20130914: SFF Review--Robocroc

Robocroc

1. Fundamentals
1. American live action feature length film, 2013, NR, science fiction, horror. Spoken language is English.
2. IMDB: 3.1/10.0 from 573 viewer ratings.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 12% liked it from 27 viewer ratings.
4. Directed by: Arthur Sinclair.
5. Starring: Corin Nemec as zoo keeper Tim Duffy, Dee Wallace, Lisa McAllister as biologist Jane Spencer, Steven Hartley as General Montgomery.


2. Setup and Plot
1. The payload of a failed space launch falls to earth in a large zoo.  The payload contained nanobots, which are absorbed by a crocodile, and proceed to do a re-design on the croc into a completely mechanical form.
2. Anesthesia works initially, but fails later as the transformation goes to completion.
3. The cliche of a government official with rank insisting that the killing machine be preserved while it continues to kill humans is getting awfully old.  All four Alien films used it.  Too many films have some variation of the line 'we have to study it, it's unique.' This ends up with the same result: the menace is preserved by choice, which is absurd.
4. The first 65 minutes (televison time) were consumed getting to the end of this stage.
5. The usual next stage is where the official is overruled, and the remaining forces attempt to save people from the menace.  Unless the official was killed, they reassert themselves, and that happens in this film.  The robocroc menace is rebooted.
6. Why is the croc, now all metal, hungry for organics?  This makes no sense at all.  It clearly not longer has a digestive tract, for instance.  This was one more 'jump the shark' moment.
7. The heroes finally succeed using an EMP device in spite of government interference from Dee Wallace's character.
8. But of course, there is a final twist.


3. Conclusions
1. One sentence summary: Government field test of nanobots results in a rampaging mechanical crocodile.
2. Final Rating: 4/10


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Fine.


2. Sound: 10/10 Sharp.


3. Acting: 6/10 Dee Wallace and Corin Nemec were competent, as was the actor who played the general.  The rest of the cast was weak.


4. Screenplay: 4/10 Nanobots are used as some mighty strong mojo magic.  I don't believe that for a second.  There were too many minutes of teen-aged girls screaming out of desperation.  The inexcusable logic failures were just too much.  The dialog was not the best.


5. Special Effects: 5/10 The croc taking the helicopter was the highlight, but some of the earlier croc close ups were dark and low on detail.  Also, light matching was not very good in several scenes.