Béhémoth, la créature du volcan

Its almost as if the producers just looked at a list of clichés and just picked the ones they like from it. Its all here. The pretty scientist, the handsome local to serve as a foil to create a sexual tension, the young college age couple, the old man who knows what is happening but everyone thinks is crazy, the skeptical sheriff, the mysterious, cryptic government agent along with all the usual stuff about how mankind is causing the earth and environment to fight back against all the horrible things manking has done to it. This time its in the form of a creature who supposedly has the power to destroy all life on earth as we know it. To me it just looks like a poor mans Kraken from Clash of the Titans. Don't't waste your time.

There are B movies that are good, cheesy fun and then there are B movies like "Behemoth." Given that I've seen most of these actors in other shows, and all have them been pretty good ... especially Ed Quinn who plays the lead ... I was expecting more from this film.

I was dismayed and disappointed when most of the acting was wooden ... almost like Tippy Hedron watching the the line of fire at the end of "The Birds." The dialogue was stilted, the timing was off and basically, "Behemoth" left me scratching my head.

For example, Ed Quinn, who is pretty darn awesome as Nathan Stark in "Eureka," seemed like he was sleep walking through this movie. On top of that, the plot was predictable, the action was less than exciting and the climax was almost anti-climactic. Unless you just can't resist watching yet another over-sized monster movie, I'd recommend you pass on this one.

This movie is not as bad as it is made out to be. First off it is surprisingly well shot, and the scenery is beautiful. Secondly, this is a B movie. It didn't have a huge budget, and it shows. That's all right though; it is what it is, an old school monster movie. My main complaint is that not enough people got eaten by the monster. Some people have complained about the cgi. I've seen much worse animation, especially in older movies. The animation used was perfectly acceptable. This movie isn't the best nor is it the worst, though it definitely deserves better than the appalling 3.4 rating it has.

As I have said, many times, I do dislike intensely a vast majority of SyFy's output save a few exceptions, though I do watch them to see if there are some at least decent films among the sea of crud. Behemoth is not down there with SyFy's worst, not with Quantum Apocalypse, Alien vs. Hunter, Dinocroc vs. Supergator, Moby Dick: 2010 and Titanic II.

What does salvage the movie from being bottom-of-the-barrel quality like the aforementioned titles are the surprisingly good CGI effects, when I finally saw the monster fully I was surprised at how good it looked compared to other effects I've seen on the channel. Also William B. Davis while not outstanding gives a noteworthy performance.

Everything else didn't engage sadly. The settings were okay, but the haphazard editing and rather dim lighting prevented me from properly enjoying. The story is rather plodding, very predictable and by-the-numbers, with any thrills, suspense and tension feeling somewhat tame and only the ending properly exciting.

The script is banal and as plodding as the story. The beginning especially is full of overlong and sometimes meaningless exposition. The direction is often unfocused too, the sound is lacking in clarity even in crucial scenes and the music to me was forgettable at best.

The characters are lifeless, clichéd and none of the characters emotionally resonated with me in any way. This is not just the script and expositions, but the dull acting also plays a major factor in this. Davis as far as I was concerned was the only one who tried, everyone looked bored and were phoning in.

Overall, SyFy has done worse but I don't recommend Behemoth. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Sci-fi... ahem... Syfy's low-budget monster movies often manage to be at least mildly amusing in a "We're so bad it's good and we know it!" sort of way. Behemoth, on the other hand, takes itself too seriously to be fun, but isn't good enough to be... well... good.

You never feel like the world is in danger or particularly care about any of the characters. It just plain fails to engage on any level. The actors are all pretty competent, that's about the best I can say for it. None of them has anything interesting to do though.

The one character who dies (well, that we're expected to care about, at least) may as well have had a sticker on his forehead that said DEAD MEAT from his first scene onward. You'll know him when you see him. Then again, maybe you won't. Avoid.