FAR CRY - A Slightly Better 'Bollshit'

FAR CRY (action/adventure)
Cast: Til Schweiger, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Natalia Avelon, Michael Paré, Craig Fairbrass, Udo Kier, Mike Dopud, Carrie Genzel and Anthony Bourdain
Director: Uwe Boll
Time: 95 mins
Rating: * 1/2 (out of 4)

Til Schweiger and Udo Kier in FAR CRY

PREAMBLE: First, the bad news: This is a Uwe Boll flick and if you have been an avid 'movie follower' you would know that he is reputed to be the 'worst director in the western world'.

The good news is: This 'Bollshit' isn't as bad as its predecessors, Bloodrayne and Alone In The Dark. You still need to leave your brains at the door and lower expectations, though. That way, you may laugh at the unintentional gags and bloopers.

WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Adapted from another videogame (of the same name), Far Cry deals has the over-used 'reluctant hero meets gutsy gal' plot. Ex-Special Forces commando Jack Carver (Til Schweiger) is a captain of a boat-for-hire operation. He is contented with drinking beer all day and napping on the job - until he is hired by reporter Valerie Cardinal (Emmanuelle Vaugier) to take her to a forbidden island to look for her uncle Max (Ralf Moeller).

She soon finds out that the isle is run by a mad scientist (Udo Kier) and his sexy sidekick (Natalia Avelon) experimenting on some bionic-soldier project. Jack reluctantly joins Valerie in her quest to rescue Max, almost singlehandedly going against an army of armed guards.

HITS & MISSES: The action sequences here are a bit better than Boll's previous films but still tacky enough to reveal fake weapons and badly choreographed stunts. Boll treats genre cliches like his own bright ideas. There are some funny scenes, both intended and unintended, and a few of them are provided by Chris Coppola playing Emilio the food delivery guy.

Acting by the cast of second-stringers is second rate, and of course, stinkers abound. The one that gets on my nerves most is having tough guy Jack repeatedly asking Val to rate his performance in bed - like an insecure schoolboy. This film has three screen-writers: Michael Roesch, Peter Scheerer and Masaji Takei. I wonder who was the one who came up with such idiotic crap. And then there's Schweiger's thick German accent playing an all-American hero like Jack Carver...

THE LOWDOWN: Now you roughly know the score. See it at your own risk or just enjoy playing the game.