River Wild ★★★

THE 1994 film The River Wild is probably best known for casting Meryl Streep as the lead in an action thriller.

In that film she had to contend with two of the participants on her rafting trip who turn out to be armed criminals. It was an exciting blend of suspense and white-water action, elevated of course by Streep’s participation.

River Wild (2023) is a remake of sorts with a significant adjustment to the story that replaces the criminals with two life-long friends, only one of whom has a shady past.

One of the men operates the rafting business and his friend comes along for the ride, along with the operator’s sister and two tourists.

The film packs quite a bit of story into the relatively short running time and sections may seen unnecessary to some viewers more content with the thrills and spills on the river.

Some of the action is well-staged and the story is fairly suspenseful, but the entire exercise can’t compete with the fact it’s been done before not only Streep but Footloose himself Kevin Bacon as the bad guy.