Director: Guillermo del Toro
Year: 1997
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Working in New York, married doctors attempting a cure of a devastating disease affecting children in the city find their work has caused a mutated species of humanoid cockroach to appear that is hunting in the city and forcing them into action to stop the creatures.
Review:
This was quite enjoyable if still somewhat flawed overall. When this one does work, it's usually due to the creatures themselves here, which is quite fun as the film gives them some rather enjoyable elements, starting with their origin and back-story. The idea of being bred to contain a viral disease through genetic mutations is certainly fine enough, yet there's more here with the mutation offering the chance to really change their behavior around for the better here as it comes from a realistic adaptation in the real creature.
This feature helps this one along nicely by playing into the setting here with this one being in the underground sewers and tunnels, when the adaptation is put to good use, blending in and launching their attacks, which are quite fun, as it leads into a lot of action here. From the opening rooftop chase to the encounter with the boys in the tunnel, as well as the church stalking and the encounter in the abandoned subway station, there's a lot of great action here that all sets up the fun of the finale. The attack on the subway car is quite chilling, the race to get to the surface is even more impactful, and there's even more fun here with the chain reaction explosions and stalking done here that really makes this fun while giving it a couple of gory kills amongst the action.
Along with the fantastic look of the giant, humanoid cockroaches, there's enough here to help this out against the film's flaws. One of the biggest is that the film suffers from the overly-complicated scientific explanations for what's happening, as despite making sure it's stood but also hammers down the explanations to the point of overkill. Due to going into detail with every person they come into contact with, at times, this makes the film feel like it's going on an extended loop for no real reason. Another factor in this is that it appears too long for its own good, especially in the early parts, trying to examine everything, which makes the film feel incredibly long and not all that interesting, focusing on the scientific angle. Even some of the CGI shots here are quite weak and seem obvious, especially at the end, where the exaggerated movements give away the technique and stand out during the fine action scenes. These here are what hold this one down.
Overview: ****/5
Enjoyable for what it is but nothing special overall, there’s enough to be had with this one that makes it likable, even though the issues present here do end up holding it down overall. Give it a shot if you’re a fan of this particular style of genre fare, aren’t bothered by its drawbacks, or are fans of the creative crew, while most others out there might want to heed caution.
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