Alligator X

I happened to see Xtinction(aka Alligator X) on the SyFy channel. This movie is not as bad as some of the other output that airs on that channel, but in all honesty, is that any consolation? Xtinction still manages to start out a mess and finish on exactly the same level.

For starters, the acting is very poor. Elena Lyons is actually decent, and the only real redeeming quality of the movie. The rest of the cast look completely disengaged, but it doesn't help that all the characters in Xtinction are very uninteresting and seem to have no life or purpose to them at all.

The cinematography is more than okay too, however the effects cheapen it. The effects are not the worst I've seen, but they are crude and horrifically bad in too many places, while the look of the film in terms of colour palette and lighting is drab. I accept there was a need of a hostile atmosphere, but the drab look made it rather depressing in alternative to foreboding and hostile.

The script is clichéd and cheesy, and the direction is derivative. What really kills Xtinction are the story and pace. Pace-wise, Xtinction is very dull, and the story and characters don't do much to engage us either. The story is very unfocused, with some of the film focusing on the dinosaur which was somewhat intriguing but lacking in tension, it was underdeveloped and the shock value was rather cheap. And the kidnapping focus that dominates the middle is just as derivative as the direction, with no genuine build ups to compensate. The ending is also a major let down in how predictable it is.

All in all, I've seen worse, but this film is a mess really. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Having read Science Fiction continuously since I was a child, I am drawn, like a moth to a flame, to anything that remotely resembles Science Fiction. Unfortunately, most Sci-Fi ain't it. And I love monsters. I don't mean zombies, or vampires, or werewolves, or mummies. I mean creepy alien life forms, mutations, and undiscovered animals. I've loved reading about dinosaurs since I was a child. Hence my attempt to watch this movie.

Most TV writers (or whoever is responsible for these screenplays) don't seem to understand that the average Science Fiction reader tends to be a bit more intelligent than average. And so when character Dr. Charles LeBlanc shows up early in the film to state that he no longer teaches because there is little "progressive" thought in academia because academia is all about "conservative" mediocrity, well… I'm outta there.

I don't consider myself either "conservative" or "progressive" but if that's the sort of dialogue the writers want me to believe, I don't appreciate the lame joke. Or is this supposed to be some sort of alternate universe? It reminds me of the movie "Smart People" where the main character may be the only "conservative" English/humanities/social sciences professor in existence. The idea that academia is full of professors who glorify "conservative" mediocrity, or even "conservative" ideas, is just too stupid to swallow.

When movie dialogue is that stupid, I go read a book so that drool does not drip down my chin.

Alligator X (2010)

** (out of 4)

Creature feature has a couple rednecks in a deep swamp creating a large gator that has been extinct for as far back as anyone can remember. Somehow this creature is now stalking the swamp eating anyone that gets in its path but thankfully there's some nice people willing to try and destroy it. ALLIGATOR X, which is also known as XTINCTION: PREDATOR X, is a pretty average movie from start to finish and I guess I would say that it's fairly well made but if you're advertising a creature feature it might be a good idea to actually spend some time with that creature. The biggest issue I had with this movie is that there simply wasn't enough time with the creature. The attacks rarely happened and when they did they were often filmed in a way where we don't see too much action. Again, I'm really not sure why they selected to try and tell more "story" than actually deliver on the goods that fans coming to these type of movies will expect. While on a technical level this film is much better than your typical film you'd see on SyFy, on the level of entertainment I'd say this isn't nearly as good simply because there's not enough action going on. The majority of the running time has our leading lady searching for her father and then constantly running around the swamp trying to get away from the two rednecks and her ex-husband who just happens to be the scientist trying to take this creature and make more of them. This silly melodrama about her father's property and the various other issues that come up really add nothing to the movie. The performances range from average to above average but none of them are going to knock you off your seats. In regards to violence and gore, the levels are pretty low as there simply aren't enough attacks to get excited about and when they do happen we don't get to see much. ALLIGATOR X is a real wasted opportunity and there's really no point in watching it unless you've got to see every film of its type.

"Xtinction: Predator X", "Jurassic Predator", "Alligator X", ... This flick has 3 juicy-sounding titles (and possibly even more) but none of them can conceal the fact it's a typically lousy and low-budgeted piece of trash from the Syfy stable! That's okay, though, because you at least know what to expect: a preposterous & incoherent nonsense-story, terribly CGI-effects, and a tremendous body count!

Set in the Southern Louisianan swamps, in the horribly aftermath-years of hurricane Katrina, the brilliant but totally deranged scientist Dr. LeBlanc found some bones of a deadly marine dinosaur species - more specifically the Pliosaurus - and promptly managed to clone and resurrect it! How? Who knows. Why? Who cares! The thing does need to be fed, and the local Sheriff quickly finds himself investigating 5-6 missing person cases. Luckily, for him, his former crush (and ex-wife of Dr. LeBlanc) also returned home, because her father is one of the missing people.

The IMDb rating of 3.0/10 (at the time I'm submitting this review, at least) is exactly right. Low enough to warn people with good taste not to bother, and high enough to indicate to B-movie trash fanatics there's some fun to have with it.

It may have helped if the so-called residents of Louisiana had even just a bit of a southern accent. The acting is barely passable. I've seen some cheaply made sci-fi movies that at least had interesting characters. This one is just a bomb from the beginning.