The Legend of Wolf Mountain

Stars: Nicole Lund, Matthew Lewis, Jonathan Best, Mickey Rooney (The Black Stallion, My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys), Bo Hopkins (American Graffiti). Co-written and directed by Craig Clyde (who did a much better job with 1991's Little Heroes), this for-kids-only "family" adventure pits three resourceful kids against a pair of escaped convicts on a legendary mountain. The film opens with a lecture by Ranger Haynes (Bo Hopkins) to a school class about the wonders of Wolf Mountain National Park (including a legend about a guardian wolf named Simco). When Haynes' daughter Kerrie (Lund) and two boys from her school are abducted by Jocko and Dewayne (a pair of stereotypically idiotic criminals), the trio must put aside their differences in order to save their hides. After being visited in a dream by an Indian warrior who changes into Simco the wolf, Kerrie has the additional aid of the animals of the forest (for instance, if a rabbit happens to be looking in a particular direction, the kids go that way). When it's not utterly predictable (which is about 90% of the time), The Legend of Wolf Mountain tries to fill up the time by having one kid whine...a lot (this is, of course, the last thing anyone other than kids wants to hear). Mickey Rooney's appearance as a cranky rancher is all-too-brief. The one notable plus in the film is the fact that the young female lead takes control of the group instead of being relegated to a wallflower position. Audience: Grade-schoolers who've already worked their way through every Disney and good independent children's video and are still screaming for more.