I have to admit to being a big sucker for these “backwoods
brutality” films, which usually involves a couple, or a small group of people,
isolated in the woods (“Deliverance” probably being the best example) or desert
(like in the case of “The Hills Have Eyes”) who are being hunted down by a
killer or three. Often times these type
of films will involve ultra-realistic violence that tends to push the one character
left standing to have to revert to their repressed animal nature just to
survive. For a film like that to be most
effective though, it has to unfold in a way that makes you feel like the
sequence of events going bad do so in a fashion that is both believable and
leaves you feeling like it all could’ve happened to you if you were in the same
situation. Sadly, “Preservation” fails
to do either.
The film opens with Wit (Wrenn Schmidt), her husband Mike
(Aaron Staton of “Mad Men”) and his brother Sean (Pablo Schreiber) driving to
what appears to be a derelict State park for a weekend camping trip. Wit is hoping this weekend getaway will give
her a chance to reconnect with Mike, who is often aloof and focused on his
career, while Mike is hoping to reconnect with his brother Sean who has just
been mysteriously discharged from the Army for post-traumatic stress
syndrome. Upon arriving at the park,
they find the parking lot roped off and the playground equipment in
shambles. Why these people want to go
camping in such an environment is beyond me?
While hiking to their campsite, we’re treated to constant “you
remember the time when…” stories (which have no bearing on the film) and a
little flirtation between Wit & Sean - that doesn’t go unnoticed by jealous
hubby Mike. We’re also given a little
monologue about how animals kill to survive, while man is the only animal that
kills for pleasure, which is foreshadowing what is yet to come in such a
painfully obvious way.
The next morning, our protagonists awake to find that
everything in their camp has been stolen, including THE TENT THEY WERE ASLEEP
IN! How anyone can sleep through a tent
being stolen out from under them totally defies believability, especially
considering ex-military man Sean was asleep just outside their tent, as he too
failed to see anyone! Not only that but
they also abducted Sean’s German Shepard as well. Mike instantly assumes that it’s Sean and
that this is all a product of his mental disorder, and even implies that Sean
is trying to run off with his wife that he’s not been paying attention to. Truthfully, I found Mike’s accusations even
more absurd than the tent being stolen, as why (and how) would Sean steal their equipment and then also take his own dog? A weird practical joke maybe, but because of PTSD? Really?
I’m going to cut to the chase and just say that all of this
is the work of three teenage boys (each wearing masks and riding mountain bikes) who seemingly are
hunting down the trio because…well, they’re bored and thought it might be
fun? I can’t say because the film offers
no clue as to their motives (outside of the aforementioned monologue). What I also don’t get is why they would even
steal their tents (despite how impressive it is that they could pull off such
an amazing feat) or anything else, other than the hunting rifles the trio had
brought with them? If they wanted to
re-enact “The Most Dangerous Game” with them, I think it’s safe to say Wit and
the two brothers would have to ditch their camping equipment once they realized
what was going on anyway. Also, having
the killers be teenagers only creates more problems in that in one scene one of
them gets a call from their mother asking where he is, yet these kids have
supposedly been out tailing the main characters for well over 24 hours
(including stealing tents in the middle of the night).
The film that kept going through my mind while watching this
was the far superior “Eden Lake” (2008), which also revolves around a couple
camping in the woods who run afoul of a group of nasty youths. In that film, there is a sense of growing
tension between the couple and the teens that eventually erupts into
violence. Here though, the teenage
killers come out of nowhere with zero build up, which defuses any kind of
possibility for suspense. The teen
killers in this are more akin to what you would get in a slasher film than what
you normally see in a survival type film like this. Also too, in “Eden Lake” the chain of events
flowed in a way that was logical in regards to the characters’ actions based on
what was going on around them.
“Preservation”? Not so much. Again, much like a slasher film, you have
characters performing actions that make you just slap your forehead. For example, in one scene Mike is being
chased by a killer with a rifle and happens upon some port-a-potties. Ignoring the fact that the killer is right
behind him and well within sight, he chooses to hide inside one of the potties,
and even locks the door for good measure!
I think because the film lacks any sense of reality or logic
whatsoever, I tried to let it slide and take it as being more of a slasher film
instead. But even there, the film
completely lacks any scares or even good kill scenes that would’ve justified
that. Ultimately, what I was left with
was just a very silly attempt at a survival film, with blah performances and
nothing in the way of suspense.
Definitely not a film worth "preserving", that’s for sure!
No comments:
Post a Comment