Review: Into the Wild (2007)

Yasaru here with first installment in our movie reviews section and I feel like we're opening with a strong one.

Sean Penn's beautifully directed movie with amazing cinematography fully equipped with a story that is thought provoking in more ways than most pop culture films today. The movie revolves around Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) and his struggles to experience life with the hardships that come along with it. At the risk of spoiling the film, it is , in a nutshell, a story about a man who refuses to live in a world that is built upon what society tells him to and as the name suggests forces him into the wild to be "who he always wanted to be".

Whenever I talk about this film the first thing that comes to mind is it is emotional, very emotional. The messages that this story implants in it's viewers as the movie progresses is what really makes this film what it is, along with the interesting characters that help Christopher with his journey. With that comes my first nitpick (proceed with caution, spoiler alert) the characters aren't given that much of time to be embraced and understood by the viewers and to see how their relationship with him really means anything to the viewer.

However the movie certainly does have ideas that are wonderfully implemented into the storyline. The whole idea of how man must be one with nature is evident throughout the film. But the emotional trip that Penn elegantly takes the reader through is one that will stick around for a while. Penn does an absolute work of art of capturing the essence of the true story the film was written upon and does little to change the authenticity of it. The film is paced well enough with a certain lackluster scenes occasionally but nevertheless it manages to keep the viewers engaged.

This movie truly is a great watch; IMDb wouldn't have put it on their "list of films to watch before you die" for no reason, to be fair.  If you want something more than the rather stagnated films that rarely ever affect your life in by even the simplest of ways, Into the Wild is an absolutely phenomenal film.

                                Interest Concentrated (Yasaru) rates this film: 8.5/10