Primeval - Die Fährte des Grauens

I admit it, I have a soft spot for monster movies. Maybe it's the kid in me who watched all the old "creature features" at a young age, or maybe it's the fact that no one has really made a serious monster movie since...well, you tell me. That being said, "Primeval" is no work of genius, and like most mainstream films, is loaded with clichéd moments that we've seen in better movies. However, when compared to the films that pass for horror today, this one has surprising bite (no pun intended) at certain moments. The main complaint here seems to be the misleading advertising campaign of the film, hyping it up as a tale of serial killer in rural Africa. Of course, the actual story details an American news team (the brooding male leader, the hot female sidekick, and of course, the token black guy who serves mostly as comic relief) traveling to the war-torn Burundi to film and hopefully capture Gustave, an enormous crocodile who has eaten hundreds of people. Naturally, things go wrong, and the river soon runs red. An interesting aspect of the movie is the inclusion of a warlord in the plot, adding a second threat to the protagonists (Gustave is, of course, their first threat). This risky move sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, but I applaud the filmmakers for trying something new at least. What really redeems the film however are a few key scenes that are surprisingly atmospheric (something most modern horror films have forgotten), well edited, and increasingly suspenseful. Without giving too much away, the croc itself is better than one may expect from this kind of a movie. The cast does what they can with a strictly average script, yet for the most part, manage to elicit some interest and sympathy. The final act is a bit of a disappointment, but by that point, it's already been a fun, exciting ride, and one doesn't really care. In short, "Primeval" is strictly what many of us go to the movies for: popcorn entertainment. I myself had originally gone to see "Pan's Labyrinth" but as the shows were sold out, my friends and I eventually decided to give "Primeval" a go. I wasn't dazzled, but then again, I wasn't expecting to be. It's simply fun, escapist entertainment, and despite what any film snob will tell you, there's nothing wrong with that. Just shut your brain off and you should have a good time.

Attempting to tread a fine line between two different types of film, Primeval is a misguided, but nonetheless kind of fun movie. On the one hand, it wants to be an 'issues' movie, dealing with warlords, child soldiers and western apathy towards violence in central Africa. On the other, it also wants to have a massive great big crocodile running around trying to eat the guy from Prison Break. It's not bad, but while these two separate strands never really gel there's still some entertainment to be had. Provided of course you can look past the incredibly tasteless joke about the slave trade.

The film concentrates on Dominic Purcell's news journalist who gets sent off to Burundi to document the search for 'Gustave,' a legendary croc who has chalked up over 300 human victims during his years prowling the river banks. He's accompanied by a British Steve Irwin a-like, Orlando Jones as the "please don't get him" cameraman, a slumming it Jurgen Prochnow, a token female and several dozen expendable locals and together, they trek into the bush to hunt Gustave down. They're also given a few warnings about 'Little Gustave,' a vicious renegade soldier whose private army are responsible for all manner of atrocities in the region. But hey it'll be okay right? They've got a machine gun strapped to the roof...

Needless to say, things go badly. There's all manner of carnage to be had as Gustave begins ripping people to shreds and trigger happy teenagers with AK-47s go on the warpath. By the time the credits roll, just as many people have been machine-gunned as eaten by Gustave and Purcell looks like he can't wait to get back to a nice, comfy cell in San Quentin where he only has to deal with corrupt guards and shankings every day.

Taken simply as an old-fashioned adventure movie it's not bad and there's certainly fun to be had when the limbs start to get torn loose. The attempts at dealing with the bigger picture though fall flat. It's apparently "inspired by true events," but aside from the fact there genuinely is a crocodile named Gustave in Burundi, that's about as far as the realism goes. Hotel Rwanda this ain't. However if you want a movie where a great big scaly beast eats people every ten minutes you can't go wrong. You'll have a hard time remembering any of the characters names when the time comes to type up the review though.

"Primeval" doesn't really bring anything new to the man-eater genre that hasn't already been seen in movies such as "Crocodile" or "Alligator", or "Jaws" for that matter.

The storyline is simple and straight forward; a group of people go looking for a massive crocodile named Gustave in Africa. But nature being as nature is, the roles quickly turn and the people find themselves to be preyed upon by the crocodile they set out to find.

While the movie is entertaining enough, it just didn't stand out from so many other movies in the same genre. And as such, it was but a mere mediocre movie experience.

As for the acting, well then I am not a fan of Dominic Purcell, not even by a long shot. So it didn't go well with me that he was in the lead. Jürgen Prochnow, however, is always a treat to have in a movie.

The cutting and editing of the movie could have been much better, and many scenes with the crocodile were just abruptly cut and then jumped on to the next scene.

If you enjoy man-eater movies, then "Primeval" is adequate entertainment, just don't get your hopes up too high.

Primeval was geniusly marketed as a slasher film and attempted to get people to pay for a ticket expecting a slasher flick and sucker them outta cash with a crocodile movie.Based on the amount of pi$$ed off people reviewing this film in anger of being scammed i'm going to say they succeeded.Now on to Primeval as a movie yes it has the token black guy, and the sexy blonde wearing pretty much nothing, and the tough guy who takes charge but after seeing Stomp The Yard I wanted to see people die and Primeval did that oh so well.Even though it's not technically a slasher flick it is a gore fest though and an enjoyable one with some very innovative kills and very little to know cheesy scenes.They don't make it intentionally cheesy like Freddy vs Jason, or See No Evil this film is completely serious which makes it more believable and more fun to watch.Is it scary sure if blood scares you but other than that it's the pulse pounding chase scenes that keep you watching and enjoying Primeval.Visually Primeval is beautiful and ugly at the same time as the locations are gorgeous yet the mud or the water looks eerie and murky it really gives you the impression that something is living there and it's not expecting company.Is it clichéd?Please..what movie isn't nowadays and better yet what horror film isn't nowadays so the clichés are easy to ignore and don't hurt the overall excitement of the film.Primeval has disturbing full out gore scenes with all the blood you wanna see and more.It certainly doesn't let you down in that department.Primeval has taught us all a lesson research what movie you're going to see before you go see it because personally i thought it was funny that Primeval screwed most of you other critics outta your money i on the other hand knew what i was going to see and enjoyed every minute of it.Overall ignore the more than likely low IMDb average rating because most critics gave this film a 1 because they were pi$$ed that they didn't get what they wanted like a little kid in a toy store.

This movie seems to suffer from a low budget. The writing is okay. The plotting was okay. The actors are okay. The special effects are weak. All could have been better. This movie could be compared to Anaconda, but replace the snake with a killer crocodile. Swap out South America and see Africa instead. Unlike Anaconda, Primeval makes a social statement about the political unrest in Africa. In the back drop of filming a crocodile documentary, political unrest and murder is happening all around them. Where this movie suffers is the pacing. It starts out slow and isn't even interesting until the crocodile appears. Once the crocodile appears, that's really all you may care to see. Unfortunately, the special effects are too obvious and the crocodile acts fake and looks fake. It's only at this point that the movie even gets up to the quality of Anaconda which also had fake looking effects.

Orlando Jones as Steven Johnson brings a welcome light touch of humor to an otherwise serious movie. Brooke Langton as Aviva Masters brings a welcome touch of beauty to a dirty and unattractive African setting. The other characters aren't quite as appealing.

This movie is worth seeing, but just barely. Wait for the DVD.