I love me some big, man-eating animal movies. I guess that’s why I’m so partial to films like Lake Placid, Primeval, Jaws, King Kong and many others despite their varying level of quality. It’s always great to see how they are rendered and what kind of damage they can do. That’s why I decided to sit down and watch writer/director Greg McLean’s (Wolf Creek) Australian crocodile horror, Rogue, which stars Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, a pre-Avatar Sam Worthington and a pre-Alice in Wonderland Mia Wasikowska.
Rogue is about a group of tourists, including an American travel writer, who go on a wildlife cruise to see some jumping crocodiles. When they see flares in the distance near the tail end of their trip, their guide Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell) decides to investigate in order to help those in distress. When they find the boat it is completely underwater. As they get ready to head back, something smashes into their boat which cracks the bottom and it begins to flood. The group finds short-term safety on an island but when they realize that the tide is coming up and a 30 foot crocodile has marked them for dinner, it becomes a game of survival as tensions rise and people begin to die.
Now I can’t really explain the title for you, as it is rather stupid for describing one crocodile that causes mayhem, but I can say that Rogue is actually a pretty fun movie. It doesn’t try to get really serious and it understands that it is a monster movie where we want to see people getting ripped to shreds by a massive croc. McLean delivers on that promise but he does so in a very realistic way. The croc actually acts like a normal crocodile, being territorial, attacking mostly in the water or on the edge of the water, and killing it’s pray and dragging it off to its lair. It is a very respectable move that gives the film a bit more credibility versus those that ignore the behavior of the animals.
What I also really liked about the film was that while some sort of little relationship seemed to be forming between the American writer and the Tour Guide, either the Croc would interrupt or somebody else would which means that they never kiss in the movie. 
I was so happy that McLean avoided the typical romance horror cliché because it happens in almost every single film. It gives the responsibility to the audience to figure out if there really is some sort of love bond forming and if they might get together later when their hellish nightmare ends.
The acting itself isn’t anything to really brag about but it wasn’t horrible either. It was mediocre and good enough to carry the film forward which made the film believable and nerve-wracking, as you never knew who might die next. It was extremely frustrating at times that certain characters remained much more composed than they should have been but, by the end, it all works out the way it really should, largely because of stupid decision making, a key ingredient of horror movies.
Overall, Rogue is a fun monster movie with very little scares but some exciting kills and battles. It’s a story we’ve seen before but it is always nice to see it done with different animals. While the CG Crocodile looked amazing at times and very animated at others, it all worked out rather well resulting in an easy and enjoyable horror/thriller.
Rating: A Giant Crocodile vs. a group of tourists. Do the math. (6/10)
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