Living in a remote town, a teen caught up in a feud with a rival is forced to assist the sheriff to investigate a series of strange accidents to the residents, and when they find the cause to be a giant Gila monster released and rampaging through the area must try to stop the creature.
There was a lot to like with this one. Among the finer qualities on display is the old-school atmosphere of a feature set in that period. There's a lot to like with the 1950s culture setup here, with the loner and town outcast with a grudge against the perfect kid who has the perfect life as well as the hot-rod racing culture and the early beginnings of the lifestyle that would come out of their framework all manage to make for a really engrossing experience featuring the various subplots that help to engrain everything together in that period. That makes for a fun time as the overall atmosphere of the 50s small-town vibe meshes nicely with a more modern-day series of influences with the creature action. Featuring the constant short interactions that focus on utilizing the shock of the creatures' size and presence for a wholly enjoyable series of action scenes, with the creatures' first appearance, an attack on a farming couple and the derailing of a train which is a fun and over-the-top action scene, the majority of the film combines together into a wholly fun and exciting time with a great pace here. As well, that leads to the finale where it has a lot more to like. That they launch an initial attack on the creature by going after it in the cave hideout, but the resulting ambush doesn't stop it allowing for a big confrontation later on where the team confronting it blast away with all the gathered firepower which has a lot to like. The explosive finale is a fine if somewhat underwhelming based on the previous action but still manages an explosive take on how they destroy the creature. These here are what manages to hold the film up. Whatever's wrong with this one can be traced back to the genesis of the effects work used with the creature being the usually atrocious CGI. The classic complaints and features usually associated here pop up once again, from the constant size and dimension changes within the scene, never completely looking or moving at all like a real creature and never interacting with the rest of the live-action taking place whenever it's on-screen. As this is to be expected and not a surprise, there's not much detrimental about this feature, which when combined with the finale's underwhelming fight with the creature are what do lower this one.
Rated Unrated/R: Language and Violence.
There was a lot to like with this one. Among the finer qualities on display is the old-school atmosphere of a feature set in that period. There's a lot to like with the 1950s culture setup here, with the loner and town outcast with a grudge against the perfect kid who has the perfect life as well as the hot-rod racing culture and the early beginnings of the lifestyle that would come out of their framework all manage to make for a really engrossing experience featuring the various subplots that help to engrain everything together in that period. That makes for a fun time as the overall atmosphere of the 50s small-town vibe meshes nicely with a more modern-day series of influences with the creature action. Featuring the constant short interactions that focus on utilizing the shock of the creatures' size and presence for a wholly enjoyable series of action scenes, with the creatures' first appearance, an attack on a farming couple and the derailing of a train which is a fun and over-the-top action scene, the majority of the film combines together into a wholly fun and exciting time with a great pace here. As well, that leads to the finale where it has a lot more to like. That they launch an initial attack on the creature by going after it in the cave hideout, but the resulting ambush doesn't stop it allowing for a big confrontation later on where the team confronting it blast away with all the gathered firepower which has a lot to like. The explosive finale is a fine if somewhat underwhelming based on the previous action but still manages an explosive take on how they destroy the creature. These here are what manages to hold the film up. Whatever's wrong with this one can be traced back to the genesis of the effects work used with the creature being the usually atrocious CGI. The classic complaints and features usually associated here pop up once again, from the constant size and dimension changes within the scene, never completely looking or moving at all like a real creature and never interacting with the rest of the live-action taking place whenever it's on-screen. As this is to be expected and not a surprise, there's not much detrimental about this feature, which when combined with the finale's underwhelming fight with the creature are what do lower this one.
Rated Unrated/R: Language and Violence.