Rogue (2007) 8/10

When Wolf Creek the horror community was stunned. Here was this Australian torture film that outdid all of our efforts. It was beautiful and it was brutal. When i found out that director Greg Mclean was going to do a giant crocodile film next I was onboard immediately. Why the Weinsteins shelved this only to stick it out on dvd without so much as a commercial I'll never know. Greg Mclean has made another wonderful film, Alligator this is not.

Rogue is set in the Australian northern territory where few humans live. Enter the American travel writer and a band of tourists visiting a beautiful river filled with creatures. After invading a giant rogue crocodile's territory their boat is attacked and they have to seek refuge on a tiny tidal island. Now they must get off the island before the tide comes in and covers it in water. How will they escape the crocodile's fury?

The first 20 minutes of the film play like a love letter to Australia. Wonderful helicopter and macro shots show us a wonderful land teeming with unique life. Normally I hate movies that don't get down to business quickly but in this case the cinematography is just too beautiful to ignore. Once the action starts it doesn't let up. The acting is great as well as the directing and the script is actually interesting. I say actually because let's face it, when was the last giant animal on the loose movie actually good? The croc itself is very frightening and very believable. They used a mix of animatronics and cgi and the blend works miracles here. I was constantly surprised at how realistic the creature looked and moved. The animators obviously spent alot of time studying the movement of crocs because not once did the animation not ring true. This is coming from a guy that used to be obsessed with the Crocodile Hunter, may he rest in peace, and still watch animal planet all the time.

Rogue is a great animal on the loose film of the highest caliber. I can't recommend this enough. Its fun, fast paced, and believable. It doesn't reinvent the wheel but does an animal movie the way it should be done.

Nudity-none

Gore-mild

Overall - 8/10