There are movies made that are certain to be headline
attractions and there are others made to be more or less filler, movies to
occupy your time and provide work for actors who deserve better. As a fan of
James Marsden, Thomas Jane and Piper Perabo they deserve better than this but
at the same time I suppose it pays the bills. It’s not a bad movie but most
involved are above this feature.
Marsden stars as a recently returned trouble maker who has
come back to help a friend who’s gone missing. Jane stars as his brother, the
town sheriff who is none too happy to see his return as well as his brother.
The two have gone their separate ways, have taken different paths and when
together seem like oil and water. Perabo is the deaf/mute wife of Jane who is
currently studying the bears in the nearby forest where most of the movie takes
place.
It seems that the missing friend was helping poachers in the
forest which is now besieged by an angry bear set on taking out anyone who
comes its way. Let’s just say this sounds a lot like JAWS 2 or ORCA and get
that out of the way right now. Marsden goes off to find his friend and along
the way saves Perabo from the bear. Jane, along with Marsden’s old girlfriend
goes off to find his wife and ends up finding her and Marsden. Along the way to
safety they come across Douglas (Billy Bob Thornton), a big game hunter they
aren’t fond of who’s been hired to kill the grizzly who leaves them to go his
own way.
With the bear between the group and safety the only way they
can get out of the forest is through a pass known as the Grizzly Maze, thus the
title. Toss in some problems with just who was helping the poachers, several
confrontations with the grizzly that always end with either a death or a near
escape and a final battle that runs more along the lines of “what the heck”
rather than “that was satisfying” and you end up with a movie that’s not the
worst thing ever put on film but not one that will satisfy your desire to see a
great movie either.
My comparison to JAWS 2 and ORCA will give you an idea of
the quality of this movie. The locations look great, the actors do a fine job,
but the end results leave something to be desired. If this is what is left on
the shelf or in the Redbox then it might be worth watching but it’s not a movie
you would want to seek out.
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