One more recent chinese monster movie, why not? As i’ve said before, there’s plenty of these to be found online, and there’s a good number of killer crocodiles one too, i choose this because it’s the first i stumbled through on Youtube, and it’s web movie, dunno what it means exactly, aside from being another declination of “direct to video” in this age of streaming content.
Regardless, we all speak giant crocodile movie, especially if it’s a giant mutant crocodile.
After a rich guy’s daughter disappears while on a island that’s become an internet sensation for its “Purple Lake”, he assembles a group of mercs (lead by his other daughter) to search for her, only to find that there’s a lot of people around what’s supposedly an inhabited island, all conventiently there for their own reasons, from an enviromental scientist losing contact with her squad, a war reporter searching for his missing father, etc.
Sadly for the rich guy, he finds out that her daughter was eaten by a crocodile, so he wovs revenge against the beast, which turns out it’s a mutant crocodile that can turns invisible on the fly, and can also sling his tongue like a chameleon. At least this will give the leader of the mercs/second daughter of the rich man something to do aside pulling people by the hair in order to do anything.
Seriously, i understand they’re special forces and shit, but it’s almost like she forgot about talking harshily or using her knife (not even one of the guns, and they have plenty available) to get people to do what you want to, instead of going cavemen on all civilians even if they don’t oppose or resist you. XD
There is a bit more to the plot, which is okay overall, typical b-movie stuff, but quite entertaining, and the creature it’s both pretty cool and looks fairly good for something labelled as a web movie, i was surprised by both the solid craft of the CG for the creature and the fact they even used some decent physical props for other shots of the animal, making for a convincing combination.
It’s not big budget, but still, the effects for the creature are better than the CG for the sharks in Blood Shark 3D, to make a comparison with the previously reviewed chinese monster movie i’ve picked this year, which supposedly was a theatherical release.
Truth to be told, while they aren’t really comparable, i did enjoy Giant Crocodile more.
Yes, it’s a less ambitious film, it’s definitely more a b-movie in tone and how the setup and characters are mashed together a bit too conventiently, just to quickly set up the scenario while we’re already into it, with no preamble and just a handful of quieter moments so we can have the emotional moments, the backstories and the obligatory romance subplot happen.
Actually, it’s both a positive and a negative how fast paced the narrative is, i’m glad we’re wasting little time with the “bullshit” but at times it moves so fast it’s a bit confusing, to the point you see a scene that feels like the finale but there’s 15 minutes left to wrap thing up… in a movie that’s also pretty short, 71 minutes long to be precise, a runtime that also seems common for these.
As common as the obligatory ending shot of an egg of the creature cracking.
Honestly, Giant Crocodile it’s okay overall. Familiar premise, a lot of B-movie cliches, but the creature effects are surprisingly good for a “direct to web” film, the characters aren’t anything special but are not despicable fodder either, acting is fine, the action sequences are fun, and it’s definitely NOT one of those where “nothing happens”, with its fast paced narrative, arguably a bit too much at times, but it’s also a short sit, and – most importantly – a fun thrashy time.
The lesson if that if you’re gonna make mutant killer crocs, give them the powers of Yoshi, alongside a Predator-like invisibility.
Wise Cafe (International) 