Movie Review: Rogue (2007)
If you want to make a really good crocodile based creature feature, my advice to you is ask an Aussie to do it! With just two films, Greg McLean has instilled a fear of both backpacking round Australia and getting into the water’s of Australia! The latter comes under the microscope today but I don’t suspect it will be long before I dust off Wolf Creek to refresh my memory before reviewing that one.The list of natural “killer” crocodile films isn’t very long but with films like Alligator, Crocodile and Lake Placid the standard is really set in place. Although Lake Placid was destroyed by its Direct to DVD sequels, the original starring Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Brendan Gleeson and Oliver Platt was quite enjoyable in an overtly Hollywood sort of way and probably my favourite croc film. That was until I watched Rogue!
A group of tourists board a croc sight-seeing river cruise in what appears to be a very normal exercise. Just before they turn to set off back home, a member of the group sees what he thinks was a distress flair and raises the alarm. As they travel down a sacred, presumably off-limits stretch of the river, things turn very eerie. They sail past a half sunken fishing boat, possibly the original source of the flair but before they can investigate, a massive shadow beneath the surface crashes into the side of their boat causing them to take on water. Kate, the captain of the cruise has no alternative but to run aground on a small island in the middle of the river.
As they sit stranded on the small island, one of them makes a startling discovery. The river is a tidal river and before long, most of the island will be submerged leaving them defenceless against the massive creature that caused them to be in this untenable situation. Panic ensues and it isn’t long before things turn from bad to worse!
All things considered, Rogue is possible one of the best creature features I have seen in a long time, the suspense was excellent, the storyline was very believable and extremely well executed and the script was played out brilliantly by a more than able cast. Said cast including; Radha Mitchell as Kate, the cruise ship captain, Michael Vartan as Pete, an American tour book writer who just got oin the wrong tour and a pre Avatar and Clash of the Titans’ Sam Worthington as one of the locals.
Even though Rogue is a slow burner for the first half an hour or so we are not left twiddling our thumbs. We get to enjoy some great wildlife and scenic footage of Australia’s beautiful Northern Territory. When the action does start, I was very excited and certain scene’s had me holding my breath for long periods of time!
Unfortunately for the producers, Rogue has not really found the success that it so clearly deserves. Under performing in the box office or more accurately, not finding the box office run it should have had but nonetheless, Rogue has gained a large cult following and for many people like me, Rogue is now considered to be one of the better if not best crocodile film. As with most creature features, there are some gummy moments but as a whole Rogue was very enjoyable and I can’t wait to watch it again!
Released: 2007
My Rating: 7.5
