Rogue

Coming soon to DVD!

Cast:



Radha Mitchell as Kate Ryan



Michael Vartan as Pete McKell



Sam Worthington as Neil



Caroline Brazier as Mary Ellen



Stephen Curry as Simon



John Jarratt as Russell

Directed by Greg McLean

Review:

While slasher icons like Michael Myers, Leatherface, and Jason get the fame and the fanbases to go with it, when push comes to shove these terror titans are nothing but puny pipsqueaks next to the heavy-hitters of the animal kingdom. Whether it be the Great White Shark in Jaws, the titular character of Grizzly (“15 Feet of Gut-Crunching, Man-Eating Terror”, as that film’s posters promised), or the gigantic wild boar of Russell Mulcahy’s underrated Razorback, horror films prefer their wildlife to be super-sized.

In writer/director Greg McLean’s Rogue, a mammoth crocodile disables a tourist boat traveling along an Australian river. While the frightened group of sightseers are able to take refuge on a small island, the river they’re in is a tidal river which means that by nightfall, the waters will rise and submerge the small piece of land they’re counting on to keep them high and dry. It’s a simple premise, just an excuse to put a cross-section of people up against an implacable beast, and in general McLean does a serviceable job here. Unfortunately, Rogue never reaches the harrowing heights of his previous film – 2005’s Wolf Creek – and despite a promising set-up, it also never quite delivers the full measure of B-movie excitement that it seems tailor-made for.

Rogue‘s opening half hour is leisurely-paced but not slack. The stunning photography by the late Will Gibson (this film represents his last completed work) is immediately evident, taking full advantage of the scenic Northern Territory locations. Genre regular Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black, Silent Hill) adds yet another resilient heroine role to her résumé as Kate, the capable captain of the tour boat and Alias’ Michael Vartan is Pete, a travel writer who’s only on this river cruise in a professional capacity. The rest of the tour passengers are the usual grab bag of romantic couples, families and solo travelers (including Wolf Creek‘s John Jarratt as a widower – unrecognizable from his villainous Creek role). The introductions to these characters aren’t forced and McLean conveys just enough initial information for the viewers to get a bead on them. Although with some characters, such as Simon – an obnoxious amateur photographer (played by Stephen Curry) – McLean keeps us waiting for additional insight or character development that never materializes.

During this early stretch of the movie, McLean shows he has the natural horror movie know-how to put the right beats in place. There’s just enough hints of dangerous waters ahead to make the placid journey interesting and it’s expected that the appearance of the giant croc will be worth the wait.

But surprisingly, after Kate makes the decision to take her charges on an unplanned detour to investigate a distant signal flare and the crocodile unexpectedly grounds the boat, the movie fails to be very involving or scary. It’s never bad, but it also never vaults to a higher level of excitement. For one, most of the deaths take place entirely off-screen. While this didn’t have to be a full-on splatter movie to be effective, almost all trace of visceral horror is beached in this film. McLean is clearly opting for the Jaws approach, keeping his star’s screen time reduced to quick, partial glimpses. But does it work in this case? For me, not so much.

One reason why the suggestive approach doesn’t play so well in Rogue is that its protagonists are just perfunctory; they don’t carry enough presence to make this movie viable as a riveting human endurance story rather than a monster movie. McLean’s writing doesn’t make any of the characterizations vivid and despite some earnest performances, these are all generic ‘types’ that act according to how these same types have acted and reacted in various other films. At one point, there’s an encouraging sign that McLean is finally going to move the film into darker psychological territory. A plan to bait the crocodile is mutually decided on to be the group’s last best chance to get off the island and a controversial nominee for croc bait had me hoping that this movie would start making these people go at each other, and to really unravel in a nasty way. But the moment passes and a potentially interesting turn of events simply drifts away with it.

And given the fact that Rogue‘s star crocodile is described by one nervous character as being “a steam train with teeth”, I was also disappointed at how meager a body count McLean chooses to rack up. For a 25-ft slab of pure death, Rogue‘s croc is more like a gecko lizard with an attitude. With a cast so top-heavy with characters that practically have ‘Dead Meat’ branded on their foreheads, it doesn’t make much sense to spare the majority of them. There’s such an inordinate amount of survivors here that many monster fans are going to feel that McLean’s giant crocodile just left his appetite at home.

While McLean may not totally squander the affinity for horror that he showed in Wolf Creek, this is nowhere near as ruthless as his earlier film. Wolf Creek was so terrifying because even experienced horror aficionados couldn’t safely predict its character’s fates. Rogue, on the other hand, is much more standard issue. McLean stages a rousing climatic battle deep in the crocodile’s nest, showcasing some nice glimpses of the well-rendered CGI croc, but it’s not enough of a finale to offset the mediocrity of the rest of the film.

Although its title implies a force of nature unleashed, Rogue is more often a case of Nature Gone Mild. Its croc may harbor a fearsome set of teeth, but Rogue doesn’t have enough bite to leave a permanent mark.