Komodo

I wasn't going to watch Komodo when it first came out on video here in the United Kingdom-I'd had enough of films featuring snakes and lizards and dinosaurs as they always disappointed me. But Komodo was different.

Firstly, I think Komodo dragons are evil looking creatures (apologies to anyone out there who has a pet komodo)and this film was quite scary at times. It was set on an island and the Komodo's were crawling around although you could never be sure when or where they would strike. When they did strike, they did it hard!

There have been quite a few disappointing lizard/snake/amphibian films over the years where the creatures have looked totally fake and the plots have been very comedic. I am pleased to say that Komodo was very different and I would recommend checking it out.

I know, I know, you're thinking not ANOTHER Komodo Dragon movie. But trust me, this one doesn't disappoint. Clearly it's not good, but that's what makes it great. The Giant Dragons actually looked decent, and the acting was not as bad everyone would think. The plot was crazy and not what a sane person would call realistic, but therein lies the beauty. What's not to love about an island full of crazy Komodo Dragons on a blood thirsty rampage? Nothing, that's what!

If you are looking for an intellectual thriller, I have a feeling Komodo is not your cup of tea. On the other hand if you like having a few drinks with friends while trashing a very watchable movie this one is right up your alley. Dare I say, Komodo-riffic? Yes, I think I do.

To me, "Komodo" is fun. Partly because I am a real sucker when it comes to movies like this and partly because this one in particular was assembled by a cast and crew composed of concerned individuals. It not only stands over, but towers above many of its kin (some of which are also about large, flesh-eating lizards from Indonesia) with higher production values, a mostly excellent cast, and more of the creative magic that we love the movies for. Now I admit it does not appeal to all, in fact very few, but I cannot deny the fact that I liked it. And I really don't see it as that much of a guilty pleasure.

Now the setup of how a colony of ten-foot-long Komodo dragon lizards end up on a North Carolina island is an eye-roller, but the rest of the plot's fabrications are welcoming in their effort and imagination. You see, the lizards massacre a vacationing family on the island, leaving only their teenage son (Kevin Zegers) alive. When he is suspected of having suffered a mental breakdown (having witnessed his parents being torn to shreds in a surprisingly effective opening sequence that relies on our imagination to fill in the gaps) he is escorted back to the island in an effort to discover the truth by his aunt (Nina Landis) and a devoted psychiatrist.

The shrink is played by the lovely and talented and underrated Jill Hennessy (of "Law & Order" fame) and it is her performance's conviction and the sure-minded dialogue she is given in the screenplay by Hans Bauer and Craig Mitchell that formulates one of the best elements of the movie. Does the picture go into a big, psychological character study of her or anybody else? No. But what it does is create some likable individuals whom we might actually end up caring about when they confront the lizards. There is also a very interesting subplot involving a biologist-turned-mercenary (very well-played by Billy Burke) who is suspected of murdering his wife when the real culprits are, guess who? There's also a very likable character, a trustworthy and noble boatman, also well-played, by Michael Edward-Stevens. With the exception of the snarling, nasal-voiced oil company executive, I found conviction and interesting dynamics (in the monster movie way) from these characters.

I think the key to "Komodo"'s success with me was that, unlike many of its fellow creature features, it was put together by a director who had a clue of what he was doing. Is not a coincidence that the movie has good special effects when its director, Michael Lantieri, was the special effects supervisor of pictures such as "Jurassic Park" and therefore had connections with fellow animator Phil Tippett's special effects studio? The titular Komodo lizards are very well-realized via a combination of life-sized animatronics and some very detailed computer graphics. Not only that, but the filmmakers take care in giving us the illusion that the big carnivores are really there by having them nudge, bump, and knock things around in the sets. There's a marvelous and exciting sequence where one of the big lizards shows up unexpectedly in the house, bursts through a pair of doors that two characters are hiding behind, and knocks over a table stacked with items using its head. The coordination and efficiency makes this sequence, and many others, work out extremely well.

Also worthy of praise is the imaginative, technically-rich camera work by David Burr (he makes great use of crane and dolly shots whereas many creature features resort to tired old hand-held and locked-down shots) and a wonderful, ear-worm musical score by Academy Award-nominee John Debney. They work well with Mr. Lantieri (who had not made a picture before this one and unfortunately not one since) and bump the movie's production values up several notches above what we would usually expect from a movie simply titled "Komodo." Now you do have your moments of loony dialogue and again, I really wished that they had eradicated the physical presence of the greedy oil exec and instantly implied him rather than show him, but overall the screenplay for "Komodo" also shows some promising creativity. The whole movie does. Even its detractors have to admit that the movie is a whole tier above its contemporaries and I think, for people going in with the right state of mind, will be very fun. I usually detest the monster pictures I find on the SyFy Channel, but this one was a delightful surprise.

Whether the komodo dragons are depicted with animatronics or computer graphics, they look top notch and scary - when you see them. (You don't see them as much as you might think.) However, the rest of the movie is A MESS! The characters were murky and unlikable, and the story was at times so lacking in key details, I am positive that the movie was either handed to the most incompetent editor alive, or that they didn't have enough money to shoot everything. (I don't think anyone could be that dumb to have chosen to film the script if it had actually been written the way the movie progesses onscreen.) Not enough gore or action for the red meat crowd anyway.

Komodo is about a boy whose family gets eaten by giant Komodo dragons. He then goes on to forget this and put into care. That is until an unfeasibly attractive female psychiatrist decides that the only way to 'cure' him is to return to the island where his parents (oh, and dog) disappeared to see if it will jog his memory.

Much of the first half of the film is the characters wandering round the island, waiting for the boy to remember that there's man-eating Komodo dragons here. Then, at last, the man-eating Komodo dragons attack and start eating everyone. At that point, the boy says, "Oh, by the way, there are man-eating Komodo dragons here. Didn't I mention it?" But it's kind of too late by then. Besides, you'll have guessed which characters will and won't survive the man-eating Komodo dragons within about 0.8 of a second of them opening their mouths.

Also, there are some henchmen on the island. Who are they henchmen for? Does it matter? They're there to get eaten. In fact, I think they bathed in barbecue sauce (or whatever man-eating Komodo dragons add to their human meals to spice them up a little) before they came. Add to it an unfeasibly attractive man on the island to add a bit of love interest and you get a film that a man-eating Komodo dragon could probably write himself (albeit with a greater depth of characterisation and better acted).

I like B-movies and I enjoy daft monster-munching films. However, there's just something pretty lame about this one. The man-eating Komodo dragons are mainly CGI and you can tell there's really a green-screen behind them every time you see them, the acting is below par even for a B-movie and you'll have to be pretty bored to really enjoy this.

Deep Rising, Shark Night, Piranha - all totally stupid monster movies and yet, at the same time, great fun. Sadly, Komodo can't be added to that list.

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