The
Jungle (2013/E1 DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: D Film: D
The
Jungle is a throwaway found footage film with little to no style
or substance, interesting characters, and very few scares. I'm sure
on the surface it seemed like an easy film to crank out in a few
days. The production costs were probably low with no recognizable
actors, a complicated creature, and a cast of three. The found
footage concept is tired in general in my opinion and played better
than here in films like The Blair Witch Project and
Cloverfield. The lack of a female lead also hurts this film I
might add. Also, if you easily get motion sickness, this film is
definitely not for you.
An
exploration deep into the Indonesian rainforest to find and tag the
elusive Javan Leopard leads conservationist Larry Black (Rupert Reid)
and his team on a path of terror and fright. When their expedition
uncovers evidence of a new species, they realize that the legendary
forest demon features by the natives is more than just a myth.
The
biggest issue I have with this movie is that they obviously made it
up as they went along. They had a concept that they could have done
something with but they didn't spend enough time creating tension.
There are way too many moments dependent on sound effects and
gimmicky camera glitches and shaky motion to inspire anything that
would stand out as memorable. The creature itself is obviously a guy
in a costume and mask that is highly disappointing. Speaking of
disappointing, the ending. Wow.
The
best part of this release is the packaging for the disc itself -
which is a green DVD case and some pretty cool art on the back. I
had to admit that at first glance, I was interested. In short, the
marketing team did a great job on this film!
This
review pertains to the standard definition DVD release of the film,
which captures the anamorphic aspect ratio in 1.85:1. The sound is a
lossy Dolby Digital track that sounds fine for this release. I don't
think this is a movie you need to see on Blu-ray to really enhance
your experience.
Special
features on the disc are non-existent with the exception of a
trailer.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.vimeo.com/jamielockhart
