Big Bad Bugs

I am a sucker for creature features, especially when talking movies where the creatures are of gargantuan and monstrous sizes. However, most of those movies are laughable and poor, so it was with next to no expectations that I sat down to watch "Big Bad Bugs". So I would not be disappointed, but might actually be positively be pleasantly surprised. However, unlikely as that would be, given the rating the movie had scored on IMDb, I still decided to sit down and watch "Big Bad Bugs".

The special effects and CGI were questionable at best, let's just say that. The creatures were indeed looking like something out of a 1990s computer game. Yeah, they were that fake. And I must admit that I have never heard a scorpion squeal like a pig, nor having the ability to shake its stinger and tail to make it sound like a rattle snake. Or even monstrous spiders that sound like squealing pigs for that matter.

Now, the idea for the creatures was good enough, but it was so poorly executed on the screen that it was hard to take the monstrous creatures seriously.

The size of these creepy crawlers was explained that a scientist had opened a wormhole, and the creatures were milling through that wormhole into our world. Yeah, isn't it original?

And this is without a doubt the first time that I have ever seen a military guy take off his boots to cross a shallow stream of water. Seriously? Taking off the boots to walk through water, yeah, that was very military-like in spirit and training.

It should be said that the music score for "Big Bad Bugs" was actually quite alright. The music was well-fitting for the movie, and it was subtle enough to fit perfectly into the background yet still be outstanding enough to be noticed over dialogue and action on the screen.

The characters in the movie were quite generic and one-dimensional, which meant that the characters were fairly alike and only distinguishable by their outer appearance. And the script and storyline left little or no room for character Development.

"Big Bad Bugs" has a very straight forward storyline which is very easy to follow, and you can actually leave the room for some time to get something to eat, drink or whatever, and come back after a while and still be up to speed with what is going on. For better or worse.

If you like creature features, then trust me when I say that there are some far better choices available out there.

Sydney Gerber (Camden Toy), a very mad old scientist, opens a wormhole somewhere in Afghanistan, so giant scorpions can come out and kill all of his team. Dr William Marx (Jack Plotnick), a slightly mad young scientist, is sent with a team of soldiers to find Gerber and close the wormhole. Lieutenant Raiger (Ted Jonas) is determined to finish this mission soonest, because he and Marx are in love with the same woman. However, fighting various monsters and human enemies becomes an almost impossible mission that drags on and on.

'The Vortex - Beasts From Beyond' is an incredible movie. If you didn't see it, you wouldn't believe people release something like this. There is a giant plastic hornet and 2 talking (!) snakes. Probably becoming aware of how ridiculous everything would look, the makers added a lot of comedy by the relationship of Marx and Raiger who hate each other from the first moment, but have to continue working together on this mission. A few dialogs of these two characters are the only enjoyable thing in an otherwise horrifying flick.

Earlier today I reviewed another monster movie. Gave it a two. This one is as ridiculous and stupid as the other one, but I gave an 8. Why? Because it was ridiculous and stupid in a good way, as in it made me laugh by the dumb things that happen within the first few minutes. Does the premise make any sense? NO! (I really was a fan of the Starship Troopers movies, this one made me feel the same, 'stupid movie that I really liked'.) I also laughed when I read the "Goofs" in the IMDb site. I'm sure that this movie was not even remotely trying to be accurate regarding jumpers's chutes. Or the part on special dispensation for longer hair. LOL Thanks!

Interesting concept but concerning number of 1 star reviews, still thought I would give it a chance. What a waste.

The cinematography wasn't bad, so why not watch some more? The acting by some of the cast was fair ... maybe ... but others were just plain awful.

OK, rule #1: the movie goes the way of the script. That's when you find out this script was non-existent. If you don't know about a topic get some advice. The conversations/actions of the soldiers sound and perform like the were written by high schoolers. Whoch leads to some of the other rules. One of my favs: if you have never held a gun in your life don't take on the role of a soldier. It looks STUPID. Yeah, you cast members, you know who you are.

Now this is a sci fi channel movie so you know its going to be fairly cheap and shoddy from the outset. Usually these films have a vaguely recognizable actor or actress in the title role (usually someone from Stargate or Stargate Atlantis) but this film hasn't. The plot for what its worth has a renegade Army scientist opening up a wormhole in a cave that causes insects to grow to a huge size. A team of Seals and a couple of Scientists are sent to plug this vortex before it swallows the world.

Now these films can be entertaining but this is at the lower end of the spectrum for these creature features.Interesting to note that as spiders get bigger there skin becomes bulletproof to the point where a team of a dozen people can empty assault rifles into it without hurting it but a man with a knife can easily dispatch it. Also because the are bigger their brains are bigger so they become smarter (we know this true because of all the dinosaur astrophysicists).

To sum up its pretty bad, the special effects are weak even by sci fi channel standards and the pacing is dire. The finale is quite entertaining in a ludicrous way. Overall, I'd recommend you avoid this unless you are one of those people who get a kick out of watching bad movies.