Untamed is a blunt force thriller, set in Yosemite national park in California, starring Eric Bana as a macho special agent who prefers silence to talking and horses to motorised vehicles. It is perfectly serviceable though oddly retro – not just because it scoffs at petrol engines, but because it feels as if it could have been made in the 1990s. Even a crucial smartphone plotline doesn’t come into it until very close to the end, and although park rangers have become a political hot potato in the US, national politics emphatically do not exist here.
That makes Untamed an undemanding watch, but don’t expect much depth. It’s as easy on the eye as it is straightforward. Bana is Kyle Turner, technically not a park ranger, even though he’s dressed like one, but an ISB Special Agent, which gives him extra-special cop powers. Devotees of detective dramas will be shocked to learn that Turner is brusque, rude and has a taste for bourbon that doesn’t have any impact on his professional capacity whatsoever. He is haunted by a family tragedy. His personal relationships are poor. He is, of course, excellent at what he does.
