Aquatic Killers: Rogue (2007)

 The long-awaited look at the OTHER Crocodile Film from 2007.  Back in...December (?!?), I looked at Primeval and planned to jump right to this one.

Here we are with me finally covering Rogue, a 2007 Film about a Crocodile...in Australia.

This one is also based on real events...in a very loose manner.  A rogue crocodile was loose in the '70s, but didn't attack anyone on record.

This Film is set in the Present (of 18 years ago) and has it doing just that.

Will the fact that water runs down the sink in the opposite direction there make a difference?
Will people realize that I'm joking and know that isn't a real thing?

To find out, read on...

Our Cold Open has a creature in the Outback killed by a Crocodile.

I guess this was made for the 6 people who went to see this and DID NOT KNOW WHAT A CROCODILE WAS.

Was I too sarcastic there?

The actual Story involves a man- Alias' Michael Vartan- who is temporarily stuck in rural Australia.

He's a travel writer without a ride and sees all about how crocodiles in the area are dangerous.

So, naturally, he goes on a Wildlife River Cruise.

I mean, obviously.

What could go wrong?

The Cruise goes alright for the random group of Tourists and Townies.

We get a family with a young Daughter, a snooty guy and an older couple.

They are also bothered by some locals...and Sam Worthington?!?

They go off on a side route when they spot a flare.

Their boat is attacked by an unseen creature (what could it be?) and stranded.

The group freaks out over their new situation.

Things get worse when one of the men is grabbed off-screen (and silently) by a creature.

Joined by Worthington (whose boat was also crushed), they work a plan to cross the lake.

It goes poorly and they finally see the creature- it's a giant crocodile!

Vartan comes up with a plan to anchor the crocodile with some bait.

It works long enough for the main group to get away, but the Guide- Radha Mitchell- gets grabbed.

She's surely dead, right?

Well, no.

Despite eating everyone (and everything) so far, it dragged the wounded lady to its den.

Vartan is lead to her by the dog- thank goodness they didn't use it as bait- and now has to sneak away from the apex predator!

After a serious struggle, he sets a dangerous trap for the crocodile.

It manages to stake itself through the head while trying to eat him.

In the aftermath, he takes her to be rescued and we see that he made the wall of the bar for his heroics.
The End.

A pretty good Film that maximizes the small amount of creature FX it actually has.

In total, the crocodile appears for just about 6 minutes on-screen.

This is no Jaws- that's a hard bar to reach- but they do a good job with it.

The human drama is decent enough, with all of the characters feeling pretty real. Most of them eventually get a moment or two to stand out as more than just really simple characters.

Hell, even Sam Worthington gets an arc!

The pacing of this one is interesting as it gets past the initial setup- stuck on the inlet- by about the hour mark and spends the right of the time with Vartan in the den.

My own critique is that Radha Mitchell is basically nothing but a prop after the attack.  I'm not sure how I'd have her help, but she's essentially the same as if he had to lug a briefcase out of the den.

Do something.

In any event, this one is a more balanced Film to me than Primeval, despite it making far, far less money.

Speaking of money, Worthington is not the only supporting player in this one who would go on to star in a Film that made over a billion dollars...

Next up, I go to my 'Digital Vault' for a Disney Film that is somehow not streaming.  What secret is hiding in The Woods?  Stay tuned...