Crocodile Island

If a child is not scared by a monster crocodile and giant spiders, they may find this a fun watch. The version I watched was the dubbed American version. I have seen a number of Chinese films before, usually with very good CGI, decently filmed, decent dubbing, and often one person who turns out to be almost superhuman in abilities. This is not that type of film. The dubbing was terrible, with a long conversation in Chinese given a couple words subtitle, and some sporadic English. The CGI was not terrible, but flawed. We first see the croc tail in the water, and it seems like that of a normal croc. Then, it comes onto the beach, again not that large. Then it is on the beach, and is it huge. Interesting use of gunpowder to treat a wound. They set up warning pots around their campfire, so they would know if an intruder approaches. But it would take less then a second for the croc to pass the warning pots and eat them all. The storyline states Lu Wenbing shows the honorable aptitudes of family, etc., which may or may not have gotten across. The movie does answer two common questions, however. If getting away from a monster, can any of them not trip, get snagged, not stand dumbfounded, or otherwise fall? And how many bullets does a gun hold? For the first, not really. And the second, more than you could ever believe. And now it is perfectly clear that Chinese film makers have the ability to provide a real stinker just like some American film distributors.

I have to say that I was actually lured in by the movie's cover/poster, and with it being a gargantuan creature feature and a Chinese one at that, of course I have to sit down and watch "Ju e dao" (aka "Crocodile Island") from writer Minming Ni.

Well, perhaps the concept idead behind "Ju e dao" was good in thought, spirit and on script paper, but the transition to the screen didn't really make for an impressive movie from directors Shixing Xu and Simon Zhao. Actually, the movie wasn't even mediocre. It was sort of lazy writing actually ,as writer Minming Ni was borrowing a bit too heavily from the Jules Verne novel.

The storyline was just generic and bland to the point where I didn't care about the characters or the storyline itself.

The characters in "Ju e dao" were bland and faceless. I didn't know where one character ended and the next started, because they had zero personalities and zero quirks or traits that would make them unique and likeable. So I didn't invest anything in the character gallery in this 2020 movie.

Then there were the special effects. They were special alright, but not in a good way. It was hard to fathom how such lousy CGI animation and horrible rendered textures would make it to the screen in 2020. It looked awful, and it took away so much enjoyment from the movie. A creature feature with gargantuan creatures is worth nothing without having proper CGI and effects to make them realistic and believable. Yeah, they didn't have that in "Ju e dao", believe you me.

Well, we are not out of the forest just yet. The acting performances in "Ju e dao" were horrible. It was for the most part very, very amateurish, staggering and wooden to look at. And that definitely didn't help to spruce up an otherwise flaccid and pointless character gallery.

You might want to save yourself the anguish and waste of nearly one and a half hour by skipping out on "Ju e dao" entirely. It just simply wasn't an outstanding, enjoyable or memorable movie experience.

My rating of "Ju e dao" lands of a three out of ten stars.

This has got to be the worst directing I've ever seen in a movie to date! One of the worst movies I've watched in my life!

After a plane crash, a group of survivors finding themselves stranded on a deserted island tries to regroup and find a way to get off the alive, but when they discover the place is located to a massive crocodile and a race of gigantic spiders they must band together to put their differences aside and escape the creatures.

Overall, the film serves well enough as a generally inoffensive cheesy creature feature. One of the film's bright spots is the fact that it manages to play such a ludicrous and inherently silly story into being as straightforward and serious as it is. The scenario about the plane landing in the area as a result of the magnetic forces at play in the location and being stranded has some merit to it with the background on the area being responsible for the multitude of ship and airplane disasters over the years. It also serves well to explain the presence of the giant creatures as the crocodiles and spiders are shown to have survived unscathed on the island due to their existence. This allows for some fine subplots as well once they get stranded on the island as the chance for the father to reconnect with his daughter while they're trying to find a way off the island with their build-up as the realization to let her grow up and be more independent is an expected but still enjoyable aspect. However, where this shines is the relentless and cheesy creature attacks. The CGI for the swarms of creatures there makes the action they're required to perform seem all that much more over-the-top and unnatural as the attacks here become quite fun. From the opening ambush on the escaping pilot, the beach attack on the survivors and the subsequent chase into the islands' interior, the series of attacks on the group stopping at ponds or lakes for water, and the big chase at the end to get his daughter back after being accidentally abducted in a prior ambush, the crocodile is involved in a nice variety of action scenes here. As well, the inclusion of the spiders in the storyline as a further obstacle to overcome makes for a nice diversion and includes some more action as well with the creatures hunting the survivors in the forests of the island. This all comes together nicely enough to provide plenty of solid creature action for some positive features here. While there are a lot of positives here, this one does have some missteps holding it down. The main aspect here is the aforementioned abject cheesiness on display which makes the whole thing feel like a made-for-TV genre effort. The ludicrous story we're being asked to take seriously and the quality of the effects are the biggest factors of this, where the whole storyline just takes on one goofy twist after another with the means of getting stranded on the island, the presence of both the spiders and crocodiles and the later discovery of the WW II-era firepower left behind all seeming like the type of cheesy setups they are. Likewise, the CGI effects here carry that tone throughout, ranging from the passable involving the giant spiders to the ridiculous such as the croc attacks, and the outright laughable which is reserved for the spectacle sequences involving objects crashing or exploding. These are in line with the atmosphere established with the storyline and help to make the film feel even more like that kind of genre outing.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.

A giant crocodile .. I mean of course right? Although to be fair if you strand on to an island that has never been inhabited by other humans ... who knows what you'll find on it? Ok I'm partly kidding of course. Although be prepared for the movie to give you more than your average crocodile - or is it alligator? I have to admit, I am still uncertain what the distinction is exactly.

I've read about it because I played Red Dead Redemption 2, but ... well I forgot I guess is the easiest thing to say about that. Whoever wrote the script here may have also forgotten a few things ... like how people would act or react when faced with danger ... surely not trying to make out in a river for example. Reminded me of classic US horror movie cliches.

The CGI barely works, but if you watch this as the "trash" (read low budget) effort that this is, you can have some fun with it ...