Director: Jack Arnold
Year: 1955
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Having been captured in his Amazonian home, the Gill Man is returned to America, where he is placed on display at a Florida waterpark with a slew of scientists holding him captive, and tries to escape with the female scientist attempting to study him as a new love interest.
Review:
On the whole, this one was a highly enjoyable and even superior sequel effort. One of the better elements here is the improved action on display, as this one has some overall impressive and exciting scenes, among the best, starting immediately with the capture in the Amazon. From the diving suit encounter, which is a fun, savage underwater brawl, to the eventual escape, this goes along nicely with the capture method that gets really fun. Likewise, further enjoyable action scenes come from the transport into the observatory tank, where it goes after the carriers, which requires all sorts of outside help to put an end to the situation, as well as the lengthy scenes of the two attempting to train it underwater, which comes off very nicely with the creatures' best interests at heart.
Still, the best scenes here are from the final half, with its escape from the facility and rampage across the park and the large-scale chase for the finale as he manages to capture her, forcing a rather enjoyable manhunt by the police along the swampy marshlands in a series of thrilling encounters that really get this one ending on a high note. These high-quality action scenes carry this along so well that there's a relentless pace here that keeps this going along quite nicely, even with the clichéd elements here of the scientist romance burgeoning alongside the creature's romance with her, so even these breeze by quite nicely here. As well, the carry-overs from the previous effort of having absolutely gorgeous underwater scenes of the creature, both in his native habitat and at the institute that captures its regal beauty quite well, and a fantastic costume for the creature are featured.
All of these are more than enough to hold this off from its small flaws. While the romance angles here come off rather nicely, there's little reason why the creature here falls for the girl beyond the fact that she's there. She doesn't display a lot of kindness that would warrant that kind of affection back, and she seems to be there merely as an obstacle to overcome. Lastly, the 3D gags here are atrocious and stick out quite obviously for the hokey-nature they appear in here. Otherwise, this one was quite fun and even better than the original.
Overview: *****/5
A better-than-expected follow-up to a classic, this one has quite a lot to like about it that makes for a great entry in the series, as only a few minor drawbacks are involved in holding this one back. Those with an appreciation for this era of genre fare, who enjoyed the original, or who are fans of the creative crew, will have a lot to like here, while most others might want to heed caution.
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