Review of Carnosaur 2 (1995) by Adam F — 05 Apr 2013

"Carnosaur 2" has a plot that's a lot more coherent than the first and whether that is a good or a bad thing is up for debate. The first movie had a plot that was so insane that it was genuinely memorable and had a lot more going on than just "dinosaurs are brought back to life and eat people". While it may not have been a good movie, it was memorable. "Carnosaur 2" has a plot that's a lot more standard, with a team of electricians going inside a military building only to find themselves stranded and under attack. There is a nice addition of a time limit, as it is revealed later in the movie that there are other dangers inside the building besides the dinosaurs, but for the most part it's a plot that's a lot more predictable and less imaginative. In fact this movie doesn't really seem to be related to the first one at all, except for the fact that dinosaurs are back to life.

When it comes to the dinosaurs, the special effects vary a lot. Everything is done in nice practical effects but some costumes and puppets look pretty good, while other look silly, particularly towards the end of the movie. The gore and blood effects are well done and they're pretty convincing and there are plenty of explosions that look good too. One very badly done effect is an exploding helicopter, which is clearly a miniature and does not look convincing at all. While overall the effects are pretty decent, the performances do not sell these. When people are reacting to dialogue they're fine, but when someone is being eaten alive or is attacked by a dinosaur the acting talent just vanishes into thin air. Another problem that the movie has is that the director made some strange decisions while making the movie. Towards the beginning of the film the dinosaurs are seen only in quick glimpses or hidden by the camera but there's no need for that, this is after all a sequel and the cover of the Dvd tells you that there are going to be some dinosaurs here so why all of the mystery? There are also far too many deaths that are off-screen. Let's face it, you're not watching this movie for an in-depth plot or any character drama, you want to see velociraptors and tyrannosauruses chowing down on some surprised civilians. For that reason, "Carnosaur 2" is somewhat of a disappointment because it has far too few dinosaur attacks. There are some good scenes but the movie doesn't really feel iconic. There aren't a lot of scenes or lines that will stick with you and that means it's just an average creature-feature horror film. "Carnosaur 2" is a lot less zany than the predecessor and it's not all bad but it will leave you wanting more. (Dvd, March 29, 2013).