Sometimes you just want an enjoyable creature feature that knows how to provide some jolts, fun and killer special effects. On that score, CRAWL delivers!
Kaya Scodelario (Maze Runner) stars as college swimmer Haley, who can't get hold of her Dad as a massive Category 5 Hurricane approaches Florida.
As folks do in these films, she drives through roadblocks, flowing rivers of streets to her father's house and crawls down in the basement to find him.
Unfortunately, her father Dave (Barry Pepper) isn't the only thing lurking in the basement. The best CGI alligators you've ever seen are HUGE, hungry, growling predators on the prowl for every tasty human they can find.
You can feel producer Sam Raimi's (three Spiderman films) fingerprints all over the pace and humor of the movie. There are more than a few echoes of "Darkman" and "Army of Darkness" in the polished B-movie sheen dripping off of every frame (along with the blood and endless rain).
When they try to slip in some family drama into the mix it falls flat, but there's another giant chomping CGI gator right around every corner to spice things up.
The storm's great, the creatures are better and our two main actors are both surprisingly good, as are the graphic attacks.
It's predictable and kind of dumb.
And I had a great time. It bites a sharp B-.
Comments