A group of oil riggers and a wolf hunter are flying off to their next job over the Alaskan wintery frost. Mechanical complications cause the plane to crash into the middle of nowhere in the blistering cold wilderness. The wolf hunter or the guy who keeps the workers safe from wolf attacks, Ottway (Liam Neeson), wakes up to the plane in pieces and dead bodies littering the snow with blood and body parts. Ottway searches and finds the select few that are alive-some injured but alive. The count starts at eight survivors. Not only do they not have any hope of being rescued before dying from the cold because the plane’s tracking device is destroyed but they happen to be in the middle of the large and dangerous wolves’ territory. One by one, the wolves begin to pick off the weak as the strong and scarred try to fight back and find civilization. Will they make it? Will the wolves outnumber them? Will the men turn on each other?
Review: So, I didn’t want to see this film after viewing the confusing trailer. The trailer didn’t tell me must of what is going on or what the premise of the film besides being stuck in the cold and fighting off wolves. This sneak-peek wasn’t enough to make me spend money on a movie ticket but I like Liam as an actor and decided to give it a try. Oh boy, was I disappointment? The film is based on a short story and it seems like it. The scenes were stretched and dragged for time too long. Liam as the narrator was a drag about his wife and how depressed he is. Boring. I noticed how the director tried to bring the characters to life with laughter and banter but it didn’t work because that also dragged. Then there’s the plane crash, which was an adequate scene. The dead bodies from the crash were a letdown as well as the freshly dead bodies throughout the film because I could not fully view the detail of the special effects. The camera did a lot of close-ups and the craftsmanship wasn’t fully showcased. So one by one, the wolves came for the men and picked them off like Agatha Christie’s Ten little Indians. I didn’t like how the characters worked to survive because they didn’t make a lot of smart choices. Granted, they were in an unusual and dangerous situation and fear could clog their mind, but once they came to terms with the situation, the survivor instincts should kick in and a clear plan should evolve. The only one doing the planning was Ottway because he was the wolf hunter and apparently the only one with a brain. For instance one idea, if I noticed that the wolves like to attack from behind, I would make small sharp spears from the tree limbs and with some tape have them sticking out of my back pack or jacket. I would move my items in the back to a different pocket so as to not destroy anything. Yes, if the holes are in the jacket, it would be colder but constant movement can fix that. The ending was horrible. Right when I thought I was finally about to get some good action, it turned out to be the scene from the trailer where Ottway has the broken glass bottles taped to his knuckles and is readying himself for the large oncoming wolf and then it went off. All I kept saying was, “Are you serious?” as the credits rolled by. That’s bad way to end a bad movie. The only positive comment I can add is that I liked the way the wolves looked. They were large, fast and extremely intimidating but not enough to make me score this film higher. All in all, I will never view this film again.