Maneater (2015) (aka: Unnatural) James Remar, Sherilyn Fenn, Ron Carlson, Graham Greene Movie Review

Maneater (2015)   2/52/52/52/52/5


James Remar in Maneater (2015)

Bear-ly Entertaining

Martin Nakos (James Remar - Horns) is an Alaskan mountain man who over the years has seen just about everything as he has lived in his remote lodge and hunted the wild animals for food. It is why when a photographer and a couple of models suddenly show up to do a bikini shoot against a snowy backdrop he is not bothered. But he does become bothered when not only does one model get dragged beneath the surface of the frozen lake by a giant white paw but other members of the team go missing. As Martin tries to get to the bottom of what is happening he learns that a bioengineering company has been doing genetic engineering on a polar bear and the now even deadlier beast is loose and taking out anyone it comes across.

"Maneater" is also known by the name "Unnatural" and quite fittingly for a movie with more than one name it feels like it has a split personality. On one hand we have James Remar playing it serious as this Alaska mountain man who hunts big animals and delivering the same sort of vibe which Kurt Russell delivered in "The Thing". But on the other hand we have this annoying photographer and his two models who show up to do a bikini photo shoot with animal head hats. Yes it sounds ridiculous and whilst not full out creature feature comedy of say "Piranha" it feels like that is where this side of the movie belongs.

The thing is that the split personality of "Maneater" never gels and it makes it a ridiculous movie. But it then gets worse because alongside James Remar you have Sherilyn Fenn who is a genetic engineer who runs and lies about what she is doing when Martin finds her. Now I like Fenn but her performance in this was so lacking you get a sense that maybe she didn't fancy doing the movie but had to. Elsewhere you also have Graham Greene and Ray Wise also doing the bare necessities.

What this all boils down to is that "Maneater" might entertain a young audience who will enjoy seeing bikini models posing in the cold but anyone who watches expecting a thrilling creature feature will be left wanting.


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