Komodo vs. Cobra (2005)

Admirable film.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Another laughably lame and senseless low-budget sci-fi TV presentation… but actually its kind of amusing… kind of… in a passably undemanding way. Am I being soft? I don't know why they come up with these titles. Yes there's a komodo. And yes there's a cobra. However what's the deal with 'versus' in between? Sure they do come to blows… in only two sequences (one recapping an incident and the other being the dodgy climax) and quite boring exchanges I might add. The get-up is the same old routine of a scientific experiment getting out of hand on a secluded island (no dinosaurs about), and some innocent bystanders (environmentalists hoping to expose animal testing) getting caught up in it. This sees a komodo dragon and cobra becoming massive in statue with the government soon wanting to destroy any sort of the evidence (including witnesses) of its existence by blowing up the island. So this leaves the survivors racing against time to find a way off. The prominent staples existed of awful video game CGI, hack script, few dingy sets (although the tropical island setting was easy on the eyes), throwaway characters (but I found the performances faired up), lifelessly tacky thrills (which for some reason kept using the same repetitive shot of the victim just standing there in terror… which implied I'm waiting, please eat me now, I'm not going anywhere and eventually they were swallowed whole… well almost as it seemed to always take a second gulp to finish them off or just save the hassle by stupidly squashing them) and a very hysterical edge with some sort of wretch message amongst the acts of survival. Director Jim Wynorski seems to be on cruise control throughout. Michael Paré has fun with his gruff dialogues and Michelle Borth added much needed sparks. Renee Talbert is there to pout a lot, quite successfully too.

Komodo vs. Cobra (2005) * 1/2 (out of 4)Leave it to the stupid government to create a chemical that turns things large and then they decide to feed it to a komodo and a cobra. Leave it to a group of dumb, young protesters who go to the island to uncover the truth and sure enough they are attacked and eaten one by one. All of these leads to the final showdown between the two giant beasts. Director Wynorski got his start under Roger Corman and many people consider him the Corman of the past thirty-years because he deals with all sorts of "B" movies. SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE 2 and BIG BAD MAMA 2 are among my favorite cult movies but that certain charm the director can get out of a lower quality movie doesn't work here. The movie starts off mildly fun with its silly story, bad acting and outrageous special effects but in the end it goes on way too long to really work. At least Corman knew to keep these type of movies around the 70-minute mark but this one here clocks in at 94-minutes and by the end of the movie you can't help but feel bored. The human characters are all stereotypes that we'd expect from this type of film and the performances are what we'd expect as well. Michael Pare and Michelle Borth are mildly entertaining but the rest are pretty forgettable. The special effects, CGI of course, are extremely bad but they awkward enough to be entertaining in a so bad they're good way. The final battle isn't too bad but the thirty-minutes leading up to it are incredibly slow and boring. The dumbest thing in the film is that Pare has a .38 handgun, which never runs out of rounds. He constantly shoots off forty or fifty rounds and never has to reload somehow. Fans of this genre might want to check this out but others should stay far away.

Nothing will ever top KOMODO with the lovely Jill Hennessey as a shrink (!), but KvC ain't quite as bad as I expected for a SYFY channel quickie. Just make sure to watch it while drunk or stoned, or while trying to go to sleep. The unimaginative title basically says it all: A group of mostly unknown actors converge on an island where a government experiment to grow giant vegetables has gone wrong. Giant creatures that came into contact with the vegetables have taken over the island and eaten everyone. So now the government is preparing to blow up the island, regardless of the people being there. The acting is wonderfully atrocious, especially a mustachioed general right out of THE INCREDIBLE HULK TV series, but this is typical of this kind of made-for-cable schlock. The CGI creatures are TV-level quality, which means you know you're watching cartoon monsters. However, two of the gals in the group are very cute, and worth watching as they run here and there in their tight little outfits. You just want to eat them up!

After having recently seen the Godfather, I can say without a doubt this movie is one of the greatest movies of the last decade. The only thing that outdoes the movie, is the acting in it. Rod McCary as General Bradley portrayed a tortured yet inevitably humane character.As a viewer I was drawn into the plot from the very first minute as the special effects were outstanding. The characterization and flow of the storyline was genius in its conception.The musical score reminded me of my childhood and the various themes displayed throughout the movie intertwined well with the orchestral and ambient sounds. The underlying messages hidden within this masterpiece reflect the problems of today's society; it is set in the eponymous year and focuses on a repressive, totalitarian regime, thus effectively perpetuating propaganda, with its meagre existence and ultimately futile rebellion against the system.Bravo, Jim Wynorski, Bravo.