Big Ass Spider! (2013)

Beautiful, moving film.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The main character lacks some of the swagger of Bruce Campbell, but is still recklessly brave both when fighting spiders and hitting on women. His sidekick is hilarious and the two act inappropriately playful as they are nearly killed over and over. The best part of this silly film is the interaction between these two. The rest is (parodic?) science fiction tropes: the military taking over without explanation, the refusal to warn the public to avoid panic, the spider's screaming sounds, the ineffectiveness of the military weapons, the actions of the main players, etc. This could be any giant monster movie, except for the clever hero and sidekick bits. And there are a few funny news flashes that are fun. Don't get me wrong, it's very entertaining. I laughed and hooted quite a few times. What this has over syfy camp like Sharknado and Megashark vs Giant Octupus is that the characters in this movie are funnier and more self-aware a la Bruce Campbell, as opposed to the chest- thumping macho drones and generic screaming ladies in the syfy movies.

For those of you who don't know, The Asylum is a film studio that is most known for their mockbusters such as "Titanic II" and "Transmorphers" and their shark movies such as "Sharknado" and "Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus". When I first heard about "Big Ass Spider!" and saw images from it, I assumed it was another film from The Asylum. While the film maintained a few characteristics of an Asylum production, the film was not only better than anything I've seen by The Asylum, it also had elements that made it enjoyable beyond just laughing at it like you would with an Asylum movie.After being bitten by a brown recluse, exterminator Alex Mathis (Greg Grunberg) goes to the hospital that is soon swarmed by a military team, lead by Major Braxton Tanner (Ray Wise) and Lieutenant Karly Brant (Clare Kramer). An alien-spider hybrid, which was accidentally sent to the hospital inside a cadaver, escapes and begin to run amok in downtown Los Angeles. Alex and a hospital security guard named Jose (Lombardo Boyar) team up to try and kill the spider as Tanner's team attempts to do the same.While the characters in "Big Ass Spider!" are one-dimensional and not very interesting, that proves to be a positive thing for this movie. In The Asylum movies, it feels like they devote so much time into the characters without having them be interesting, which just makes the movie slow down. In "Big Ass Spider!", there are some small moments that get us to like the characters without slowing the movie down. When it comes to the spider, the film keeps it mostly hidden for the first hour of the movie, save for the opening sequence. When the spider first shows up in its smaller form, you either only see it from afar, in the dark, or its legs. This shows restraint because most other movies like this would just throw it out there at the very beginning and get the body count up, but it stays mostly hidden, picking people off one-by-one until its entrance. Then, when the spider does make its grand appearance, there are some actual tense and well orchestrated action sequences and the movie becomes very exhilarating.While the character of Jose has a stereotypical accent, the movie barely uses that for its comedic relief. While Jose is the comic relief of the movie, he actually has some genuinely amusing lines like when Alex's truck is destroyed, he is upset that he left his glasses in it.There are, still, a few problems with the plot that exist in the film. For instance, the cadaver with the alien spider was accidentally sent to the hospital when the military knew exactly what was inside the cadaver. You'd think they'd be more careful than that. It's also hard to believe that the spider could disappear and end up at the park without being seen. Also, there are several moments when someone would have noticed the spider but they somehow don't. Though the movie has some flaws, they are shadowed by the sheer amount of fun and enjoyment this movie has to offer, while somehow still being genuinely good. It has some signs of an Asylum movie, like the ridiculous premise, the bad CGI, and somewhat recognizable but not well known actors, but it also has more to it. There are some funny moments, you like the characters, and the filmmaker shows restraint in a lot of areas.

A giant alien spider escapes from a military lab and rampages the city of Los Angeles. When a massive military strike fails, it is up to a team of scientists and one clever exterminator to kill the creature before the city is destroyed.When a film is titled such as this one is, lower your expectations and just have fun. Some critics have said it is a return to classic Roger Corman style. That is not exactly accurate. This is even more out there than Corman was in his prime. Others have said this is not as good as the SyFy Channel films of a similar nature. Wrong again, this is superior.If a complaint had to be made, it is that the film has a subtle anti-feminist vibe. The female lead, despite being a lieutenant in the military, is utterly helpless most of the time and needs a bumbling exterminator to save her. She just needs to look pretty. Wow.It would be easy to complain about the terrible CGI, but really this is just part of the fun. The creators obviously know it does not look real, but it looks real enough for the purposes of the film -- to entertain. While it could be a "horror comedy", it is more comedy than horror, with the gory scenes far outshadowed by the humor.Just relax and have fun.

Loved this movie, it was hilarious and fun to watch with children around. Just loved the role that was played by (Lombardo Boyar) as security Jose and the exterminator Alex (Greg Grunberg), which both made a great team specially Jose (Lombardo Boyar) was hilarious through out the whole movie. Truly liked the filming which was in the surrounding areas of the City of Los Angeles. I actually rented this movie six times before I purchased it several times as well to give away to friends and siblings.. We definitely have to give credit to the the director Mike Mendez and the producers of this Sci-fi Hilarious movie…Wish we have many more of these movies out that are enjoyable and both children and parents can watch together.. I would like to congratulate the whole cast for an awesome job..you deserve the award that was given to you all for best movie on DVD, on Demand, etc..