‘Primeval’ tries hard, but lacks any real bite
Published 9:00 pm Friday, January 12, 2007
A couple of things to clear up about “Primeval”: it’s not the movie the ads say it is. And it’s more intelligent than most cheap horror movies aimed at the teenage audience.
Now, if I follow up this claim of superior intelligence by telling you “Primeval” is also about a giant man-eating crocodile, I anticipate a certain amount of eye-rolling. But it’s true.
“Primeval” is being advertised as a true story about “the world’s greatest serial killer.” And it’s supposedly based on an actual man-eating croc in Africa, which takes care of the “true story” part, but falls short of a Hannibal Lecter scenario.
The basic plot is entirely fictional: Two cable-TV reporters (Dominic Purcell and Brooke Langton) and a cameraman (Orlando Jones) travel to Burundi to investigate the marauding crocodile. They wade straight into civil war.
Which doesn’t stop the reptile – nicknamed “Gustave” – from doing his thing. There are attacks, special effects, and a few gory bone-crushings. All to be expected these days.
What’s surprising is that screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris (who did “Terminator 3”) have bothered to juice up the script with numerous references to civil wars in Africa, and the West’s slow reaction to human-rights disasters in Rwanda and Darfur. I don’t remember anything like that in “Anaconda.”
At times, you might wonder whether you wandered into a screening of “The Constant Gardener” or “Blood Diamond,” instead of the “Jaws” rip-off you were hoping to see.
The film is like some of Roger Corman’s old low-budget horror flicks, sneaking in a little political stuff along with the blood and guts. All of which makes it easier to take than a slash-and-dash horror picture meant to disappear after its opening weekend.
But it’s not great. Longtime TV director Michael Katleman does serviceable work at best, and the two lead performances are one-note. Orlando Jones has his usual way with quips, and there’s one great shot of him out-running the giant croc across a grassy field.
Also on board is the esteemed German actor Jurgen Prochnow (“Das Boot”), who can’t get much going with the expat hunter role. If the characters were remotely interesting or well-acted, we might have an actual sleeper here.
The film does a clever job of relating the crocodile’s rampage to the ongoing civil war. In the midst of the country’s chaos, Gustave the croc actually looks pretty tame.
‘Primeval’
It’s a croc: A giant man-eating crocodile terrorizes the war-torn African nation of Burundi, not to mention the cable-TV crew that arrives to shoot him. If the characters were good, this might be a tidy little sleeper, with a surprising amount of political material. But they’re not.
R rating is for violence, language.
Now showing at Everett Stadium, Monroe, Marysville, Mountlake, Meridian, Varsity, Woodinville and Cascade Mall.
