Heatstroke

Shaky camera work - just continues to randomly move for no reason - even while doing shots that require a steady hand.

Choppy editing. If you like your stuff chopped up, with lots of random moves that were not in the previous shot, misplaced people, and horrible fight scenes, then this is for you! Come on and watch...spot the mistakes - maybe even win a prize! Nasty fight scenes. Do you enjoy nasty fight scenes where people don't even connect when throwing a punch or when blocking a punch? Take a peek...it happens several times.

Look for the amazing swift moves such as - kicking and spins that do not hit their target and the ever fun - flipping somebody over with a single outreached hand...

CGI - yes, that stands for computer generated information - which basically stands for = making phony things look funny...like aliens that look like cartoon characters.

Good dialog and acting...if you think you can spot it - YOU WIN!

Maybe that's what they attempted, an exercise for actors to show they had the acting skill to speak the worst lines that could be written, and make those lines passable.

I wondered first if it was poor actors ad libbing, which I've seen in Louisville productions, bot "no". You can see every actor and actress struggling with clumsy lines. That can't be coincidence.

So the plot? Sci fi creatures killing vulnerable people and people having dreams. And aversion of X files even dumber than X Files (which was a hack TV series about the department of defense hiding the existence of aliens from the public so they couldn't ask for a bigger budget at appropriations time. Yes, this plot is even dumber) How do you get dumber than a government branch trying to hide the existence of something that would grant them a bigger budget? By elaborating even more on what was dumber about X Files. That people wouldn't want aliens.

There's even an expository line where a lady scientist claims she wanted to believe in God and that she didn't want to believe in aliens, because she believed God made humans in his own image.

Said no one ever.

Because no one wants to believe that. People want to believe in aliens. We have proof of this. The IMDB top 250 presently has 8 movies dealing with outer space. All 8 of those contain aliens. That's what people want. Even I want that. I'm not going to watch an outer space movie sci fi movie with no aliens. Rarely.

Is there an exception? For me, SILENT RUNNING and OUTLAND are about it. And neither are in the top 250. Why? People want aliens!

The writing is definitive of "expository". But I don't consider it totally "contrived". The only "contrived" part is the failure of the military in hunting the creatures. Kind of a "groaner" scene there.

I'll give it points for being an "exercise" for actors. I truly believe that is what this is. An exercise where actors and actresses weren't allowed to alter lines, and instead try to make something of the ridiculous script before them.

You know, this movie had a low budget, mediocre acting, bad writing, and was full of cliches. EVEN SO, it could have been a fun B-grade horror movie to watch, but the CGI! My God, the CGI was amateurish and terrible! I laughed out loud! A person in a suit would have been MUCH better.

This one pulls out several stock monster movie plot devices, but yet manages to entertain if you take it at face value. You want vicious, blood thirsty aliens sneaking around on a remote island? You got it, along with some pretty-girl potential victims, trigger-happy marines who feed the critters with dozens of rounds of ammunition, people who whine about monster legends, the usual dumb skeptics, plus some beautiful south Pacific island shots.

Oh, and the creatures themselves. They're designed creepy enough (as usual, a hybrid of insect and human characteristics), but the director falls into the temptation of showing them way too early. Having them lurking in shadows, brushing plants, their brutal bloody attacks with unexpected deadly powers would have made them menacing; using some of their unusual powers in a mysterious way rather than showing these skills would have made them menacing enough. The unseen terror is usually scarier and more intimidating than seeing a fake looking CGI monster.

Danika McKellar is wasted on a shallow stereotyped character that you learn little about. She makes the most of what little the script offers, but I wish somebody would offer her some better roles.

The story is really just a series of encounters with the aliens, sometimes they croak an Earthling, sometimes the Earthling gets them first. Very little of the plot the creatures are hatching is developed. Some scenes are flat out stupid, such as the naive-scientist-trying-to-communicate-with-the-alien-race cliché scene. The approach of the dummy is so childlike, I thought she was going to say, "Polly want a cracker? Dat's a good alien!" any second. And the outcome is so obvious as to be comical.

Still, with all these shortcomings, the film never tries to be more than the fast food sci-fi/horror that it is, and just has a good time with its action. Good enough for a laugh on a rainy afternoon when you have nothing else to do.

For DB Sweeney, it must have been quite a comedown from FIRE IN THE SKY to this. Sweeney, who once showed promise as a light leading man, here portrays a cardboard military guy hot on the trail of an killer E.T. in Hawaii. Sweeney and his crew race around in various Jeeps and small SUVs, while the badly animated creature hops here and there, doing in one person after another. Sweeney ends up crossing paths with a model (McKellar) who teaming up with him in pursuit of the monster. She's the eye candy, folks. By the way, the alien in this could just as easily have been a raptor, for all it's worth. Ah well, I'm sure cast and crew had a good time shooting in Hawaii.