Primeval Review

Though the trailer sets the movie up as a serial killer thriller, the main reason I found myself in the theater was that the main villain of Primeval is a twenty-foot long, one-ton African crocodile named Gustave. Since I am the type of geek that loves monster movies and any giant animal that hunts humans, I had to see this for myself.

The plot is pretty basic. American reporters (Dominic Purcell of Prison Break fame, Brooke Langton, and Orlando Jones hear about the giant croc after it kills a British relief worker and decide to capture it. They head to war torn Burundi, Africa where they run into both Gustave and monsters of the human variety.

All and all Primeval was, at best, a B-movie that, if not for the production value, would have shown on Sci Fi Saturday. It’s not the worst Croc-movie ever made, but certainly not the best.

The actors do pretty well, given that the script supplies them with cheesy line after cheesy line. However, the in your face politics of the movie racked my nerves after a while, going as far as blaming the Croc’s taste for human flesh on all the genocide that needs to be stopped by us caring Americans. Yes, genocide needs to be stopped, but a twenty foot crocodile doesn’t need a reason to hunt humans beyond the fact that they’re easy food.

The CGI Croc is pretty cool though, with all the raw power and lack of grace that you see on the nature shows. If only they could have given it more screen time and put some of the more high profile death scenes on camera instead of during fade outs.

In the end, Primeval could be picked up from the dollar bin at the rental place in a few months and provide you with a few jumps and laugh, but nothing too great. But, if you’re looking for a good reptile movie, rent Lake Placid. It delivers and Betty White rocks!