Movie Review - Lake Placid

Lake Placid

(1999)

Fox 2000 Pictures / Phoenix Pictures / Rocking Chair Productions : Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

8 / 10

Now, this is a monster movie for the twenty-first century.  A good romp through the bizarreness of science fiction.  In the fifties, it was the fear of radiation; now, it's mother nature.

There's no explanation of the killer croc being where it is, though all the experts say it shouldn't be there.  Be we don't need to know why it's in the lake, all we are worried about is the gory fun that will ensue because it is.

The strange thing about the film is that it's not really about the two lead roles.  I think this is down to the writers developing better roles in the Hecter Cyr played flamboyantly by Oliver Platt and Sheriff Hank Keough spiritedly portrayed by Brenden Gleeson and the repartee they have between them.  Then when Betty White come on the scene as Mrs Delores Bickerman, the croc's mother, she steals the show.  Which is a shame for Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda as they look adrift next to the minor roles.

The director, Steve Minor does an expert job of building up the pace and keeping the excitement and humour rolling along at an increasing pace.

For the most part, the special effects are superb some of the hardest things to do are to create fur on animals and get their movements correct the digital artists did really good work here, and it was 1999.  Stan Winston and his studios looked after the hard effects and the puppet crocodile, which is amazing in its lifelike quality.

If you're looking for good fun that you don't need to think about just enjoy then I'd recommend this movie to you.  There are laughs, there's action, there are man-eating crocodiles... what more could you ask for... Oh Yeah, there's Betty White... nuff said!

Movie Review - Mimic

Mimic

(1997)

Dimension Films / Miramax : Buena Vista International

7.5 / 10

Man's greatest enemy turns out to be the cockroach that carries a deadly virus which is devastating the American population.  Enter Entomologist Dr Susan Tyler who has genetically modified a group of insects to become the cockroach's  greatest enemy.

Years later when the pandemic has been averted, something else is starting to kill off the human race.  We are not top of the food chain.  Though the designed insects were sterile and were engineered to only live six months, nature found a way, as it always does, to set a new balance.

This is a very clever Sci-Fi monster movie that adds thrills and scares into the genetically altered mix.  There are plenty of animals in the world that disguises themselves so they can hide when being hunted... or when hunting.  So why not disguise themselves as humans?  The writers, Donald A Wollheim who wrote the original short story, Matthew Robins and Guillermo del Toro, do a great job of using this fact and making this feel realistic.

The realism is also in thanks to Rob Bottin who designed the creature and the character shop and other special effects maestros who brought them to life.  Though released in 1997 the effects are just as strong today twenty years on.  I believe this is the case due to them not relying on CGI.

Del Toro does a brilliant job of bringing the story to the screen and adding his own style and artistry.  He also brings the best out of his cast to make the characters believable, though, with the likes of Mira Sorvino, Giancarlo Giannini, Charles S Dutton, Josh Brolin, and F Murray Abraham, it couldn't have been too difficult.  For this type of film, this is a stellar cast.

Though it's not the best film Guillermo del Toro has created, it isn't his worst.  If you have yet to see this movie then I would say give it a try, especially if you like monster movies, science fiction, or horror.