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[adamwatchesmovies]

Komodo (1999)

From the writer of Anaconda and the special effects creator of Jurassic Park comes Komodo. All it does is remind you of a bunch of other movies you’d rather be watching. The sole original aspect being that this time komodo dragons are the ones eating people.

After a komodo dragon kills his parents, fifteen-year-old Patrick (Kevin Zegers) develops amnesia. Psychiatrist Victoria (Jill Hennessy) has the bright idea to journey to the island where the incident happened, hoping that it’ll jog the young man’s memory.

There’s nothing inspired about Komodo. This whole film is an excuse to have special effects-generated kodomo dragons eat people. At least at this it’s competent. The one thing you can give this film credit for is that the special effects are quite good. I will also tip my hat to some unique facts about komodo dragons - like their toxic saliva) and tendency to hunt in groups - throughout.

Overall, the lizards could’ve been any large carnivorous mammal but some details that show that someone tried a little to distinguish this picture from the countless other films where oversized animals attack. They didn't succeed, but they tried. Otherwise, it’s a tedious affair.

The characters are flat and act illogically. We’re told the North Carolina oil company has been covering up the deaths so their operation won’t be halted. That seems a lot more work than simply relocating the lizards – who are native to Indonesia anyway. The lack of character development from anyone that doesn’t make it to the end means you’ll be able to see every death and twist coming from a mile away – except for a few scenes featuring Patrick, which are so nutty they belong in a completely different movie, and a nonsensical development from Billy Burke’s character, Oates.

To be fair, my VHS of Komodo was of pretty poor quality. So bad the sound cut out completely during the last 5 minutes. Perhaps the 2 lines of dialogue I missed were so revolutionary and thought-provoking they proved Komodo to be more than a “find-replace” script. I sincerely doubt it.

Komodo is the kind of film that only has one thing distinguishing it – the komodo dragons. It's not enough. It's a forgettable picture with a bland story. (On VHS, December 30, 2016)