Jerry's chagrin, wants Jerry and his dogs to take him over rough terrain in order to find it. The two men and the dogs face treacherous obstacles along the way, the biggest of which is inclement weather. A heavy storm forces Jerry, Davis and the rest of the team at the base to fly out, leaving the eight dogs stranded behind to fend for themselves. With few means of getting back to his dogs, Jerry must put together a seemingly impossible rescue mission and hope that the dogs can hold out.

This flick is your standard Disney material. Resilient animals, inspirational true story, lots of nudity...well, not the last one but you get the idea. Disney's live action department has been working for years to create stand-up-and-cheer material, and their efforts have ranged from good (2004's Miracle) to real boring (2005's "Greatest Game Ever Played".) "8 Below" pretty much falls in the middle. While it's a story that really does deserve to be told, at the same time Disney doesn't tell it as well as they could. The problem is that the flick seems like two movies - one good one about the survival efforts of the dogs, and one bad one about everything the human characters do.

The dog movie is worthy of a standing ovation. The eight dogs in the film were actually played by sixteen, all of which showing more intelligence and acting talent than most actors in Hollywood. What's so amazing about these dogs is that they are very in-tune with the rest of the pack. They show a really touching loyalty to one another, but they also have a really well planned eye for strategy. One attack in which they must surprise a flock of pigeons in order to eat is so well executed that the Bush administration should consider giving them Cabinet positions. The bravery, unity, and heart shown by these dogs is just really incredible. I only wish the movie chose to stay with them instead of alternate with the human cast.

The people in this flick seem to exist for no reason at all. While the dogs freeze their tales off, the human?s debate whether or not to form a rescue mission, they say inspirational things, and of course feel sorry for the dogs. Only they don't seem to be doing anything of great importance that warrants this much screen time. Finally, by the last third they actually go on the rescue mission, but even then they encounter only minor obstacle that barely makes their story compelling. Paul Walker and Jason Biggs are primarily in this movie to attract a young crowd who expects Walker to jump into a firebird and go "Fast and the Furious" and Biggs to put his wee-wee in some "American Pie." They seem like marketing ploys rather than characters. This is a movie about the dogs and it should have stayed that way.

And Paul Walker anchoring a drama is a bad idea too. Walker is the kind of actor who can pull off the pretty boy action hero to perfection, as he showed in both "Furious" movies, but in drama he just seems wooden and out of place. The romantic chemistry between he and Bloodgood doesn't really seem to be there either. Biggs is here for comic relief and he exudes a certain goofiness that young kids will like but most others will probably find irritating. Bruce Greenwood, best known as the husband Ashley Judd gets a freebie murder on in "Double Jeopardy," probably gives the best performance here but it?s nothing to really go into in detail about.

"8 Below," like "March of the Penguins," is a fantastic flick about the will animals have to survive, but at the same time it's a mediocre one about humans who stand around and don't really need to be there. All in all, I'm recommending it because these dogs are just too hard to pass-up. This is an amazing story of survival and unity that the entire family can enjoy.

Craig's Grade: B-

A	10.9%
B	41.8%
C	31.8%
D	15.3%
F	0.3%