A Buena Vista release of a Walt Disney Pictures presentation. Produced by Preston Fischer. Co-producers, Justis Greene, David Fallon. Directed by Ken Olin. Screenplay, Fallon.
Henry Casey ... Scott Bairstow
Lily Joseph ...Charmaine Craig Moses Joseph ... Al Harrington
Peter ... Anthony Michael Ruivivar
Katrin ... Victoria Racimo
Rev. Leland Drury ... Alfred Molina
Adam John Hale ... Paul Coeur
Heath ... Geoffrey Lewis
Halverson ... Matthew Cowles
Bad Dog ... Woodrow W. Morrison
Leon ... Reynold Russ
Jack Conroy ... Ethan Hawke
Even though Jack London wouldn't recognize any of it, "White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf" should attract a respectable percentage of the family audience that made Disney's "White Fang" (1992) a noteworthy B.O. performer. But this generally satisfying sequel appears an even safer bet as a homevid and pay TV crowd pleaser.
Ethan Hawke, who starred as young prospector Jack Conroy in the previous pic, shows up here only for a brief, unbilled cameo at the start to plausibly introduce Henry Casey (Scott Bairstow) as the new human companion of the titular half-dog, half-wolf. While Conroy is busy in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, Casey is working Conroy's gold mine -- and romping with White Fang -- in the Alaskan wilderness.
When Casey and White Fang capsize and nearly drown while paddling up-river for supplies, Casey is saved by a Haida Indian princess, Lily Joseph (Charmaine Craig), who thinks he is the human incarnation of the wolf spirit her uncle glimpsed in a dream. White Fang saves himself and spends some time with a wolf pack before catching up with Casey.
Even after he's dubbed White Wolf, Casey insists he is just a regular guy who happens to keep a wolf as a pet. But tribal leader Moses Joseph (Al Harrington) calmly contends that Casey is indeed the one who will help his hunger-ravaged community by finding out why the caribou that used to provide the community's chief source of meat no longer graze nearby.
Eventually, White Fang returns, alive and well and ready to help Casey find the caribou, uncover secret villainy, win Lily's heart and fight the good fight. All of which leads to corny but entertaining outdoor adventure in the manner of yesteryear's Saturday matinees.
David Fallon's serviceable screenplay keeps the narrative simple and politically correct. The Haida are depicted as noble, compassionate and intelligent, while just about every white man -- especially Alfred Molina as a transparently fake preacher who's trying to move the Haida off their land so he can mine for gold -- is a rotten, duplicitous exploiter. And to keepthings rigorously non-sexist, it's repeatedly emphasized that Lily isn't just a helpless heroine in buckskin, but a bow-and-arrow whiz who trains Casey to hunt.
New agers may be pleased to note that every vision and premonition of the Haida is proven true, even when a young Haida brave predicts that, after his death, his spirit will live on inside a crow. The more traditionally religious may be distressed to see Christianity represented only by the mean Molina. Uncle Walt likely would not have approved.
On the other hand, compared with the credibly faked viciousness of the dog fights in the first "White Fang," there is a marked decrease in violence here. Of the three humans killed, two of them die off-camera. As noted, the third casualty returns as a crow.
There wasn't much time for lovey-dovey stuff in the first "White Fang," but the sequel develops a chaste romance between Casey and Lily, and even allows White Fang to find a mate. Actor-turned-director Ken Olin ("thirtysomething") handles these elements with the same sure hand he applies to the action scenes in his feature helming debut.
Newcomers Bairstow and Craig do well in roles that, for the most part, are more physically demanding than emotionally challenging. Molina, as the cliched villain of the piece, comes across with all the subtlety of a silent-movie mustache twirler. Harrington fares much better as Moses Joseph, conveying a winning sincerity even when he's forced to deliver lines --"Let the wolf inside you free!"-- that are difficult to take with a straight face.
Five dogs (trained by Joe Camp and Tammy Maples) share the role of White Fang , and each is thoroughly convincing.
On a technical level, "White Fang 2" is extremely impressive. Hiro Narita's sharp lensing of spectacular locations in Colorado and British Columbia is the best single reason to view pic before it's reduced to TV-screen dimensions.
The surprisingly tepid B.O. performance of "Iron Will"-- another recent Disney outdoor adventure, and a much better movie overall -- might portend some rough sledding for "White Fang 2." If the sequel does even modestly well, however, don't be too surprised to see a TV series spinoff, if not a "White Fang 3."
Camera (Technicolor), Hiro Narita; editor, Elba Sanchez-Short; music, John Debney; production design, Cary White; art direction, Glen W. Pearson; costumes, Trish Keating; sound (Dolby), Rob Young; associate producer, Danielle Weinstock; assistant director, Howard Ellis; head trainers, Joe Camp, Tammy Maples; casting, Gail Levin. Reviewed at AMC Meyer Park 14 Theatre, Houston, April 12, 1994. MPAA rating: PG. Running time: 106 min.
Contact Derek Elley at
derek.elley@variety.com
Date in print: Fri., Apr. 15, 1994