Primeval Review by Chris (1 Star)

Primeval Review by Chris (1 Star) | MatchFlick

Steal of the Day

Christmas Shoes DVD
~~$14.98~~
$4.99
The Steal of the Day is offered by MatchFlick's DVD partner, FamilyVideo.com.

[help]

[more]

MatchFlick Member Reviews


	2 reviews review this movie read all reviews

Movie Details

All Movie Info

Starring:
Dominic Purcell, Brooke Langton, Orlando Jones, J�rgen Prochnow, Gideon Emery, Gabriel Malema, Gabriel Malema, Linda Mpondo, Eddy Bekombo, Chris April, Ernest Ndhlovu, Erika Wessels, Vivian Moodley, Lehlohonolo Makoko, Dumisani Mbebe

Directed By:
Michael Katleman

Written By:
Michael Ferris, John D. Brancato

Primeval (2007)

email this review to a friend

Movie Review by Chris
August 21st, 2008

Dominic Purcell is Tim Manfrey, the whiniest character in film since Bill Paxton in Aliens. He plays a reporter who really doesnt want to go to Africa to do a story on a crocodile with a huge appetite for humans. The plan is to take a couple experts, a cameraman and pick up a Steven Irwin type in Africa and bring the man killer back alive. This is a shaky plan to begin with, but gets a shakier as the group lands in the middle of local skirmishing.

If you had already seen such monster/creature flicks as Anaconda and Jaws, then you have seen Primeval. Though its not even close to being the worst horror movie I have ever seen, it certainly measures up to the Sci-FI Presents standards. The movie is beautifully shot and some scenes are fairly enjoyable to watch, the film gets worse as the effects are cheap, the movie is not scary and eventually the whole sub plot which revolves around tribes and deaths in Africa gets all to caught up with the actual plot, adding some confusion for many. It is low budget horror, and it shows what happens when you give a director who has done TV shows his whole life the chance to make a theatrical release film.

For anybody who watches the show Prison Break, you might recognize Dominic Purcell, who plays a journalist for a newspaper and is forced to travel into Africa to study a story on a giant crocodile. When he meets the ever so sexy Brooke Langton, him and his best friend (also the cameraman) Orlande Jones go along for the trip. Now like I said, this is low budget horror so we cant expect anything to great to follow the movie. I am even surprised that Orlando Jones jumped along for the movie. Dominic's character Tim is the supposed to be tough guy of the group. We dont get much backstory on it but we do know that he messed up on an assignment and therefore got some kind of consequence, but thats one reason why he is put on this assignment in the first place. Dominic is a solid actor who should really be seen more on the big screen then the pleasure of our homes.

Brooke Langton stars as Aviva, an instant beauty to Tim, and the main reason he jumped on the trip. So we dont get to much out of her when it gets to acting because most of the other characters are taking over the screen time but she does fairly well with the part overall. Last but not least we have the funny Orlando Jones, but this script ruins him in many ways and forms. Most of the time his character makes jokes about celebrities which are funny, but ruin the movie. Though he is funny and is a great actor, Primeval puts a large dent in his successful career as an actor.

The thing which just about ruins this film is that the effects, which are Sci Fi channel standards, are weak. And when we either pay at a movie theatre or rent a movie about a 30 foot croc, we expect to see some believable effects. Ok so I cant sit here and say that their horrible and it just disgraces special effects in films because, they dont. And most of the shots which features the crocodile feature some really good effects. The problem is the directing, directed by Micheal Katleman, he gets shaky and out of control with the camera. To the point where we cant see or understand anything thats going on onscreen, and this ruins what the effects supervisors tried and accomplished. There is a scene where a man is eaten and thousands of gallons of blood spill out and hit the ground without a splash, which offer big laughs because it looks so horrible.

Primeval was a giant waste of time, thanks to director Micheal, its neither a very enjoyable or great movie to watch, but it kept me entertained, while looking at the clock.

email this review to a friend

Comment on this Review:

Sorry, you must be a member to add comments to reviews.

Join or Login.

Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS