Wounded

The best reason to watch this sleeper hit is for the duel of wits and wills between Amick's character and Pasdar's. They are more than just characters in this movie. They each represent values. Pasdar re- presents the cold-blooded, calculating ruthlessness of the hunter- competitor; Amick represents the compassion and thoughtfulness that blunts his unreflective violence. You don't have to be an animal rights activist or a feminist to be rooting with all your might for Julie Clayton as she struggles to outwit the trapper Hanaghan.

At the beginning, Julie is admittedly at a disadvantage in her battle with Hanaghan. She has been through the trauma of an attack in the woods and is wounded and weak. She's not only weak physically. She's weak psychologically as well. She has to overcome her own fear and co-dependency. She would nearly have died herself, were it not for a chance encounter with a veteran police officer, played well by Greene. He helps her marshal the courage necessary to outsmart Hanaghan.

To its credit, this movie resists the strong temptation to degenerate into a series of explosions and wanton gunfire once Hanaghan has found

Julie. He must outwit her. He must prevent her from having her say.

But he cannot afford to kill her. He is in her world and out of his own wild element. So it remains a battle of wits all the way through this movie. This is not John Rambo vs. the Establishment in the wilderness!

The movie succeeds on another level as well. Although Julie Clayton becomes more like Hanaghan as she confronts him, she doesn't become exactly like him. That is, she doesn't become the mindless killing machine that he is. She retains her compassion, her humanity and her sanity. She's as strong as he is on her own terms. This is a victory not just for herself but for human dignity, which she represents.

The year 1997 seems to have been a good year for movies, especially sleeper movies like this one. This is a little jewel of a movie! Whoever can should catch it on cable. It's worth three stars!!

The forest rangers Julie Clayton (Mädchen Amick) and her boyfriend Don Powell (Richard Joseph Paul) find several grizzly-bear slaughtered in the forest. They report to their superior and he comes with the FBI Agent Eric Ashton (Jim Beaver) and his partner and other rangers. They team-up and go to the wilderness by helicopter to seek out the poacher. However, the man kills the rangers and the FBI agent and Julie is seriously wounded. She miraculously survives and learns that her beloved Don was murdered. Julie is deeply affected but when she meets the alcoholic police detective Nick Rollins (Graham Greene), he motivates her to live with hate planning revenge. Meanwhile the FBI decides to use Julie as bait to catch the poacher Hanaghan (Adrian Pasdar). But Hanaghan has developed a weird attraction for Julie.

"Wounded" is an original thriller with a good story. Developed in slow pace, this film builds the tension between Julie and Hanaghan step by step. The climax is only in the very end, but the characters in the beginning are poorly developed. Mädchen Amick has goof performance. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Fúria Animal" ("Animal Fury")

The characters are straight, the story simple, the directing efficient, Maybe it lacks a bit of soul to have made it a secret favourite, and the plot twist that gives Madchen Amick the role of the revengeful Rambo-like woman is a bit out of hand - but at least the final confrontation was kept low-profile, more accent put on suspense rather than adrenaline action - precisely what heightens the value of this flick, comparing to the neighboring action movies in the videostore...

A pretty good suspense film especially the beginning. It tends to lose steam, however, when Julie recovers and teams up with a retired trooper to hunt down the killer. All performances are excellent.

The film has beautiful photography of the northwest and animal scenes.

while i didn't hate this movie,i didn't find it spectacular either.the first twenty minutes or so are quite good,with some action and tension.the last ten minutes are also good,again with some action and suspense.the problem is the middle of the movie.it's just too damn slow moving.i kept hoping and waiting for something to happen.there's a lot of talking in this one.however,i really liked Graham Greene as a bitter former cop.Madchen Amick is convincing in the role of action heroine by the way,is it just me,or could she pass for Kim Delaney's twin sister?anyway,the star of this movie is Adrian Pasdar,who plays the bad guy,and really well,i might add.his character is definitely very chilling and sadistic.unfortunately,the the movie itself falls short.my vote for "Wounded" is 5/10