Big Game (5 Stars)

Some people like to go on holiday to wild and exotic places in other parts of the world. Not me. When I was younger I visited Scotland, Switzerland and France. Mostly I visited the same area in Scotland over and over again, maybe a dozen times. I didn't want to get to know new places, I wanted to get to know the same few places more intensely. Apart from day trips, my last holiday was in 2003. Sixteen years ago. Now I stay at home. Don't worry, I get fresh air, but I get fresh air locally, not in faraway places. If I want to see more of the world I watch a film.

"Big Game" takes place in northern Finland, but it was filmed on location in the mountains of Bavaria. The scenery is breathtaking.

I suspect that most of the aerial establishing shots were filmed in Finland itself. This scene doesn't look like Bavaria. Does anyone recognise it?

I'm pretty certain that this is Bavaria. Any shots which contain people or vehicles must have been shot in Bavaria.

So here we have Samuel L. Jackson standing in front of the Bavarian mountains. For people who enjoy travelling, it must be a great life as an actor. Samuel gets to walk in the mountains, breathing the fresh air and admiring the scenery, and he gets paid for it. In his place I'd be tempted to mess up my lines so that I can stay a day longer.

"Big Game" is a brilliant film on so many levels. Not just the scenery. It's a clash of two different worlds, and two very different men. Is it an exaggeration to call it a buddy movie? Samuel L. Jackson plays the President of the United States, and Onni Tomila is Oskari, a 13-year-old boy performing a Finnish manhood ritual. To become a a man he has to spend 24 hours alone in the mountain forests hunting. The president's aircraft is shot down by terrorists, and he's rescued by Oskari. Together the two have to survive as they're hunted by the heavily armed terrorists. All Oskari has to protect them is a bow and arrow.

Oskari's father considers him a failure. He doesn't think he has what it takes to live up to the long line of hunters in his family. All Oskari needs is the right motivation. When he realises that he's the only one who can save the leader of the free world, he rises to the task.

Oskari is so good as a lone hunter that the president should invite him to join the Avengers. Or is that a different film?

Success Rate:  - 1.3

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