After surviving a harrowing plane crash, a man awakes with other survivors on a mysterious island and try to get their bearings to be rescued, but when they realize the area is home to massive carnivorous creatures and a rabid snake must find a way of stopping the creatures to get off alive.
This was a fairly solid and enjoyable addition to the series. One of the brighter points here is a rather fun setup that lets the human characters come off quite well as it brings the group into contact with the dangerous island inhabitants. Getting the early setup of the main guy being in debt and trying to find a way of ending his life honorably so that his life insurance can help make amends for his family, this adds a great depth to the character such that his cavalier approach to the plane crash and subsequent crash on the island is understandable. The attitude of his sister there to help him along adds a fantastic wrinkle to the situation as the group of survivors make their way to safety encountering all sorts of dangers within the jungle island as the giant creatures and natural predators come about to instill threats to their survival. Calling back to previous entries in the series with some solid hidden storyline beats or references, this makes for a generally fun time with a great starting point. That leaves the film overwhelmed with creature action as the series of encounters in the jungle keep this one moving along at a swift pace. Opening with a separate plane crash on the island where the giant creature makes a quick appearance to set things up, the initial appearance of the snakes to the main wrecked crew as they try to make sense of the crash adds some great encounters with the jungle setting coming to their favor quite nicely. Further encounters in the mountainous section of the island or going deeper into the jungle to get to safety while encountering massive creatures or the giant snake lead to some impressive encounters which are rather fun, especially with the spectacle of the idea taking place with the close-quarters battles with the escapes taking place even if they don't go the right way. The big finale features even more fun with the multiple battles against the massive snakes as the different setpieces involve quite effective tactics against the multiple creatures that contain plenty of cheesy action and effective special effects to pull off, making for some great points overall. There are some slight issues here holding it down. The main issue with the film is a rather unnecessary series of sequences in the later half trying to make sense of the suicide ordeal which slows down the plot more than anything. The whole point was already brought up with the series of interactions at the beginning where he starts to atone for his past trying to protect the survivors so to bring everything to a halt in the middle of the film to deal with an issue that doesn't need it anymore feels like adding melodrama to the film when it doesn't need it it. The other big factor here is that there's far too many times in the course of this one that there's unreasonable dissent trying to put blame on someone for what just occurred when a creature attacked as if placing everything going wrong is the proper thing to do at this particular point in the film. It also feels like adding unnecessary melodrama into the proceeds as it distracts from a rescue mission taking place during that time. It's not as much of an issue but also lets this section feel stretched out more than usual and is what holds this down the most.
Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.
