David_Mark

If you are a fan of B-grade monster movies, this one is absolutely watchable, especially Heidi Lenhart. I may not know art, but I know what I like!

The plot is stupid, the acting terrible. Continuity and production values are non-existent. The budget appears to have been the change from inside the producers' car-seats. In short, it is everything you would expect from a straight-to-video creature feature. The film succeeds on its own terms.

Some reviewers complain about the obviously ersatz crocodile, but I enjoyed this low-budget quickie more than "The Matrix Reloaded" and "Scooby-Doo" combined (two recent CGI-laden Hollywood debacles.)

You can catch this on late-night cable as "Crocodile 2: Death Roll."

Viewers and critics alike lauded the original as a visionary masterwork, the first piece of an omenous and prophetic cinematic puzzle that once assembled completely would shake our traditional faiths and values to the core. It was like a new religion for some of its more zealous fanatics. We were all so stupid for using computers. We better listen to these guys or we're surely doomed! Never mind that these new "messiahs" were a couple of comic book writers.

After this interminable mess (and the final insult that followed six months later), I imagine most of those people are back in their traditional houses of worship on Sunday.

What? You mean it was all a bunch of Hollywood hype? A ripoff? The comic guys just wanted to make a bunch of money? I can't believe it!

Free your mind indeed.

An over-written and preposterous script is somewhat saved by some good performances (particularly Brad Pitt as the gypsy boxer) and the occasional funny line (unfortunately there are far more lead balloons than knee-slappers.)

Zany madcap British comedy paired with grim and gratuitous violence makes for a pretty muddy mixture and the gimmicky editing becomes annoying after about five minutes. That said, the movie is somewhat enjoyable at times and the unexpected (for me at least) twist at the end somewhat satisfying.

I think it would have been a better movie if they cut every scene involving the diamond and focused entirely on the boxing storyline. Despite the attempts to join the two plots through common characters, they come off as two different movies competing for the viewers' interest (with the boxing scam easily beating out the silly diamond hijinks.)

The tone is self-congratulatory and you get a sense that the principals involved truly believe they are making a film of landmark importance. Call me crazy, but A British imitation of "Pulp Fiction" seems a pretty small blip on the radar screen of cinematic history. Pardon me mates, but I think you better find another savior for your film industry. I mean, the follow-up to this was the universally reviled "Swept Away." Granted it is virtually impossible to make a good movie with Madonna in it, but from what I have heard, "Swept Away" makes "Shanghai Surprise" look like high art.