Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Now this movie is high up on my must-see list. I loved WOLF CREEK, flaws and all, and I love Giant Crocodile/Alligator movies, from PETER PAN to LAKE PLACID to ALLIGATOR. Love 'em. We got a review from the very first test screening of this flick. While the review isn't high on spoilers, it is a look at the flick, so you'll know more than you might want to. Keep in mind the effects, score, color timing, audio, etc are all rough for this early screening! Can't wait for this one!!!
Hey Harry,
I guess you can call me John Mason, I’m feeling nostalgic for solid trash Michael Bay movies after this evening’s Entourage. I’m from Melbourne Australia and this evening I had the “pleasure” of being part of the very first test screening of Greg McLean’s new movie “Rogue.” You may remember McLean’s first movie “Wolf Creek.” I haven’t seen Wolf Creek yet, not really my kind of movie, but I’ve heard a lot of good things and it’d been said that McLean is the next great Australian directing talent. Sadly from what I saw this evening I think the hype is getting ahead of itself just a little bit.
This was an early early test screening, McLean intimated before the screening that the final cut was still 6 months away, and as such much of the CGI was incomplete and there were numerous temp cues throughout the film (I’m sure I heard Silvestri’s score from Predator in there). Anyway I don’t want to go spoiler heavy with this so I’ll just provide a quick run through with a few comments.
The film is very much a generic monster movie; alien, pitch black pretty much anything in that vein from the past 30 years. The first act is pretty solid we are quickly introduced to Michael Vartan’s character, Peter, a travel journalist who is in the Northern Territory to take a crocodile tour. I’m not sure what is so special about these tours that warrants attention but I’ll get past that in time. Anyway in short time we are introduced to the tour guide Kate, Radha Mitchell, and the rest of the tour group. There is an English family with what we presume is a cancer stricken mother and young daughter, a few local yobbos (less intellectually inclined individuals), an old dude played by psycho John Jarrett from Wolf Creek and an American couple amongst others. We don’t really get to find out anything much about anybody. If anything for a film of this nature there are probably too many characters.
When the tour responds to an emergency flare down river at the conclusion of their tour they enter the realm of what the audience will quickly discover to be a really big killer crocodile, the film later states it is seven meters long, but it’s quite not in Lake Placid’s league. It’s nasty, territorial and strands the tour group on a small island in the middle of the river.
This part of the film, pretty much the entire second act, is spectacularly handled. We see very little of the menacing alpha croc and the tension is built up very effectively. I should point out at this stage that the film is played totally straight. There is no Oliver Platt and Bill Pullman taking the piss about being in a movie with a giant crocodile, it’s straight down the line. The characters, despite being very sketchily drawn, all display believable emotions and it works very well. Basically they need to get onto the main land as it’s a tidal river and inch by inch the island which they inhabit is sinking under the tideline. It’s also getting darker by the minute. It would be very easy for this to feel like an artificial clock on events but it’s handled really well and you never really question it. The cast are all very good here, especially Stephen Curry who has some great lines, but the beats are ultimately very predictable. But with a film of this nature I’m looking for the quality of the execution not originality and some of the sequences were brilliantly constructed with great pacing, framing, and lighting coming together perfectly.
If the film had ended with the second act I would strongly recommend it to almost anyone and that’s rare with genre films. I’m generally far more forgiving with quirkier films than I am with straight genre pieces. However the third act has me concerned. The third act should be renamed Vaughn VS The Crocodile. I understand the need for the film to have a clear climax and vanquish the evil “Rogue” crocodile but it left me a little off edge. The film did such a good job of ratcheting up the tension throughout that having this standard face/off felt like a let down. Also whilst the CGI is at a very early stage, it’s a grey crocodile outline, I’m concerned as to how the finished sequence will play out. If they nail the CGI and the crocodile moves well it should be fine, but if the movement is as lumbering as it is now this could end up being one of the most unintentionally funny scenes in years. This is where the films desire to play it straight hurts. When you can’t see the crocodile it works brilliantly but when it’s up front and center it’s a little hard to keep a straight face.
So ultimately I’d say its worth seeing in a cinema if you are a genre fan. Its paced well, has some genuinely fantastic sequences and some decent performances despite the underdeveloped characters. Mitchell is pretty much rehashing her Pitch Black performance but it works and Vartan is much better than I expected. It’s clear that McLean is talented, the film is beautifully shot and besides he should be encouraged for making a film that isn’t stereotypically Australian in nature, but this film doesn’t quite come together perfectly at this point. However there was enough in it for me to say that when it does come out I’ll be paying to see it.
Okay that’s my review.
Been a reader for a long time but this is the first time I’ve had a chance to contribute.
