Primeval

"Primeval" is another one of those movies where you can have fun working out the movie equation where you name the films that were cannibalized to come up with the formula for this one. What if "Jaws" came out of the water? Okay, yes, you would have one scene in "Deep Blue Sea," but you would also have "Primeval." The nature guy in this film even claims it is the crocodile that is the most perfect killing machine on each, so take that, Matt Hooper. What if the expedition in "King Kong" was really trying to bring back a giant crocodile alive? You would also have "Primeval." What if you sent a news crew concerned with ratings like in "Broadcast News"? What if you use a goat for bait just like in "Jurassic Park"? What if you just took "Lake Placid" and moved it to Africa so that you can play it against the backdrop of civil war like in "Hotel Rwanda?" Add up all of these films and what you get is "Primeval." Do not be surprised as you watch this movie that time and time again you mind wanders to those other, much better films. Even the characters in this one acknowledge they are trapped in "Jaws," although they are way off base on the "Godzilla" analogy and I must note with pleasure that the natives are not willing to start singing a song in English like they did in "Congo."

The opening scene is somewhat interesting. A United Nations group is checking out what they think is another mass grave in Africa when it turns out to be something different namely a giant killer crocodile named Gustave (Really. He is supposedly still out there dinning up and down the Rusizi River that is his home: this film is inspired by true events as opposed to being a true story). This 2007 film is ill-served by the gaudy post-modern opening credits because the whole point is that somewhere out there is a real monster eating hundreds of people and this looks like it is setting up "Se7en" or something grittier like "Hostel."

Using the "Jaws" typology, news producer Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) is the Chief Brody character who does not want to be there when he is sent to Africa to bring the monster back alive, Mathew Collins (Gideon Emery) is the Matt Hooper science geek with the gadgets, and Jacob Krieg (Jurgen Prochnow) is the Quint character who everybody should be listening to before people start dying. Instead of town fathers concerned about taking the "summer dinks" for everything they can on the 4th of July, we have soldiers going around lopping off heads and killing civilians for essentially the same reason. Where Manfrey is different is that he brings his romantic interest, Aviva Masters (Brooke Langton) along for the ride, and has a wisecracking cameraman, Steven Johnson (Orlando Jones) who always has something to say on every subject from halitosis to Darfur. But you worry about him because the funny guy is usually one of the first to go in a monster movie.

There is an interesting sub-text to this film that would have been well worth exploring, because Gustav has eaten literally hundreds of natives and it is not until a white woman become the entree that the "world" takes an interest and decides to go do something about it. But instead the film puts the characters between a rock, in the form of the giant croc, and a hard place, namely the Brundi-Rhwandi border, where every thug has a gun. The dynamic is that if you are worried about the croc, the guys with the guns show up, and when things get ugly with the thugs, expect Gustave to save the day. To put it another way, every time you forget the other half of the movie, it comes back into play. Eventually the idea of capturing Gustave is forgotten as the survivors try to avoid both the croc and the thugs, and I swear I was going to round up on this film until Manfrey articulates a link between the genocide and the monster that might be true, but ironically made it all seem unreal just because it was given such dramatic weight it capsized the moment. The ending is fairly predictable once you understand the three sides involved, but let us not pretend that the irony is a divine solution to the situation.

The movie was filmed in South Africa and all I can say is that things sure have changed since John Huston took Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn to Africa to shoot "The African Queen." You travel thousands of miles to make THIS movie? I did think that drirector Michael Katleman and especially film editor Gabriel Wrye did above average work here, much better than I would have expected and probably better than the production deserved. However, ultimately, there simply is not enough of the croc in this film and when it does show up the special effects are not up to the challenge. I just watched "Jaws" again earlier this week and, yes, the shark is suggested rather than seen for the first half of the film, but once we finally see Bruce he is an integral part of the action. For me the special effects are problematic because Gustave moves so damn fast, in or out of the water, that I have trouble buying it. After all, this is supposed to be the biggest croc in the world. The lower your expectations, the more you can enjoy watching "Primeval," and it really is a beter "Jaws" rip-off than all of the actual "Jaws" sequeles combined.

You know, I didn't think this film was bad at all. I think there's actually a lot more to the movie than some viewers expect, and so it is that some end up disappointed by the fact that death by crocodile doesn't stand at the center of every scene. Frankly, I find it rather inane for some individuals to claim they were snookered by the film's billing as a story about "the world's most prolific serial killer." Look at the DVD case, people -- there's a great big crocodile on there. I'm also not going to fault Primeval for daring to go beyond the comfort zone of a mere killer monster movie, especially when it's helping to highlight the growing tragedies of civil war and genocide taking place in Africa (under the morally bankrupt UN's uncaring noses). One has to ask oneself exactly who the monster in this film really is -- as far as I'm concerned, it's not the crocodile.

With so many reporters out there writing fake stories, I sort of like the idea of sending these corrupt conmen to deepest Africa in search of a nine-meter-long killer crocodile. That's the fate that befalls Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) when he fails to verify the facts on a major story he writes. This crocodile, dubbed Gustave by the locals, has been killing villagers in Burundi for years, but "the world" only starts to care when he kills a UN forensics expert working on the mass graves full of people recently executed in this war-torn country. Aviva Masters (Brooke Langton), the network's animal specialist, is all gung ho to go, as is a famous herpetologist determined to catch the creature alive. Orlando Bloom, in the form of cameraman Steven Johnson, is also sent along with the others; he's definitely the most memorable character, but that's largely because he's playing the stereotypical role of comic relief -- I'm not sure who thought the idea of sending a black man to Africa and stressing him out to the point that he starts seeing slavery in a positive light (anything to get out of Africa) was a good idea, but the fact is that he's the only real entertainment on display here.

The trip to the croc's hunting grounds is possibly even more dangerous that the mission itself, as you can be caught in the crossfire of the long-standing civil war just about anywhere. While Gustave the crocodile certainly does his share of killing, a local warlord calling himself Little Gustave is the true menace roaming this land, executing people at will. Personally, I have nothing but admiration and respect for the crocodile; sure, he's huge and it's certainly a tragedy that innocent folks are dying by his claws and teeth, but the big guy is just doing what comes naturally to him. A crocodile has to eat, you know -- and there's no doubt that he's definitely one bad dude with a very large appetite. I thought the special effects (you didn't think they worked with a real crocodile, did you?) were fairly impressive -- and I loved the most significant kill scene, as it serves up one of those juicy morsels that we gorehounds deeply appreciate. I was also impressed that the special effects guys didn't go overboard on the CGI design. If they made T-shirts for crocodiles, this guy would definitely need a size XXL, but he's not some Godzilla-sized monster.

All in all, Primeval is a pretty decent effort that transcends the strict monster movie limitations of its genre, actually putting forth a political point about the plight of Africans in places such as Darfur, Rwanda, and Burundi pretty effectively. Several plot twists kept my attention from ever flagging (as did my worry for a cute little dog that kept turning up in dangerous situations), and I found the ending perfectly suited to the story. In my book, Primeval is definitely worth watching.

its a good movie but i hate it when all the action is in the dark..and it runs like a dog...in 1 part..lol..but the last kill is sweet.