Review of The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) by Jy S — 10 Jun 2008
Despite having some good actors and a potentially good story, this adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel of the same name, doesn't really go anywhere.The sci-fi aspect of the story is definitely there, but the movie fails to take full advantage of it.
In the end, this film feels like a sci-fi channel original movie, and I'm not talking about one of the rare good ones. After some decent opening credits, the film starts out like crap. Why the heck did they need to have that stupid fight in the raft? That was a waste of a couple of minutes.
Anyway, once the main character, Edward Douglas reaches the island, the film begins to take shape. Unfortunately, once Dr. Moreau makes an appearance, the film crashes back down. Slowly by slowly the story fades away and the film ends up feeling like an action film, but with weird creatures running the show.
On a positive note, the film uses costumes and makeup for the characters rather than CG. There are only 3 human characters in the film, 4 if you count Fairuza Balk, so I give props to the costume and makeup department here.
On the other hand, the creatures may frighten a younger audience.As mentioned earlier, the acting isn't too bad. David Thewlis pulls off the lead and Fairuza Balk is pretty darn sexy. Marlon Brando is nothing special, but Val Kilmer puts on quite a performance, especially in the second half.
It really does seem as all the characters in this film are crazy except for Ron Perlman.Unless you like Marlon Brando or Val Kilmer, I don't see any other reason to watch this film.
This review of The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) was written by Jy S on 10 Jun 2008.
The Island of Dr. Moreau has generally received negative reviews.
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