Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Paul Walker surrounded by the furry beasts that make 'Eight Below'. - CONTRIBUTED
ONE WOULD not normally expect a Paul Walker film to be wrought with emotional fare, but the Disney flick, Eight Below, manages to be one. Of course, the emotional response is generated by the dogsled team, which are the real stars of this show, not Walker.
Eight Below, directed by Frank Marshall (Sea Biscuit and Bourne Supremacy), is inspired by true events and the 1983 Japanese film Nankyoku Monogatari.
It falls into a good tradition of dog flicks which generally explore the traits of bravery, loyalty and such that we love to see in dogs.
FRIENDSHIP, TEAMWORK
In this case, an eight-dog sled team is abandoned in Antarctica and for close to half a year the animals are left to fend for themselves against the brutal forces of nature. What is then touchingly explored by Marshall is a picture of friendship, teamwork, bravery, determination and cunning.
One simply gets to love this team of dogs - Maya, Max, Shorty, Shadow, Jack, Truman, Dewy and Buck - as they try to survive their tale of woe, combating vicious leopard seals, hunger, brutal wind and cold. It also helps that they downright beautiful.
Additionally, their being left to starve and freeze to death is a grave injustice and that can be felt. These are majestic work dogs, not those rat hounds who yap incessantly and are mere freeloaders.
DEGREES OF SEPARATION
Alas, the entire cast of Eight Below suffers from at least eight degrees of separation. The canine cast is beautiful, physically and emotionally.
The human cast features Walker (Jerry Sheperd), Bruce Greenwood (David McClaren), Moon Bloodgood (Katie) and Jason Biggs (Charlie Cooper).
The performances are generally lacklustre, uninteresting and simply weak. Most of them were unable to inject a fraction of the emotive value in their entire dialogue that the dogs got into one whine.
The writing for the human part of the flick, which keeps rudely interrupting the dogs' adventure, did not have half the emotional bite that the dog half does.
There is an attempt to introduce some sparks between Jerry and Katie, but their romance may well have been frozen and stranded on an iceberg somewhere. There was absolutely no heat between the two.
Fortunately, these dogs are filled with puppy power. As such, the flick does not need much from Walker and the rest of the human cast.
Among the dogs, the emotionally-charged music, the beauty of Antarctica and the perils therein, even Walker's straw dry monotone will not get to you.
So, if one can get past the inanity of dealing with the human half of this flick, Eight Below may well be a dog movie that even cat people can like. These furry canines do make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.
