No one wanted to let the dogs out too soon in a film titled Out Come the Wolves. While the first moments looked terrific, to transition to a story about a woman having to decide between two men, well, do I really want to know? In a film that’s about who is the alpha, this movie is easy to predict. I fast forwarded to the juicy bits concerning what I think about Sophie (Missy Peregrym). She doesn’t need any man in her life, and the fact she can fend for herself says it all!
And when she has to decide who to save in the wilderness, her fiancé Nolan (Damon Runyan) who is a jerk for much of the film, or her friend that she knew for most of her life, Kyle (Joris Jarsky), I won’t spoil that detail. And while I’m not one for films about love triangles as the primary focus, the thought of someone might go feral had me curious about this work.
The latter third of the movie is more exciting because it moves faster. Although the slower first act was deliberately paced that way, I ended up fast forwarding because I didn’t connect with any of these characters. I just wanted to find out who’ll emerge as the victor.
When the title makes the eventual attack from rabid wolves obvious, I just wanted to see who’ll die first, and all I can say is that the gore that’s featured is great, and I’m satisfied. Sadly, there’s only so much creativity filmmakers can do when fantasy isn’t involved. That’s why I prefer magical realism to flat out real life drama. Had there been longer attempts at humour, I might have enjoyed this film more.
And when writer/director Adam MacDonald is sticking to what he knows, making movies about humanity versus nature, rather than to offer something else, perhaps it’s time to broaden his horizons. This movie isn’t a game changer by any means. After this work, I feel it’s time to crank up Ozzy’s Bark at the Moon. At least that music video is timeless, and it’ll have me howling until I dig up a good werewolf film to cleanse the palette.
3 Stars out of 5
Out Come the Wolves Movie Trailer
