Rogue (2007)
From the director of Wolf Creek comes this simple tale of a tourist trip gone wrong after the people become “tagged” by a seven metre long salt water crocodile.
Okay so I’m going to level with you, I love trashy monster movies! I love laughing at fake rubber creatures chasing hapless bad actors through the wilderness and when Rogue caught my eye I dismissed it for another rubbish crocodile film like Lake Placid or Primeval. But boy was I wrong!
Rogue does have a simple story but that is the beauty of it. The film doesn’t layer on sub-story after sub-story, it tells it like it is. A big man eating croc with the taste for human flesh begins hunting these tourists who have invaded its territory, and that is all, what more could you want?
The acting is very naturalistic and believable and you really get the sense that these are three dimensional characters opposed to the flat 2D acting otherwise seen in such other films in the genre like Blood Surf or Crocodile. Sam Worthington brings a great but short performance to this film and it really goes to show why he’s up there with the big guns now. And I was surprised to see Tim Burton’s Alice; Mia Wasikowska popping up in this film, seems two of Hollywood’s new stars really made the producers take notice within this film.
The crocodile itself looks fantastic! And the animators really made you believe this thing was real. The way it move and all the characteristics really created the sense that this wasn’t just another monster but an animal doing what it does best. This was one of the big surprises for me because many films which fall under the creature feature category have the problem of their special effects being so fake that film loses all what it was built on. If the crocodile looks too fake the suspension of belief is lost but luckily Rogue surpasses that with flying colours.
There’s a lot of pointed fingers ta this film saying it’s a lot like Spielberg’s Jaws but honestly I can’t see it, It’s unique it’s own way and stands well above all the creature features which have been realised in the last four years. Rogue is one to watch and it defiantly has the power to please audiences who don’t normally go for a giant crocodile or shark movie.
A well executed and suspenseful journey.
