Komodo

A pretty ok movie with surprisingly good effects.

I wasnt expecting much from this movie, I was actually expecting it to be bad, I wanted to laugh at what could possibly be terrible effects but its amazingly competent in that astpect, the komodo dragons are well done, specially the practical effects but the cgi is also decently looking for the time. However, everything else falls flat, the acting is not very good, the script has issues, as well as the editing but I would say that its overall very watchable.

Something that I will give this movie is that at least the characters werent annoying, you dont see that in these kind of movies too often.

First off let me say one thing... B horror and drama are the only two genres that really don't mix at all. That said, Komodo, one of the few films to actually try to combine those two genres, isn't all that bad of a movie. The special effects are in fact pretty impressive for a straight to video cheesefest, and the cinematography is definitely worth noting. The cinematographer somehow made Komodo look like a big budget studio piece, with some very inventive camera angles and my favorite... a LOT of movement. I don't know why... I'm just a fan of camera movement.

The acting, though it wasn't great, was decidedly above average for a film such as this. Jill Hennessy, star of TV's Law and Order, put forth a decent performance, but her... errr... assets seemed to have a lot more screen presence than she ever will. Kevin Zegers, one of the most talented actors of his generation, showed little of that talent here, sleep walking through his role with ease. The remainder of the supporting cast was average, with the exception of Patrick's grandmother (I think), who was just begging to be eaten. Remember that one moment in Deep Blue Sea when Samuel L Jackson got chomped up by the shark? Remember how you felt when that happened? Were you cheering? I thought so. That's exactly how you'll feel when she gets swallowed whole by the Komodo Dragon (cue cheesy Dum Dum Dum sound), and trust me, you'll be wondering why Jill Hennessy even bothers to try to save her. And thankfully it's in the film's first twenty minutes.

Well, all that said, the movie did have it's share of problems, and then some. First off, THERE WAS NO CLIMAX!

The biggest one however, was the movie's tremendous lack of focus. Many movies do have trouble focusing, but never has that been more evident than in Komodo. First off, the movie can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a Jurassic Park-esque sci fi horror flick, which it hints at in a few scenes, a Carnosaur-esque Jurassic Park rip off, which it also hints at, or a full fledged character study/drama, which I actually wish it had turned into, and also... yea, you guessed it... hints at that. It had the promise, starting off a subplot where Jill Hennessy's character has to crack through the veritable shell Kevin Zegers has created around himself, shielding him from reality. But, alas, that subplot was thrown out halfway through the movie, the main plot with the killer lizards taking over.

Secondly, the movie doesn't want to decide on who the main character is. It starts off with the focus on Kevin Zegers, shifting to Jill Hennessy, back to Zegers, then staying on the two for a while. Then, about an hour through, Zegers is completely forgotten about for over twenty minutes, not a second on screen during that time, until the end, where he's brought back for some reason. If you're gonna have a main character, you can't throw them off to the side?

I made my own Jurassic Park rip off (well, technically it was a spoof), a couple of years ago titled Catastrophe: Jurassic Park (With Cats), and I did the same thing. That was before I knew anything about filmmaking. Now that I do, I watch a Hollywood film like Komodo do the same thing and I'm blown away. Have these people even gone to film school?

Bottom line: Komodo is an entertaining B flick, but little else. But hey, if the considerably worse Bats made it to theaters, why didn't this?

***/*****

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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The film concerns a teenager called Patrick (Kevin Zegers) whose parents are killed by a giant animal. He is extremely traumatized, long time ago his family and dog were devoured by carnivorous savage beasts, the Komodo dragons and with the particularity which their blood is venomous. Eggs were dumped on the coast of Emerald island in North Caroline. Nowadays, they have grown up in giant lizards terrorizing the island countryside. Patrick along with his therapist (Jill Henessy) return to the place where the large creatures roam for facing off the fears but their main enemy is lurking. They are helped by a valiant young (Billy Burke) to confront one of nature's most fearsome predators which savagely stalking its prey, the race human.

The dragons deliver the goods with hair-raising chills, terror, and full of scares when the creatures appear with outstanding special effects but they seem really alive. Apparition and attacks from Komod dragons are similar to "Jurassic Park's Velocirraptors" . Excellent FX by Phil Tippett studio with several successes (Starship Troopers I and II, League of extraordinary gentlemen, Blade II, Hellboy). Spectacular and atmospheric musical score by notorious composer John Debney (Sin City, Zathura, Passion of Christ). The motion picture was regularly directed by Michael Lantieri in his only film, he is a magnificent special effects supervisor and coordinator (Pirates of Caribbean, Lost World, Indiana Jones and the last Crusade). The film had two exploitation follow-ups: directed by Jim Wynorski ¨The curse of the Komodo¨with Tim Abell and ¨Komodo vs. Cobra with Michael Pare.

It's not really an awful movie, but it is pretty bad. At least, the plot and acting are pretty mediocre at best and downright terrible in places. The effects are surprisingly good for a movie this cheap. In fact, I was favourably impressed by them. There are one or two obviously bad animatronic moments, but on the whole the dragons look good to the eye.

This isn't a movie which will win anything, but it's reasonable fare for a rainy day when you're bored. Or a beer-night with friends. Don't expect Jurassic Park in terms of acting or effects, let alone story, and you might actually think this movie isn't half bad. No, wait....the story is still too lame. Ok, think of it as a tolerable film if you're desperate.

Watch out for the flaregun effect right at the end. I was quite surprised to see this effect in a low-budget flick that it stands out as a "Wow!" moment. One of the more original effects I've seen on film. In fact, the effects are what saves this movie from being a real turkey. Watch it for them.