David Ayer was once considered a promising address for rough crime cinema. With his script for “Training Day” as well as the thrillers “Harsh Times,” “Street Kings” and “End Of Watch,” he stood for dirty men’s cinema whose power was based primarily on physical immediacy. But the rise was followed by disillusionment. His DC blockbuster “Suicide Squad” was punished by critics and audiences alike – after which the filmmaker tirelessly mentioned the so-called “Ayer Cut” for years, an unreleased cut that supposedly could have saved the film. Even “Sabotage”, “Bright” and “The Tax Collector” couldn’t turn things around, quite the opposite.
An exception, which even many of his critics were able to agree on, remains the highly intense and brutal war drama “Heart of Steel”, in which a tank crew led by Brad Pitt (“Seven”) rolls through bombed-out Germany in the last days of the Second World War. Now, after “The Beekeeper” and “A Working Man”, two intermezzos with Jason Statham that were definitely reputation-cleansing in genre circles, Ayer and Pitt, who are also good friends in their private lives, are working together again on “Eiserne Wilderness – Heart Of The Beast”. The result: an incredibly visually stunning survival adventure that will bring a lot of tears at the end!
An unbeatable duo: Brad Pitt and his four-legged colleague Uber.
Former Special Forces officer James Belmont (Brad Pitt) and his loyal military dog Odin (Uber) served together in the war and suffered deep emotional and physical wounds. Odin even lost a leg in action and had to be fitted with artificial titanium teeth after a brutal blow to the face. They have now retreated to the untouched Alaskan wilderness. But when James suffers a heart attack during a flight and the plane crashes, the unlikely duo begins a merciless fight for survival. Cut off from any outside help, they have to make their way through the remote hinterland and rely completely on each other.
With dwindling strength and little hope of rescue, James is forced to rely on his years of military experience and special survival skills. But the wilderness doesn’t just test his physical endurance. The fight for survival also confronts him with his deepest fears and the shadows of his past. Together, humans and dogs defy a hostile environment in which every step can become a deadly danger…
Finally get out into nature again!
Most recently, Ridley Scott reminded us with his wonderfully melancholic apocalyptic drama “The End of the Stars” what power it can have when a film doesn’t just prepare landscape shots as a digital backdrop, but actually surrenders itself to nature. “Iron Wilderness – Heart Of The Beast” takes this principle to the extreme with relish. David Ayer and “Avatar” cameraman Mauro Fiore celebrate the untamed vastness of Alaska in almost every shot:
Snow-covered mountain ranges rise out of the fog, while in front of them a small propeller plane glides through the majestic panorama and suddenly looks like a model airplane. Turquoise lakes lie between lush green forests, jagged rock formations cut into the landscape and somewhere in between lurks the suspicion that this beauty can turn threatening at any time. Ayer obviously can’t get enough of these pictures – and you can’t blame him.
James (Brad Pitt) may have left the war behind him, but he still knows exactly how to defend himself and his loyal companion.
As great as it is to immerse yourself in these impressive natural images, they are not the real star of the film. What’s even better is watching Brad Pitt and his loyal German Shepherd make their way through this gigantic adventure setting – a world that can be overwhelmingly beautiful, but in which it’s just as easy to get lost. Side by side, the Oscar-winning Hollywood star and his four-legged friend face every obstacle, encourage each other to persevere and only trust a former gold digger (JK Simmons) when he is suitably enthusiastic about the taste of a Belgian brown ale, the best beer in the world.
How much this duo has grown on you is particularly evident in one of the most exciting scenes in the film: Brad Pitt and Uber have to cross two tree trunks lying on top of each other while a raging river foams through the rocks below them. David Ayer enjoys turning up the tension, but at the same time he also benefits immensely from the fact that you keep your fingers crossed for both of them as hard as possible. And when a belt and a titanium set of teeth have to be used as an improvised first aid kit to at least provide temporary treatment for an open fracture, the pity hurts twice as much!
At the end there are moist eyes
The fact that David Ayer is reviving the classic survival adventure cinema with “Iron Wilderness – Heart Of The Beast” is a sheer joy. Above all because he concentrates completely on the essentials: on the disarmingly loving relationship in the center and the full use of the screen in the landscape shots. The fact that tears flow at the end elevates David Ayer’s cinema to new heights as a touching viewing experience: there was certainly a lot of sobbing through the rows at the Berlin press screening!
But “Iron Wilderness – Heart Of The Beast” is not without errors either. However, to accuse a lack of originality would be a completely inappropriate standard, after all, there is finally some nice, straightforward adventure cinema here. What’s more disturbing is that the built-in wild animals often seem a bit too artificial, which disrupts the immersion a little given the real nature. In addition, David Ayer sometimes wants to massage the tear ducts too much, especially the flashbacks to chaotic days of war that are scattered throughout the last third wouldn’t have needed all of them.
Conclusion: The majestic landscape shots are overwhelming, the human-dog relationship really touches the heart – and at just over 90 minutes, the gripping and honestly touching “Iron Wilderness – Heart Of The Beast” doesn’t last a minute too long.