I read some of the usual 1 star reviews which are almost as bad as the 10 star shill reviews as this means it is the worst movie you have ever seen and this is most certainly not anything less than a 5 star effort!
Acting is passable and we have some eye candy in the form of Rebecca Romijn, who, contrary to the other reviewer, actually looks younger than her husband in this so she has aged rather well and her acting was just as good. At least the characters in this are not as annoying as the ones in the new series The Mosquito Coast and perform their roles adequately; nice to see Jerry O'Connell from Sliders back in action too, so the film has not skimped on acting talent!
I have to say I am rarely shocked or horrified by movies these days but there is one jump scare in this film which literally had me mess my pontaloons; it really was pant soilingly good, a real 10/10 jump scare which I have not experienced in years so be prepared! It was literally like watching a snuff movie it was done so quickly but so unexpectedly and realistically. It came from nowhere, like a bullet from the blue and had my girlfriend running to the toilet crying, it really was that gruesome, so be prepared.
The lions and rhinos are well put together so do not listen to the "poor CGI" reviews, i dont think they would know CGI from a hole in the ground; this is not a multi million pound mega movie so please reviewers, review a movie fairly within the budget and not just slap the usual extreme 1 or 10 stars as this is not reviewing a movie, it is merely a black and white emotional response and is never fair to the people who make these things for our enjoyment.
For a low budget movie, directed by the well accredited and highly experienced MJ Bassett who not only gives us a movie with a message on animal cruelty, he pulls off a movie which most directors would fail miserably at, he is to be commended.
Having given all that praise, the movie does let itself down towards the end with a drastic drop in the storyline into fantasyland and improbable death sequences and some bad editing.
Having said all that, if it is raining outside and it's the usual Sunday afternoon with nothing much to do, this should fit the bill nicely so gets a fair average 5/10 from me!
