There were bear themed movies released in both 2014 and 2015. 'Backcountry' was the 2014 one and this obviously was the 2015 one. 2014's version absolutely schooled 'Into the Grizzly Maze'. That one had likable characters, a realistic bear and smooth direction. This on the other hand, had zero of those. There was nothing to like here. The characters were abysmal, the concept (and execution) of the bear was flawed and almost embarrassing, and the directing was often beyond terrible. Oh lord the directing.....About halfway through I thought to myself this is so badly directed I need to look up just who is behind this mess. I looked it up and sure enough there he was, David Hackl, the bloke who directed the only entry in the 'Saw' series that I did not like ('Saw V'). Sloppy, is the only way to describe his work. He has no ability to build tension and any action scenes are so jerky and filmed so close-up that it is impossible to appreciate exactly what is going on. The bloke really needs to touch up his skills if he's going to continue to be given these films that have potential. Sadly for 'Into the Grizzly Maze' it is too late to go back and will go down in the history books of film (for those few unfortunate souls who see it) as an absolute mess.

I remembered seeing a trailer of movie about an angry bear so I guessed I got the right movie when I watched Into the Grizzly Maze. I am still not sure if it was that movie in the trailer but I really loved it. It helped that they had James Marsden, and I was thoroughly surprised to see Thomas Jane, Scott Glen, and Billy Bob Thornton. But the real star of the movie is Bart the Bear. The movie is about a killer bear on a rampage, and this bear literally kills it. There is not much plot or character development, but the acting was decent enough to push the plot through until the finale. If the movie had explore the characters more deeply, and created more tension between Marsden's character with Jane's it would probably have been a classic. However, the scenes with Bart the bear is really intense, the credit goes to the trainer of the bear. This is the first bear movie I have seen and I am really impressed. The bear is a great villain comparable to the St Bernard in Cujo, and even more menacing than the shark in Jaws. Never has beautiful lush scenery felt so threatening. If they had explored the characters better, I would have rated this movie a solid 8 or even 9.

The only things good here are the settings and the end of that half crap. I highly prefer the Bill Girdler's film, back in 1976. I know there are many bear films in the movie history. This one is not the best anyway, if maybe not the worst either. But everything is badly done. For instance, in the beginning, when the two men begin to fight outside the bar, in front of the girl; well, just after a couple of fist hits, only two seconds, the police car and the ambulance arrive. Rubbish. The audience is full of idiots for the audience or what?and the climax is terrific, I agree, although very unbelievable. I thought the bear would be killed by the boat helix...A foreseeable time waster, not more.

Surprisingly good performances from every actor. The plot is simple, but interest in the the plight of quite sympathetic characters is sustained throughout. Although there is no character development per se, each one is believable. In spite of the simple story, the characters are more than caricatures, as they have more than one dimension. The scenery is gorgeous. Just a bit more time spent on showing its beauty would have given a better understanding of the motivations of the characters. A bit gory in parts, but more is left for the imagination than is shown. Pretty good tension throughout the whole movie as a result of really tight post-production. If you look at the credits, you will be amazed to see how people from around the globe had a hand in making this movie. Wow, what a global process Hollywood has become.