Robocroc

ROBOCROC is a typical Z-grade monster flick about a rampaging killer crocodile, with the twist that this time it's a mechanical monster. This doesn't really add much to the monster rampage plot, which plays out as a cheesy rip-off of PIRANHA 3D for the most part, other than having a few scenes on computer screens with the usual boffins and technicians. The film is saddled with wooden performances from the likes of Keith Duffy and the usual nonsense level CGI effects used to animate the crocodile; even worse, it steps back from delivering the kind of bloodshed and mayhem demanded by the horror lover. Stick with PIRANHA...

The acting is atrocious, the script is ludicrous, but the effects are magical (only joking). For lovers of B or C horror movies, this is a must watch. Somehow they even managed to get Dee Wallace in the film. So amazingly bad, it's almost good.

I really do like Dee Wallace - and while she has quite a big role in this (not as big as the croc obviously, no pun intended), she can't really help elevate the movie either. This is low budget so I can see that some are able to cut this more slack than others. I also am happy for the at least one person who really enjoyed watching this. The majority of the viewers will feel differently.

You don't have to just suspend your disbelief - you have to shoot it into outer space. Kidding aside, the movie has dialog that is cringe worthy, CGI that obviously is not good at all and a predictibility rate that is beyond anything one can measure ... maybe take a look at the trailer and decide if you want to embark onto this "adventure"

OK, so, we know that the writers of SyFy movies have a thing for tornadoes, sharks, crocodilians, cyborgs, and all manner of mythical monsters. They mix and match at will, things that go together, and those that don't. And they like those things to be big. They've given us things like Alien Tornado, Metal Tornado, Ice Twisters, Dinocroc, Supergator, Supergator vs Dinocroc, Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus, Megaconda, Crocogator, Mega Python vs Gatoroid, Ragin Cajun Redneck Gators, Dinoshark, Ghost Shark, Sharktopus, Sharknado, and the list goes on (I made up one of those movie names. Can you tell which one?).

I try to rate SyFy movies fairly, only comparing them to other SyFy offerings, because, to be honest, they stand alone. I mean, you just have to sit back and laugh when a movie called Chupacabra vs The Alamo is shown. In that regard, I think Robocroc was above average. You've got your nanite-infested zoo crocodile that turns into metal and jumps through the air and chomps its way through a helicopter. What's not to like? You even get "robocroc view", seeing things through the robocroc's eyes, a la The Terminator ("Food Detected").

My only problem at this point is that the writers of these things seem to be stuck in a loop they can't escape. They keep going over the same, well trodden ground. These movies are missing something basic; creativity. Where are the cool things we haven't seen before? Where are the space aliens? Ah well, with these budgets, I guess you can't be too fussy.

So let us guess what will be next- I'm thinking Robocroc vs Sharkinator.

Robocroc is one of those movies where you shouldn't expect too much from and had potential to be enjoyably daft. It has a great title, the scenery is quite nice(although the zoo doesn't really look much like one) and there are three quite good performances from Corin Nemec, Dee Wallace and Steven Hartley. Nemec has a lot of fun with his role and avoids becoming too much of a Steve Irwin clone, Wallace has a character that's ruthlessly evil and she relishes it and Hartley is wonderfully grizzled. Elsewhere in Robocroc, the movie, even when judging it for what it is, came across as rather messy from a personal perspective. The production values are a little drab- though there are much cheaper low-budget movies elsewhere- and the crocodile, who doesn't have much personality, looks more silly than menacing. The writing came across as cheesy and daft and not in a good way, I found myself either cringing in its banality, laughing out loud at how stupid some of it is and rolling your eyes at the cheesy tone it adopts. Some may find it enjoyably daft and light-hearted- and they're entitled to- and others won't, that's what opinions are for. The characters are not much more than underdeveloped clichés and despite the efforts of a few members of the cast are not easy at all to root for. And excepting Nemec, Wallace and Hartley the acting is not good at all, often of the dull-as-dishwater type and there is not much awareness of the situation or proper emotion. The story is the biggest problem, as said already it did judging from the title have potential to be daft in an enjoyable way. For this viewer though it was too dull to even be that. There is a severe lack of suspense. The premise is not much different from other "monster" SyFy movies and Robocroc doesn't do anything new with the formula at all, in fact it's all very predictable and at times confusingly structured as well. The pacing lacks momentum and the exposition scenes suffer from that and that they's rather talky and at times not always on-point. And sadly, the killings and the scenes with the crocodile, who isn't even introduced until half an hour in, are little better. The killings are not in the least bit suspenseful or fun- not helped by that they're not really shown- and the silliness becomes too much to really digest, very Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus-like. To conclude, Robocroc has a great title but apart from that, the scenery and three good performances it's pretty messy. SyFy have done far worse but that's not much consolation. 4/10 Bethany Cox