Yet another adaptation of Richard Connell’s fantastic short story, “Surviving the Game” takes the premise of his short “The Most Dangerous Game” and fixes it for modern times with a modern sensibility. While it’s often been derided mainly because it was a straight to video feature mostly, this 1994 feature is one of my favorite action thrillers of the decade. This time Ice T takes on the role of Jack Mason, a homeless man who has an unusual ability to survive even the harshest conditions on the street, and spends most of his days trying to find food to eat and live to see the next day. One fateful afternoon he’s confronted by aristocrat Walter Cole who refers him to big game hunter Thoms Burns who tests Jack’s agility and physical dexterity in exchange for money. What seems like an isolated game by a bored rich man turns in to an endeavor for Jack who is invited by Thomas and his friend Walter Cole (Charles Dutton in a rare villain role) to go along on a hunting trip with them and their group of business associates for a weekend hunting trip in the wilderness to act as their hunting guide.
As is the case with most blockbuster films, many movie fans around the internet are basically picking apart and dissecting what the film means as a whole. Even with “The Avengers” being a fairly straight forward action science fiction blockbuster, fans have spent months since its release trying to decipher what some of the story themes and plot points meant and what they hold for future films.
“Ultimate Spider-Man” the comic, from what I remember, was an edgy, sleek and rather dramatic reboot of the entire Spider-Man universe. And odds are if you’re used to angsty stern Peter Parker from Sam Raimi’s films and the newest cinematic outing with Andrew Garfield, “Ultimate Spider-Man” the TV series might take some getting used to. In fact, “Ultimate Spider-Man” completely side steps most of the angst, drama, and melancholy that comes with the territory of Spider-Man’s world, and grabs a hold of the comedy by the throat and dives in head first.