KOMODO (1999)
There was a brief window after Anaconda where "nature runs amok" CGI fests were not a daily occurrence. All too brief, as a matter of fact. Komodo slithered in at the tail end of that wrinkle. A bundle of lizard eggs - I'm sorry - dragon eggs are dumped on the coast of North Carolina (joy, we're associated with this flick). Twenty years later, these komodo kunts are BIG and BAD. Actually, komodo monitors are very large carnivores, but it should go without saying that Komodo ratchets up their size and bloodlust. Only-time director Michael Lantieri doesn't use CGI as a crutch. We get plenty of puppets, but you know what? The digital trickery is rather respectable. I don't have any complaints about the visual effects department.
I do have complaints about the capricious tone of the film. Komodo is saddled with heavy histrionics, and at times, it feels like a drama with disproportionate lizards in the background. It doesn't have any fun with itself. The script is too busy frowning. Believe it or not ("I'm walking on air"), that saps the energy from the finished product. I still give it a gentle recommendation. The action sequences are endowed, the cast is savvy (former Law & Order regular Jill Hennessy is a bright spot) and as I said earlier, those dang ol' reptile revolutionaries are slick customers. That's Komodo. Coming soon to video.
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