Most movies that depict people going to live off the land are very vague and unrealistic, but Into the Wild is different. The creators of Into the Wild took Jon Krakauer's story and followed Chris' footsteps to show us the life that he lived and the people that he met. Into the Wild has a wonderful story, fantastic acting, and terrific visual effects to communicate with us the risk that Chris took on his journey and the importance of biology and language arts.
Into the Wild's story is about Chris McCandless' crazy journey after college graduation because he took a risk by burning his social security card, his credit cards, his cash, and his left over identifications. Chris McCandless took the risk of travelling throughout the country because he loved the outdoors and he always wanted to be free and independent. His risky actions were successful until the very end because he was killed by a poison from a pea plant. Normal people would not take this risk because they know it is dangerous and they are afraid. Through Krakauer's story, we learn that Chris McCandless' risk made an impact on the people that he met. Some of the people like Jan Burris and Ron Franz loved him because of his ecstatic personality and his open mindedness to nature and to other people. His death in the end was both tragic and poignant because many people like Ron Franz wanted him to live life. Ron Franz wants Chris to be his grandson because he wanted his family to continue on and he wants some one that he can both relate and talk to. The people's hearts that he touched and the lives that he affected was a part of Chris McCandless' personality, but the actor also acted his part well.
The actors in this film were truly the real life characters that they play because they really touched our hearts by their relationship with Chris McCandless. Emile Hirsch plays Chris, and he has the smile that no body will forget. His smile and face is all so friendly and familiar because he is Chris and everything he does is so spontaneous. Being a person that has read the book by Jon Krakauer, I can feel Chris' presence in Emile because his voice, his language, his actions, and his relationship with others are the same as Carine described him in the book. Jena Malone is Carine McCandless and she created a very close relationship with Chris. Jena has become Carine because with her voice in the voice over’s we can sense Carine's presence, and it is like Jena and Carine are one person. Hal Holbrook is the next best actor in this movie because his last conversion with Chris as Ron Franz did not like acting instead it looked like a serious conversion that the two were having together. The conversion also created a suspenseful moment that made us all pause and think. Shawn Penn really knows how to pick actors and crew members because this movie has great visual effects.
The visual effects of this movie were intriguing because they went to Alaska and every place that Chris travelled to in his journey. The visual effects were great because it was realistic. Most people have never lived out in the wilderness for hundred plus days and this movie gave us a great perspective on the experience. The experience was harsh, deadly, and filled with choices. McCandless could not hunt big animals with small children because he had a soft heart for families. He wanted to leave his annoying family, but in his heart he still loved them. We can see evidence of that when he tries to shoot a bear. The gushing blood from the moose gave us a feeling of never eating meat again because it is taking another life. It is similar to a homicide, but hunters are killing animals. Sean Penn used these visual effects to communicate that McCandless killed it to survive and not for prizes. Sean Penn also used the film to teach us important lessons about life and living out in the wilderness.
The moral from this movie is that living off the land is both dangerous and unpredictable. The weather could be rainy or snowy for several days in Alaska, so any hikers living off the land would be starving if they did not bring enough food. Director Penn wants us to be prepared when living out in the woods. This movie also teaches students like me to read carefully and learn taxonomy well. Reading carefully is not only for the SATs, but it is for survival. Chris McCandless learned the lesson after he ate the poison. Taxonomy is the science of categorization and it helps categorize organisms. It uses the most specific two groups to categorize the organism. They are the Genus and the species. McCandless learned how to read the Latin names, but he forgot to learn about each native Alaskan plant.
Sean Penn has used the story that Jon Krakauer’s wrote to teach us about Chris McCandless and his tremendous bravery for living off the land and for changing the lives of others. This story has inspired many people to follow their dreams and never give up. We are all human beings, and if Chris can do it, then we can do it too.
