Curse of the Komodo Movie Review

By: Justin Hopkins

** Spoiler Warning**

I wanted to do this one a lot sooner than now, but have kept pushing it off for various of reasons. Being really fond of the first Komodo movie when I was a kid, and starting my love for the cheezy movies starring genetically enhanced animals. Twenty years later and I don’t quite remember much about it outside of the fact that I enjoyed it, and wanted to see how well its 2004 sequel did. Sitting down and gave it a watch. Despite it having promising idea and a decent enough cast. Curse of the Komodo couldn’t seem to get out of it’s own way and the movie suffered because of it.  Lets me break some stuff down and explain why I think that.

Movie starts off on an island. A group of scientists and security are stationed in a safe house, and a special force group is sent in, to test Project Catalyst. An experiment that was supposed to be used to grow food, but Navy turned it into a weapon that created the Giant Komodo Dragon. After an argument between the lead scientists and the Navy Commander. They were sent in to collect their data and clean up the evidence.  They then take a break from this group to go to a Casino Heist already in progress. Lead by the stoic and evil Drake, Reece, and Tiffany . They make it out, but not before killing a cashier. Running to Jack, the Helicopter pilot who crash on to the island, after they stupidly force him to fly in a hurricane. With all the players on the Island, they have to work together to survive and not just against the Komodo and the pending airstrike, but the infectious secretions that for some reason turns those infected into mindless zombies, and I don’t even know where to start with any of this.

This movie throws so much at you. Between character changes development, to plot twists. Take the zombie thing for instance. There is no reason for that to happen. Komodo’s are in fact poisonous and creates an intriguing dynamic to the story. Having them become a zombie for no reason, halfway through the movie was a pointless addition. They set up a redemption arc between Drake and Tiffany that went nowhere, and for whatever reason, Jack flipped between likable to villain and back to likable in a matter of ten, fifteen minutes and they did that by having Drake look like an idiot, and would still like to know why Phipps airhead of a Daughter was the one at the house at the start of the movie. Since, she is no scientist or soldier. I mean, I know why, but could have at least let her play the part of a scientist at least. Give her some other reason to be there.

Then the action sequences are basically them shooting at the Komodo, who stares at them for quite a few minutes. Growling and hissing, till it eats one, they run away, or it just leaves. Seriously, he walked away after eating one person. After they said one can eat up to eighty percent of its body. He takes a break after one.

Not everything was bad though.  I actually did like the casting choices. The thieves played by, Melissa Brasselle, Paul Logan, and Cam Newlin were on the money, and Gail Thackray sold it as the only one who seemed to know anything among the scientists. Ted Monte and Tim Abell had me believe there was more to their characters then what we got. Especially when they were working together. They had really good chemistry, and we had a cameo from the great George Buck Flowers, in what would be one of his last performances. The story may not have been there, but everyone who should up seemed to try their best to make it work.

The animation wasn’t that bad either. Those infected looked like they could pass off as sick, and bloody scratch mark with skin leafing off was just nasty. The Komodo was noticeably CG, but looked rather good for being a 2004 movie. See much worse today then what this gave us. It was nothing special, but little better than I thought would have been.

I don’t really like the idea of giving back-to-back movies a skip it, but Curse of the Komodo did not do enough to earn a watch it. There is a bit of ridiculousness in it to make it amusing, but not nearly enough. I ended up mostly bored and wishing it would be over. Too overbooked and tried to be something it was not. Had they simplified the story a bit, feel it could have been better.

Thank you for reading.