Wyvern (2009)

Masterful Movie

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

RELEASED TO TV in early 2009, "Wyvern" is a story about an Alaskan hamlet attacked by some sort of dragon-like creature, recently awoken from its long frozen hibernation. It's directed by the great grade-B-monster-flick director Stephen R. Monroe who also did "Sasquatch Mountain", "Ogre", "It Waits" and the remake of "I Spit on Your Grave" (2010).What I liked:The story is taken seriously without being dead-serious. The cast is good and the characters seem real and three-dimensional. Erin Karpluk plays one of the main characters, Claire. She's also one of the most gorgeous, winsome females to walk the face of the earth. What a smokin' figure! The dragon isn't just causing havoc without rhyme or reason; it has a plan.The CGI creature is effective.The ending is an obvious homage to Spielberg's excellent 1971 TV flick "Duel".BOTTOM LINE: If you enjoy modern monster-in-the-woods flicks like "Goblin", "It Waits" and "Ogre" you'll likely appreciate "Wyvern", which is on par with "Goblin" but a bit better than the other two.THE FILM RUNS about 90 minutes and was filmed in Vancouver, BC (big surprise).GRADE: B

This movie is pretty good for a SyFy channel movie. Not only are the characters fairly well developed but the SyFy channel actually got some decent actor/actresses for this movie. I did find it hard to accept the wyvern as it was portrayed. I mean they are suppose to be warm blooded reptilians. How can it rise out of cold Alaskan waters? Where did it come from? Why only one? The fat native deputy is a lugubrious moron, which is a shame. I have seen her in other roles where she is good. The Colonel is a stereotypical retired military type with delusions of alien invasion. Also how does a town of only 307 afford a police chief and a deputy? The Norse myths are an interesting anecdote for the whole movie plot. Not bad at all.

Wyvern is a rather bad movie. The acting is below average. The plot has no real surprises, twists or turns and stays predictable till the end. The dialogues are sometimes stupid. The scenes with the wyvern however where nice. It's well animated. There are a lot of errors and strange things with the special effects. It doesn't make any sense, why the doors of the cars and houses always fly away, like... a wyvern, maybe. And it must be a really lightweight, too. It doesn't leave imprints in the ground, whenever it lands.For fantasy- and dragon-fans, it should be about average. Anyone else probably won't enjoy it.

Just the thought of a SyFy Saturday night movie makes my eyes roll. However, there was nothing else to do, so we watched.Wow. I was surprised.For starters, the acting was actually decent. Usually, the acting in these movies is painful at best, but the acting in this movie was actually good. There is a bit in the diner near the end of the movie, when the main character gives his back story, that is actually VERY good.The effects are pretty typical for Syfy, however, this monster actually stayed the same size & proportion throughout the movie. Surprising, given the variety of long shots, close-ups, and CGI interaction w/ actors & locations. Someone thought it through, for a change.The story actually made sense, too. The sequence of events played out logically and the character's motivations were actually rational. Sure, there was the typical (idiotic) "make yourself a target" moves when some nit runs away from the only cover, or stands stupidly in the middle of an open area, but hey, it's a MONSTER MOVIE. That comes with the turf. The only utterly, completely, irrational part was the doctor's demise.The end was very enjoyable. Usually, w/ Syfy fair, the best aspect of the end of the movie is that it IS the end - but this actually had a decent ending, finishing up the story well, and having a logical and satisfying monster demise.Usually, the Syfy monster movies' only value would be as MSTy3-K fodder. While Joel and the bots could only make this movie better, their absence does not take away anything from the movie.