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Without A Paddle: Nature’s Calling is directed by Ellory
Elkayem. The film stars Jerry Rice and Kristopher Turner.
This is a direct-to-video release, and is a sequel to the
2004 theatrical release Without A Paddle. ***
Without A Paddle: Nature’s calling follows the lives
of a group of young working-class men. They immediately
take a liking to the attractive school activist, and hatch
a plan to go after her, which entails them following her
into the wild. What ensues is an onslaught of pain and physical
comedy. ***
The original Without A Paddle was a weak film in its
own right. It had a few redeeming qualities to its name,
however, including its leading men, amongst whom was the
always-funny Seth Green. It was one of those movies that
placed too much of a reliance on physical, slapstick humor
and less on being an intelligent comedy that had a heart.
The sequel not only suffers from all these same problems,
but it has=2 0NO big-name funny stars at the helm, and it
tries to go even more over-the-top than its predecessor.
***
Typically, when I’m reviewing a movie, I break it down
between what the film does and what it could have done better
– a “pros and cons” scenario, if you will. Unfortunately,
Nature’s Calling is one of those utter disasters that has
no redeeming qualities. Laden with slapstick humor and one-dimensional
characters you just won’t give a damn about throughout,
it’s even weaker than its predecessor – and that’s saying
a lot when the first movie, in its own right, was panned
by the critics. For a comedy to succeed it needs to have
a heart. The characters here may be without a paddle, but
the river that is this film is so shallow they won’t be
needing one anyway. ---
Image and Sound:
Surprisingly, this package is a nice improvement over
the DVD. The DVD version of the movie had a “flat” look
and feel to it, but this 1080p transfer gives it some much-needed
depth and life. The black levels are hit and miss and the
image a bit soft at times, but as a whole it definitely
surpasses its earlier DVD counterpart. Lossless audio is
a nice upgrade as well, giving atmosphere to the exotic
settings and everything that happens to our heroes. ---
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