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Fangoria
April 2008
Ghastly Review: Rogue
By Michael Helms
SPOILERS!
Mike sez...
*** 1/2
In many ways, Greg McLean’s ROGUE is a big film. For starters, it was produced on nearly 25 times the budget of the Australian writer/director’s debut feature WOLF CREEK, making it surely one of the most expensive killer-crocodile movies ever filmed. ROGUE is also the product of an elongated production history that at one stage saw the filmmaker being well-paid to abandon his pet project; expensive flyers years ago touted a version to star Christian Slater and be directed by Russell Mulcahy. And the story is set in the vast open spaces of the Northern Territory, for which McLean developed a fascination during childhood and where he still hangs out. The filmmaker was ultimately able to transport a sizable cast and crew deep into the area to play out his drama of death and survival amidst settings rarely seen outside of glossy travel ads.
Many of the key creatives returned from WOLF CREEK to take part in ROGUE, including cinematographer Will Gibson (since deceased), composer Francois Tetaz and actor John Jarratt—who can actually lay claim to prior experience in the field of Australian giant-croc flicks, having starred nearly 20 years ago in DARK AGE. And now, after enforced time in distribution limbo (and following an admittedly poor showing at the Australian box office last year that was prefaced by several false starts), ROGUE will finally be unleashed in the U.S. to thrash around as the powerful and beguiling beast it is when the Weinstein Company’s Third Rail Releasing opens it in limited markets April 25.
ROGUE follows the tried-and-true formula of sending a bunch of tourists on a jaunt into the wild from which a couple or perhaps more will not return. McLean has put together a hard-working ensemble to enact this scenario, which they do with aplomb, loss of life and limbs and a certain amount of laughs (generated especially by Stephen Curry). But before we meet the human players, we’re introduced to a member of the crocodile family and its modus operandi regarding the seizure of prey. With didgeridoo rock blasting along, we take a panoramic trip down a massive gorge and onto its floor to catch various flora and fauna in the wild. Insects buzz, birds fly and animals gather by the water’s edge. Suddenly, under reptilian gaze, silence descends and ROGUE’s first victim is dispatched with shocking efficiency. Nowhere to run. No time to think. Unlike in WOLF CREEK, there’s no 45-minute get-to-know-you sequence for these hapless victims.
This act reflects the ruthlessness of ROGUE itself, which proceeds with haste once the mix of international and local tourists are aboard the boat that is the family business of tour guide/captain Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell). Kate delivers a spiel about crocs (in a pitch-perfect Orstralian accent for which the Aussie-born Mitchell nonetheless needed a coach!) that simultaneously and smartly delivers general data on the reptiles. The group comprising all ages and sexes (plus a dog) includes three single males; the lead is Pete (ALIAS’ Michael Vartan), an American travel writer who reluctantly takes the trip that will give him a whole new meaning to the phrase “killing time.” Jarratt offers fine support as the belligerent and recently widowed Russell, while Curry as Simon, a nerdy guy with a new camera, is effortlessly amusing. A stylistic strength in ROGUE is the way McLean and Gibson show as much of the cast as possible in single frames; non-verbal background work becomes important in conveying character information and helps augment the tension when the first attack occurs.
Not until we’re on the water do we meet Sam Worthington (soon to be seen starring in James Cameron’s AVATAR) as Kate’s boyfriend Neil and his sidekick, played by Damian Richardson, who don’t necessarily come in peace. But the greater, reptilian threat soon makes its presence felt, and it’s during the subsequent human/crocodile interaction that ROGUE truly comes into its own, with excellent CGI provided by Sydney-based company Fuel. The company created a digital version of a prop created by John Cox, and the intense attack scenes are positively enhanced by the detailed creature design. Brief shots reveal a scaly hide that almost seems more dangerous than the attacker’s vicious set of teeth; you definitely don’t want it to wrap its tail around your head.
While the scenes of violence occur with regularity and McLean does throw in a number of gore shots, ROGUE doesn’t constantly keep the hysteria level cranked up à la CLOVERFIELD. Instead, he aims for broader psychological impact, and his script leads the way by inverting all the character types. Vartan makes Pete a reluctant hero to the point of recalcitrance, while after the encounter with Neil, there’s little doubt that Kate is going to go the Sigourney Weaver/Linda Hamilton route—yet their roles don’t quite develop as you’d expect. Australian actress Heather Mitchell is also a standout playing a sickly Englishwoman on tour with her husband and daughter, and in fact, most of the characters are on arcs of doom—even those not fated to die in the crocodile’s jaws.
In the end, ROGUE makes for a great Saturday-matinee movie, best seen on the largest screen possible and bearing a high repeat-viewing factor. Track it down at a theater so that you can answer the question, “What did you think of the tour?”
© 2008 STARLOG GROUP, Inc.
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