If there was ever an instance of Hollywood second guessing itself and ultimately making the film suffer, it’s the release of “Primeval.” When it was being advertised, “Primeval” was presented as a serial killer story. There was plenty of mention of a killer, but no mention of a crocodile.

I’m not sure what was on the marketeers’s minds. Did they think that crocodile films wouldn’t make as much money as a serial killer film? Were they scared off by the upcoming competing croc film “Rogue”? Who knows. Whatever the case, it was a bad call.

Still, it’s not like “Primeval” was going to be the biggest film of the year. The movie came out in January, which is known as a terrible month for movie releases. Case in point, “Epic Movie” was the month’s box office leader. Trust me, January is a crap month.

I was actually interested in seeing “Primeval,” if only for the fact that I like monster movies. I enjoyed “Anaconda,” and who doesn’t like “Jaws”? I even liked the sequel to “Jaws,” and that takes a lot of fan power to enjoy a movie like “Jaws 3-D.”

“Primeval” tells the somewhat true story of a giant crocodile named Gustave who hunts along the river in Burundi in Africa. A documentary filmmaker is assigned to join a team that will capture the killer croc and bring him to “justice.” However, as they make their way into the African jungle, they discover there are greater dangers than the animals that will eat you.

The crew faces political tensions by warring factions in Africa. They also face danger among their hired help. Soon, the mission to capture Gustave is tossed when the team has to run for their lives – both from a killer crocodile and also from a psychopathic warlord.

The only way to approach this film is as a giant slice of escapism. It’s not a deep film, even through it tries at times to deal with issues. It’s not a great character study, although it tries to give some depth to the relatively shallow and stereotypical personalities in the movie. It’s also not a great feat in special effects, although some of the croc shots look pretty cool. (To be fair, there are also some croc shots that look like, well, a crock.)

The DVD comes with a behind-the-scenes documentary about how they made the character of Gustave, as well as some deleted scenes. Additionally, there’s a commentary with director Michael Katleman and visual effects supervisor Paul Linden.

Ultimately, “Primeval” can serve a purpose. If you’re really into these “Jaws of the Jungle” kind of films, you’ll like it. Likewise, if you’re a fan of the stars Dominic Purcell (from “Prison Break”) or Orlando Jones (from a lot of things, with my favorite being the “Make 7-Up Yours” commercials), it’s worth checking out. Or, if you are looking for a movie that has some nice jumps and scares with the hope that your date will snuggle in your arms on a Friday night, it might not be a bad bet.



Specifications: DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound. Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Widescreen (1.85:1) – Enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Original Mayan language track. English, French and Spanish subtitles.