Wolf Hound
World War II aviation action picture lacks budget, but not inspiration nor thrills.
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“Top Gun: Maverick” isn’t the only military aviation flick taking to the skies. There’s also “Wolf Hound” (available in select theaters and on VOD beginning Friday, June 3). The independent feature – which was filmed predominantly in Michigan – likely had an overall production budget that’s less than or equal to the catering budget of “Top Gun: Maverick,” but that doesn’t mean it’s not an exciting endeavor.
Capt. David Holden (James Maslow from Nickelodeon’s “Big Time Rush” and the boy band of the same name, giving good leading man) is a Jewish-American airman engaging in dogfights over Nazi-occupied France. His primary adversaries are German brothers Maj. Erich (Trevor Donovan of The CW’s “90210” reboot) and Capt. Heinrich Roth (Ronald Woodhead from Amazon Prime’s “Hunters”). During one such skirmish David dispatches Heinrich, but he, his squadron and Erich are all shot down during the melee.
David’s fellow airmen are captured by the ruthless Col. Krieger (John Turk, he voiced Scorpion and Sub-Zero in a bunch of “Mortal Kombat” video games) and his lackey Capt. Rolf Werner (Michael Wayne Foster of 2020’s “Embattled” and bringing big time Andy Sidaris regular Harold Diamond vibes to the proceedings ). Turns out the Nazis are in possession of an Allied aircraft with which they intend to bomb London. David must alternatingly evade and engage Rolf’s Storm Troopers and the vengeful Erich in order to rescue his brothers in arms and thwart the Nazis’ nefarious scheme.
Detroit-based director Michael B. Chait makes an auspicious feature debut with “Wolf Hound.” Chait – the son of a pilot – opted to capture much of his aerial combat practically, which pays huge dividends. The script by Timothy Ritchey (working from a story by Chait) is kind of goofy. (The Germans’ accuracy or lack thereof … save for Erich … calls to mind “Star Wars” Stormtroopers as opposed to Nazi Storm Troopers. Michael Bugard plays a character named Dr. Riefenstahl.) I sometimes felt as if I was watching the movie within a movie “The 14 Fists of McCluskey” from Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” but that’s not an entirely bad thing. The picture is arguably too long at 130 minutes, but I was never bored.
Chait wears his references on his sleeve and I’m here for it. Bugard’s Riefenstahl is a dead ringer for Ronald Lacey’s Maj. Arnold Toht from Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” (Unfortunately, the character’s face doesn’t melt.) Brian Heintz’s Lt. Henry Armstrong calls to mind Vin Diesel’s Pvt. Caparzo from Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan.” David Fink’s Lt. Robert Finnegan resembles Samm Levine’s Pfc. Hirschberg from Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.” There’s an abundance of lens flares recalling the works of John McTiernan. There’s a gunfight replete with doves and our hero and villain going back-to-back against barrels that shamelessly/awesomely riffs on John Woo.
“Wolf Hound” doesn’t hit the heights of “Top Gun: Maverick” (granted, I watched a screener on my couch as opposed to a screening in IMAX or Dolby Cinema), but it does a lot with a little. Mostly it’s a calling card for Chait, a cinematic voice to be reckoned with who possesses a sense of action/spatial geography reminiscent of masters such as Spielberg and James Cameron. I dug the movie enough that I’ll buy its Blu-ray whenever it’s available for a follow-up flight.