Review of Into the Wild (2007) by Jack H — 18 Oct 2012

This film was recommended to me by a couple of mates, and I was looking forward to it, it had an interesting premise, but by not even half-way through, the film had lost its appeal for me purely because of the material it was based on.

'Into The Wild' isn't bad film making by any means; but I believe the story of Christopher McCandless is simply not film-worthy. To be frank, McCandless was a selfish fool who lost all sense of rationality whilst making a grand statement about civilised society. He left his only sister with their emotionally distant, shallow and contentious parents to pursue his ill-fated adventure totally unprepared. So unfortunately, I couldn't see past the lead character's naivety and self importance.

But despite this, I did find myself compelled to watch McCandless' interaction with the film's supporting cast; the hippies, old man Ron Hanz and dare I say it even Kristen Stewart's role were infinitely more interesting than McCandless' 'inspiring' mission. Again, I stress that this film isn't bad film making, it features good performances from the whole cast and some good emotive interplay between them, but it is all set within the context of the lead character's idiotic escapade, a fundamental aspect which I cannot bypass.

So in conclusion, I am giving this film the minimum amount required for a 'fresh' rating based solely on the supporting cast; it's a shame that McCandless was immortalised for being so reckless.