Review of Primeval (2007) by Jenny B — 27 Jul 2009

Any movie that shows us the partially digested corpse of Orlando Jones can't be all bad, right?

Unfortunately, that's about all "Primeval" has going for it. It's a horror/monster film with seeming social commentary ambitions, but it never quite reaches "commentary" status on any subject except the state of Hollywood horror films.

As I watched, I could actually picture the pitch meeting: Listen, we could cross "Lake Placid" with "Blood Diamond!" Gigantic CGI crocodiles! Intrepid reports journeying to Africa! And corrupt African politics and warfare! We can even throw in a line--following an African execution--about how people in the States won't care about one dead black man in the middle of the jungle.

Yes, there are moments in this film that are inventive, but--much like the Owen Wilson stinker, "Behind Enemy Lines"--for the most part, it's a movie that couldn't quite decide whether to be a B-Movie, or an eye-opening Look at the Horrors We Allow to Happen in Other Parts of the World!