Director: Griff E. Furst
Year: 2010
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot
When a series of strange disappearances has him concerned, a local wildlife officer finds that they are the cause of a group of monstrous crocodiles his son has found and kept for years, and must save the locals in the area from the savage animals.
Review:
For the most part, this one was quite an exciting and enjoyable effort. One of the more impressive features here is the fact that this one goes for the most action in the whole series, which manages to get plenty of impressive scenes that come with the standard situations found in these films. The opening attack is quite suspenseful with the growling interrupting the sex before the brutal water attacks, the first encounter with the adult crocs in the forest, a later scene where the crocs approach the house while he's with a babysitter and the numerous amounts of attacks on the water all come off nicely enough, yet there's even more to like here from the longer action scenes.
The ambush on the campers in the woods, from it stalking the girls before attacking and leading to the water ambush during their escape as it flips the boat and begins chomping on them for a great sequence, the sheriff having a tense encounter underwater with one and the first highlight battle in the escape attempt from the house which has the action from the race to get the car started while the crocs attack leading to all sorts of fun trying to get them out, a final house assault with the trapped residents holding off the creatures and finally using some ingenuity to escape all come off as extended, thrilling action scenes. Still, the finale in the supermarket is the best with a lot of successful barricading, lots of action as they chase the group throughout the aisles and force plenty of enjoyable times going after the group which is where this all score as the action rather nicely for a spectacular finale which has a lot to like.
The cast here does solidly with what they have. Colin Ferguson as Nathan Bickerman, the guy who arrives in town to become the new sheriff, and his experience in the genre pays off nicely. He gives a warm, natural performance as a caring, protective father and loving husband, a professional while on the job and capable of being a man of action once that starts. He has great chemistry with Kirsty Mitchell who plays his wife Susan, and their scenes together offer a rather nice family unit at first which enhances the fun once the action hits. Nancy Butler as Reba the hunter offers a nice, one-note bad-ass who's only out to showcase her skills tracking the creatures which she sees as a trophy to conquer. We don't learn much about her and it's a one-note role but it's still a decent role as she fights alongside the family to stop them. It would've been nice for Michael Ironside to have more of a role here, but just seeing him is fine enough. As well, there's plenty of great kills and a unique plot that evokes a lot of the original's storyline which really helps overcome the few flaws here.
One of the only ones in here is the few questionable parts of the story that don't make much sense. That they're considered bad parents by the majority of the townspeople seems a little excessive considering their reputation and really makes no sense to be included, and the storyline about having gone for several years without even telling their parents about the creatures right outside their house makes no sense for the kids come off incredibly bad over that fact. The other flaw here is the rather lame CGI, as this run afoul of all the usual flaws with that as they range from shoddy, pixilated execution to barely fitting in with the rest of the action and changing sizes constantly. Otherwise, this was a highly enjoyable offering with a lot to like about it.
Overview: *** 1/2/5
Much like the previous entry, this one has a lot to really like about it so long as you're into those kind of genre titles. Give this a chance if you've been entertained by what the previous entries in the series offered or find these kinds of cheesy creature features fun, while those that have no tolerance for those should definitely heed caution.
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