Review of Camino

Camino (2015)
5/10
The Columbian Hunger Games
11 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
SPOILER ALERT, "Down in the Jungle where Nobody goes, there's a missionary leader slitting a boys throat..." Like the film I'm reviewing, that took a dark turn but at the same time it hopefully gained a reaction out of you. Camino is the story of award winning journalist Avery, played by Tarrantio's favourite stunt woman, Zoe Bell, as she battles both mind and body to survive in the Columbian Jungle, this follows after she initially takes on a photography job following a group of missionaries lead by an eccentric psychopath.

Zoe Bell does a good job in this film bringing emotion to her role as well as pain that only a stunt person could make look so real. She is the star of this film and plays the tough bitch role pretty well. This film is like a vehicle in an attempt to push her into acting more than just Stunts.

There are some rather well shot sequences such as the editing and use of black and white camera stills which should have been used more throughout the film. These short instances are what stood out to me but the overall amount of use isn't enough to make this film stand out over other films such as Peter Bergs Spoiler ridden title Lone Survivor for example. This film is a standard survival movie similar to, as my title suggests, the first Hunger Games movie, as, SPOILER ALERT, Katniss and Avery find themselves in similar situations.

SPOILER ALERT, OK now I didn't get the Husband back story at all with this film. What was the point? Why was it relevant? Maybe the intention was to layer Avery's character and make her more relatable or likable, but it doesn't work because, even though Zoe Bell does a good job as the tough bitch, she isn't particularly likable. To me the Husband backstory and visions of him in the woods showed her going crazy and being in a bad way mentally buts still fighting for survival in her head as well as with her fists. If I'm right then I get it but still it never really goes anywhere in the film and still feels a little irrelevant due to its lack of resolution.

One other moment which I completely didn't get was Alejo suddenly not being dead. I have no idea what happened but the first life Avery claimed all of a sudden was alive and well... Well until he got shot in the head by Guillermo. This moment made absolutely no sense and really just left me scratching my head as to wtf was going on.

Overall, Camino is a standard survival film which acts as a vehicle for star Zoe Bell, and also has a couple of weird moments with questionable relevance. It's alright, nothing to really recommend or rave about. Watch the film if you are curious maybe, but all in all the film is OK and follows the survivor film formula. So if you like that then give it a watch.
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