Primeval (2007)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I was shocked to see how ridiculously low the meta-score and IMDb rating is for 'Primeval' - it really deserves much more credit for what it is. However, I can see how this might have come about. For a start, whoever was in charge of marketing this film should be completely banned from the industry - I hold them responsible for the failure of this blockbuster. The adverts, so called 'genre' (this is not so much a horror as political adventure/thriller) and even the title completely mislead the audience. I was expecting a sort of crocodile/lake placid romp from beginning to end. And to be fair, at least a quarter of the movie did live up to this expectation. The other 3/4 of the film were completely unexpected and this may be one reason for its poor rating. A lot of people would have bought tickets expecting mindless gore and a shallow outlook on the picking off one by one of the American team with nothing else to it but survival.There is so much more depth to this story! And an excellent script - just the right balance of humour, moral debates between reporters, politics and...general build up of tension as stories circulate about 'Gustave' the demon croc and the civil war which is simultaneously terrorising the people in its territory. To be honest, I've seen a LOT of creature features and horror flicks and I do not really categorise Primeval as one. It is more an adventure thriller which just happens to feature a nasty 25ft crocodile. And in a way, it's a nice mixture. Entertaining a wider audience!The cinematography is breathtaking - also really unexpected! This is clearly not a low-budget film. You see beautiful shots of village life along the river, Africa's wildlife and gorgeous scenery. I was rather impressed by the director - and while some of the plot is slightly predictable (as you often see with similar films) he/she don't always take the obvious shot. I think the only let down is the CGI of the croc himself...though it's not terrible as people keep complaining about. It is a little OTT and the creature's movement isn't great....so a lot of like genre-fans will be disappointed. But as I said, this film isn't about the croc as much as it is his surroundings.Anyway...I didn't mean to go on. To summarise:PRO: * Amazing Cinematogrpahy * Depth to plot * Not too obscene (nothing very sexually explicit or that much swearing...which is what you often find in these films) * Not that predictable and an interesting twist * Humorous but not really cornyCON: * Misleading marketing * CGI is slightly disappointing

The cast is okay and the production quality is good enough to make this kind of watchable, otherwise, the movie is just all over the place. African politics, native tribes, betrayal, sabotage, shamans, rocket launchers, black-guy-comedy and what not and then also there is a crocodile, for some reason. So what is this movie about? There is a lot of stuff aimlessly thrown around, genres mixed, but no part of it is going anywhere. Scenes are pasted together randomly and taking out any of them wouldn't generally influence the plot at all.Now there is at least the crocodile, you might think, but if you're looking for a creature feature, look elsewhere. The croc is not believable or awesome in any way, disregarding it's 10 tons or so it has the agility of your average urban squirrel, moving so fast you barely see what's going on at all, making this part randomly pasted in CGI animation.All this is hard to forgive already, but then the movie also totally fails to build up any kind of tension. There is something going on and then suddenly you get a minute of flying crocodile, people firing rockets at each other, or whatever and then you're back to the pointless "plot" where nothing actually develops. What makes this boat sink, is that there is absolutely no suspense going on and you'll find yourself looking at your watch frequently.Bad, boring, stupid movie.3/10

There has always been a special place in my heart for Killer Croc movies. "Crocodile" from Tobe Hooper was super cheesy but entertaining as hell; an example of a "good" killer croc movie. Then there is "Blood Surf" that was so bad it made me giggle at the title creature every time it poked it's low budget face out of the shrubs (yes only the face is shown unless it's crappy CGI). "Primeval" is genius, even better than Hooper's croc movie. The special effects are beautiful; the croc actually looked real and monstrous at the same time, making it at least somewhat frightening. The night scenes combined with tons of blood made it look beautiful at times too, especially the kill at the bridge.Now, this is definitely a movie for moviegoers who love a good laugh and blood and gore. I see in the forums that certain people consider some of the dialogue is "racist," but I have to disagree. Orlando Jones is hilarious, and if your sense of humor is very intact you will find him to be the most enjoyable character due to him being the character who makes sure the movie does not take itself too seriously. Jones and the croc are the stars of the movie, they save it from being too generic.If you want a good storyline, do not watch this movie. It's fun as hell, but the story is too political when it should be about the croc. The tone shifts a bit too much showing that the director or writers tried to tie in political criticism just to express a last opinion. It would have been great overall popcorn fun if the movie would have been strictly about Mr. Gustave the Crocodile and no African rebels and such. Other than that, I love this movie and will always be able to watch it. Fun it is, deep it is not.

"Primeval" can only be regarded as a minor classic of the "true suspense" genre. Unfortunately, upon its release, it was publicized as a straight up horror film. That it isn't. Actually, it has a lot more going on than most - and offers much more of a payoff as a result. Dominic Purcell leads an impressive cast (including Orlando Jones and Brooke Langton) in a "true" story of the search for a killer crocodile in war-torn Burundi, an African country besieged by warlords and destructive civil unrest. Impressive direction raises the bar for this thriller, which I found to be very effective in both suspense and social relevancy. In fact, as Film Appreciation instructor at a state university, I showed the film to my students and we broke it down to its constituent elements. All agreed that it was a well directed, well acted addition to the suspense-thriller genre and unfairly overlooked upon its release. Yes, the studio should have sold it as something other than a "horror" film, but one cannot fault the film itself for a misleading advertising campaign.