Parents' Guide to Jungle

Exploitation director Greg McLean chooses a numbingly middling approach to tell this true exploration story; the movie is too blunt to be sympathetic but also too careful to be thrilling. Even as Jungle begins with its most innocuous scenes, McLean adopts a short attention-span approach, cutting every couple of seconds and creating a monotonous rhythm, a blur of movements and events. It feels too controlled for anything to happen organically. It never slows down long enough for viewers to get to know the characters, nor does it speed up enough to achieve a decent pace.

Frankly it's surprising that McLean, whose previous movies (including Wolf Creek and The Belko Experiment) have pushed the envelope for gore, should tone down Jungle, as if attempting to respect its true story ... or trying to elevate his career to some degree of credibility. By the time the movie gets to its climax, with Yossi alone in the jungle and doing whatever it takes to survive, it fails to be either shocking or thrilling. It's merely uncomfortable. Give Radcliffe credit, though, for his demanding physical performance; post-Harry Potter, he continues to select challenging projects.