Movie Thoughts: Benji the Hunted (1987)

 

• Released: June 4, 1987
  
• Directed by: Joe Camp
  
• Running time: 1 h 28 min
• Rating 4/5

Synopsis

Benji winds up lost and alone in the wilderness. Now having to survive on his own, he becomes the guardian of four orphaned catamount cubs. Taking his new role as their protector seriously, he does whatever he can to keep them safe and get them to a different mountain lion parent who can take them in.

My Thoughts

 I did not like the first Benji. I do love this Benji movie. The first movie felt a bit amateurish and uninspired, with a very repetitive soundtrack, if any as many scenes lacked music altogether.

This movie on the other hand is competent, has a good soundtrack, is well-written and tense and it takes it audience seriously. It's an exciting and thrilling story and what's I really appreciate about it is that the story trusts it audience enough to not spoon-feed everything that's happening to the audience. 

Seriously, this movie is 90% without dialogue. Aside from the introduction new report and one scene where Benji encounters a hunter who talks to him, the entire film is dialogue-free. And thank God they didn't give Benji an obnoxious internal monologue or the movie a narrator to panderingly deliver what is going on on-screen to the audience (like in A Dog's Way Home). It relies on the characters, actors, music, atmosphere and cinematography only to deliver the story and I really appreciate that.

The story is still not the most unique one, but I do love how it's delivered and the stakes are legit real. Nature is harsh and the movie isn't afraid to show it. The cubs but also Benji are being consistently hunted by various predators, including a bear, a wolf and a raptor. 

It's also just fantastic to see how instantly Benji is willing to accept his role as guardian of the cubs despite his own already-unfortunate predicament of being lost in the middle of nowhere without his owner. He's charged with looking after four orphaned catamount cubs and he instantly takes the job seriously even if he is a bit clueless on what to do with them at first. But gradually they grow closer and traverse nature and thwart danger in order to get to the other catamount mother who can take in the cubs. Benji also doesn't fool around. Legit, he's approached multiple times by these big predators that could easily kill them and he's still just willing to stand his ground. To the point he's willing to bite the wolf, which he later even manages to kill using tricks (because there's no way he could've won using strength). Don't fuck with Benji in Dad-mode.

The story's conclusion (despite some darker moments earlier) is also really wholesome as the second Mama Catamount takes in the cubs and Benji says his goodbye. And then I really love how the final shot isn't Benji being re-united with his owner and a media-buzz around it like the introductory news report implied. It's just Benji taking a rest on the mountain after his long and arduous journey, and in the distance we see the helicopter (which has been looking for him throughout the film but kept missing him each time) approaching. Boom, perfect ending. 

I honestly think it's way stronger without a big reunion scene because the ending right now is just open yet also concluded enough. We know Benji will be found and re-united with his owner without a mushy reunion. The bond between Benji and his owner also wasn't really the central theme of the story. Sure, them being separated and Benji ending up lost in nature was the inciting incident of the plot, but the real story here was Benji temporarily adopting and growing closer to these cubs and getting them safely to a new mother. So ending the movie with him saying goodbye to his wards as they find their new family, before taking a well-deserved rest with the helicopter approaching is just a perfect and competent ending. I really like how they did this and didn't go all-out with a huge reunion scene.

So, yeah, out of all the live action animal-POV movies I've watched in recent years this is by far one of my favorites. There's of course still something to be said about the ethics of having these very real (and dangerous) animals interact with one another like this, but aside from that this is definitely one of the more solid ones I've ever seen. It takes it audience seriously, I love how it relies much more on the animal actors, soundtrack and atmosphere to tell the story and it has a perfect ending despite a very long and hard (and at times tragic) journey to get there.