Eight Below is a Walt Disney Pictures release.
Wide theatrical release: February 17.
Directed by Frank Marshall.
Screenplay by David DiGilio.
Starring: Paul Walker, Moon Goodblood, Bruce Greenwood, Jason Biggs
Running time: 120 minutes.
Rated PG for some peril and brief mild language.
Alex’s Rating: 8 out of 10.
When mentioning Eight Below to people who have only seen the commercials and trailers, people fall strongly into two camps. Either they tell me that the trailer practically leaves them in tears and wanting to see it (but kind of afraid to do so) or they say, “Oh no, another Disney animal movie, I’m going into saccharine overload just thinking about it” (and a small percentage think they saw a commercial for Snow Dogs 2.)
I have to admit that I mostly fell into the second camp. I’m not one who anthropomorphizes animals much and while abandoning dogs in Antarctica to freeze to death is certainly something to be avoided, the thought of it actually happening isn’t going to leave me an emotional wreck.
Photo © Disney.
So I was completely surprised at just how thoroughly Eight Below won me over. It is still very much a kid’s movie and therefore uses broad brushes to tell the story. Pack behavior in the dogs is overly literal and the romance subplot is chaste enough for an 8-year-old. The broadness proves to be no impediment to good storytelling, though, and respect for child sensibilities does not force the movie away from any sadness.
Eight Below is a two-pronged story. The set-up is that a National Science Foundation (NSF) research station in Antarctica is evacuated on very short notice, which requires leaving behind Gerry Shepherd’s (Paul Walker) team of sled dogs. Unforeseen circumstances prevent a return for the dogs before the onset of the winter season, when nobody is allowed to return to Antarctica. One prong is the story of Shepherd’s struggle to get back for the dogs (even if it is just to confirm that they all perished still chained to the ground) and the other is the story of the dogs’ struggle to make sure they’re still around when Shepherd finally returns.
The movie’s first act, before the evacuation, is surprisingly well done and establishes the dogs’ ruggedness and training, as well as Shepherd’s bond with the dogs. The rest of the NSF crew (most prominently Jason Biggs and Moon Bloodgood) get minor parts that are essentially unimportant, but which give Shepherd someone to talk to during his struggles later in the movie. Once the dogs and people go their separate ways, the human definitely get the short end of the stick. Performance-wise there is nothing to boast about but nothing embarrassing, either.
The dog-only scenes are so good, so well-filmed (though your eyes will be tired after spending so long looking at blindingly white landscapes), and even so well-“acted” that it is feasible to think that the dogs could have carried the movie without the human interludes.
I was entertained, and the children at my screening were enthralled during the dog scenes. This is saying a lot, since despite our worst fears, the dogs do not talk and there is no narration. Just the dogs, scenery, music, and canine vocalizations are used. The team of dogs consists of six Siberian huskies and two malamutes, and once on their own revert to pack behaviors (again, presented in terms that children will be able to understand and adults may find a bit overdone) figuring out how to survive and feed themselves for the six month they’ll end up being on their own.
Photo © Disney.
The events aren’t entirely happy, and themes of death and the nature of hunting aren’t avoided—the youngest children may find it too intense, but children who are OK with the concept of death should be fine. Surprisingly, Eight Below includes the most effective “jump” scene I’ve experienced in years; I practically jumped out of the back of my seat and so did everybody else in the theater. The children seemed to take it in good spirit, though.
In the final analysis, Eight Below may be a bit too childish for groups of adults out for a social night (though they won’t be too disappointed if they see it anyway), but this is the kind of family movie that parents wish to be made in greater numbers. Boys and girls will both love it. Both 6-year-olds and 12-year-olds will love it. 15-year-olds will love it too, but they’ll be too above-it-all to admit it.
Postscript
For those wondering about the “inspired by a true story” claim of the film, here is some additional information. The rough story is based on a Japanese expedition to Antarctica in 1957 that was forced to abandon its team of sled dogs. In that case, they were not able to return for more than a year and did find that several of the dogs had not survived. The story is very well known in Japan and was first filmed there in 1983 with a film called Nankyoku Monogatari (literally, “The South Pole Story”) and was the most successful Japanese movie ever until Princess Mononoke was released in 1997.
Eight Below makes it an American expedition team and sets itself in 1993.
