Ridiculously fun and ridiculously violent sci-fi action monster movie (CGI sci-fi monster violence, not like Godfather violence). Totally a different movie, but shades of Starship Troopers, maybe even that John Carter movie that everybody hated at first but over time has gained quite a following, and deservedly so.
Milla Jovovich and her small crew of soldiers are forcibly transported to some alternate dimension, to an earth-like planet. And in this alternate dimension lives some very nasty creatures indeed. Same sorta deal as in The Mist, but instead of the monsters coming from their dimension to ours, Milla and her crew are sent to their dimension.
Even with their military training and big weapons, Milla and her crew are completely overmatched, outnumbered and overpowered. Many die. Milla is taken captive by a human. Eventually they both realize that they have bigger enemies than each other, so they work together, Enemy Mine style, to try and find some way to first survive, and then hopefully find some way to get Milla back to her proper dimension.
The monsters look absolutely amazing. The physics of the CGI look better in this than I’ve ever seen in any other movie. Better than Lord of the Rings, better than any Godzilla flick, better than any Star Wars flick. This is the standard by which all others should be judged for CGI physics.
As every reviewer on the internet has mentioned, this movie is LOUD. Fire up the subwoofers and shake the walls and let the entire neighborhood know what you’re watching.
The only downside is that nothing is resolved in the end. Very much intentionally so, so as to set up a sequel. Would have been nice (and would have been possible I think, with some editing) to have this all wrapped up on a single movie, but I guess there’s too much money to be made, so we’ll have to wait for the sequel. Although this one completely flopped at the box office, so I’m wondering if some of the executive types are questioning whether to fund a sequel or not. But at the same time, you can’t just end a movie on a massive cliffhanger like that. Time will tell.
With Ron Perlman.
B-movie Roundup 