Rogue (2007)

Movie Info

Boy, the last season of Gilligan’s Island didn’t even try to make the island feel isolated

American reporter Peter McKell (Michael Vartan) has been given an assignment to report on a saltwater crocodile tour in Australia and finds himself assigned to the boat tour of Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell).  Travelling up the river, a distress flare is seen, but Kate’s attempts to investigate the flare lead to horror.  A massive rogue crocodile has staked its claim to the river, and Kate, Pete, and a boatload of tourists find themselves stranded on a tidal island.  The water is coming in and the crocodile is in the water surrounding them…and it is hungry.

Written and directed by Greg McLean, Rogue is a man-vs-nature horror survival film.  The movie premiered at the Sitges International Festival of Fantastic and Horror Cinema then received a limited release in the United States.  It received mostly positive reviews.

I loved man-vs-nature animal-attacks type movies.  With a standard killer there is a human vs. human element.  An animal vs. human has humans having to resort to a more primal battle approach.  It is both less predictable and completely predictable.  Rogue is a great example of humans trying to out-think an animal.  Due to aspects of the story, a ******spoiler alert****** exists for the rest of the review.

I hate to remind you guys that crocodiles can run on land and quite fast…so we’re technically meat up here too

The story has a rather typical set-up in the world of Jaws and other horror movies.  The characters become stranded, with no means of help coming, and with the creature picking them off one-by-one.  There are jerk characters (who generally pay for their actions), and there are heroes who might or might not survive since the animal doesn’t recognize heroism.  The movie also has the classic “we’re out but let’s put ourself in danger again”.  It does end up killing the crocodile and saving Kate Ryan from death, but it is an illogical decision by Michael Vartan to risk himself over the dog (who suffers a shocking death).

The cast is primarily led by Michael Vartan and Radha Mitchell.  Mitchell has shown her horror chops in Pitch Black which has a similar feel in survival.  Sam Worthington has a pre-Avatar role, but he doesn’t have the Avatar luck.  The movie also features a small role by a young Mia Wasikowska before her starring turn in Alice in Wonderland.

Maybe, Kevin’s still ok…he’s just pretending here

The alligator is the showcase for the movie and it is a rather well designed computer creature.  I do feel that the fact that crocodiles are land and water creatures is rather ignored (the land isn’t safe either…but the characters seem to forget it).  The crocodile is huge, but I do feel it could be a bit faster in both the water and in the final fight in the cave.

Rogue is a fun movie and a good addition to the animal attack genre.  The attacks are brutal and the classic set-up is basic horror survival.  With movies like this and Crawl, alligators and crocodiles can be threatening and vicious and less humorous than something like Lake Placid.  There aren’t a lot of surprises in Rogue, but it is still a fun ride…and it is a ride worth taking.