UHM - Review - Primeval

Based on the real-life 20 + foot croc named "Gustave" in Burundi, Africa, this film was very poorly marketed before its January theatrical release. Originally scheduled for a release in April before it got a sudden push forward for January, the movie was promoted as a serial killer flick, where the killer has supposedly claimed over 300 victims and remains at large to this day. This, of course, left a lot of clueless movie-goers expecting a story-driven thriller, but instead, got a man-vs-beast, giant killer croc flick. The croc itself is one of the largest known to man, weighing over a ton and estimated to be more than 60-years-old. Wild crocs live up to 45-years-old on average and continue to grow as they age, so some speculate that since he's said to be over 20-feet that he has lived far longer than normal crocs. The creature earned its reputation as a man-eater by reportedly snatching sight-seers and villagers along the delta of the Rusizi River and the beaches of the Bujumbura. Saying it has claimed over 300 victims is pure legend, and the true numbers are likely to be far lower, but we'll never know for sure until the beast is finally captured.

The movie has gotten a lot of slack from critics, especially those thinking it was going to be a much different kind of movie, and I bought into the bad press pretty early on, even passing on a chance to actually see it for free at a local theater. True, when you have a movie generally about a giant killer beast, it's likely doomed for failure, and I suppose the studio knew this and decided to market it differently. This was obviously a bad move since it only opened to $6-million at over 2,000 theaters. Though, not really a box office failure, since it made its budget back opening weekend, and went on to make a little over $14-million total. Despite all the negative reviews the movie has gotten, I actually enjoyed the flick. Probably because my expectations were so low that there was really no way of letting me down any further. The flick is obviously a rip-off of films like Jaws and Anaconda, but it's to be expected when you're dealing with this type of theme.

The premise is as follows: a television crew is sent to Burundi, Africa to capture a legendary giant croc, and enlists the aid of a popular croc specialist and local hunter to guide them through their journey. Along the way they not only encounter trouble with the croc, but also the locals, who have no trouble firing their automatic rifles at anyone who attempts to make it through the rivers. What made the movie stand out for me was the fact that it wasn't overloaded with entirely cheesy scenes, (I.E. Anaconda), it was surprisingly gory, and it didn't focus entirely on the croc itself. A good portion of the movie also follows the leads trying to free themselves from the grasps of a local militia leader dubbed "Little Gustave", whose inhuman acts are caught on tape, leaving him to send his men after the tv crew. We're never actually given a good view on the giant croc since a lot of the up-close scenes are dark and short, and many of the full-body shots are quick-paced, but we're shown enough to get an idea on the size of the beast.

The CGI isn't bad and as I stated earlier, the flick is surprisingly gory -- we're given a lot of fairly close-up scenes involving Gustave chomping away at his latest victim. The best death scene would have to be at the end when he cracks someone's head open like an egg. What really ruined it for me would have to be most of Oralando Jones' dialogue. It seemed like almost every other line out of his mouth was some wise-crack about someone or the situation. He had a few semi-funny lines, but his attempting to loosin' up the mood in a lot of those scenes was more irritating than anything, and just showed how poorly written the script is at times. Regardless, I've seen movies much worse than this, and I was amused by the direction they decided to take.

OVERALL

Given a bad rep early on because of its unoriginal theme and horrible promotional tactics, thanks to all the surprisingly gory scenes and not focusing entirely on the situation with the giant croc, I found this flick to be fairly decent. Give it a check, but keep your expectations low, like I did.

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Tom :

Posted 47 days ago

Yeah you know I realize its popular to hate this film, at least critically, but I have to admit I enjoyed it as well. The CG croc effects are decent, much better then 99's Lake Placid, and the numerous gory attacks were well staged and fun. I'm not sure the marketing campaign really killed this movie's box office success so much as the average viewers inability to look online and read the synopsis first. I went to see this movie knowing exactly what it was about, and what can I say? I'm a sucker for killer animal movies. The acting is atrocious, Dominic Purcell is perhaps one of the worst actors working in hollywood today, leaving Orlando Jones to pick up the slack.. and thats not saying much. Other the Jones's few lines of comic flare, which made me laugh and thus provided the comic relief, the human characters exist only to get eaten, and thats okay in a movie like this. Never before have I seen a crocodile galloping across open wetlands, and for this reason alone, I could almost call the film original. The issues of genocide and atrocity in Africa make for a mildly interesting sub plot, but the croc is what people come to see, at least its what the people who learned ahead of time what the film was really about come to see.

TORY :

Posted 204 days ago

That is one fast alligator, thats the only good thing about this movie is how fast that alligator can run. WOW

Beshem :

Posted 323 days ago

It was a good movie. How often do we get movies based on an actual person/creature? Rent or buy, make your choice.......

lil dirk diggler :

Posted 554 days ago

this movie was ok..bout 6 out of 10......every line orlando jones had was funny...butt alright on the gore...

connie :

Posted 556 days ago

i DONT KNOW WHATS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?This film was based on an actual croc gustave this is not un original!!I loved the movie it keeps you on your toes!I was shocked to see brooke langton in this due to her role on melrose place.WHER DID THE WRITERS OF LAKE PLACID GET THEIR IDEA?COULD IT BE HEARING ABOUT THE CROC?iI loved lake placid but, this is movie is based on an actual croc.I THOUGHT IT WAS AWESOME!

WESTSIDE :

Posted 559 days ago

Being a huge fan of the creature feature I could not wait for this movie to come out. I was going to buy it online but it was kind of pricey so I rented it first. Boy am I ever glad I rented it first!! In total honesty this movie is CRAP!!!! They make the attack sequences so fast that unless you put it into slow -mo you cant see sh*t the story sucks (they try to have a twist at the end, that is as lame as you can get.) If you want to see a great gator movie rent Lake Placid! (Hell i liked Croc Dundee better then this junk) Over all I give this steaming pile of croc crap 3 out of 10. Why so low? Watch this pile of ... and find out! (I suggest you dont though)

Scott :

Posted 561 days ago

I own this movie on dvd and I must say this is a very good movie, it's entertaining and everything like that if you liked lake placid you will like this one 8/10

Carlton :

Posted 561 days ago

There were a lot of things I liked about this, but the problem was they tried to make it a little too realistic in some respects, so that made the unrealistic parts seem worse. Gustav, the crocodile of legend, ate people because they were relatively easy and it was too old to catch its regular prey. So why is it chasing Orland Jones so far inland? It's a petty complaint, I realize, particularly for a horror film. But I think it says something about the movie if that's the only thing I really have to complain about.

GodzillavsBagan :

Posted 562 days ago

I saw this in theaters on its opening day. It wasn't great, but it was still above-average, especially since we got "man vs beast". That's a rare horror theme nowadays. All we get now are lame torture flicks, boring ghost stories, gay PG-13 horror, or a bad remake >:(

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