CROCODILE 2: DEATH ROLL

A gang of robbers, after looting a bank, decide to flee with the loot on a tourist plane headed to Mexico. During the flight, due to a violent storm, the pilot receives the order to return but the four robbers, intent on crossing the Mexican border, hijack the plane which will end up crashing into a swamp in the middle of the forest. The few survivors of the accident will find themselves lost in the swamp with a dangerous problem lurking: among the waters roams a gigantic crocodile intent on devouring anyone who comes its way. In 2000, Tobe Hooper decided to return behind the camera by directing a film that had nothing to do with the magnificent films that made him famous, but which turned out to be the usual and trite beast movie on the theme of giant crocodiles; it is called "Crocodile". However, although the film had nothing to do with Hooper's style (in fact, one wonders why he decided to direct a film like this) and was overall quite useless, some positive aspects could still be found both in the staging of some rather pleasant sequences, and in the basic idea of wanting to make a pseudo-sequel of the much more famous and successful "That Motel Near the Swamp" (many are in fact the references in "Crocodile" to this film) that Hooper directed back in 1976. Obviously, a film like "Crocodile", given the theme, could not fail to boast a sequel and so, in 2002, "Crocodile 2" ("Crocodile 2 - Death Roll" in the original) was made for the home video market only, but this time Hooper has nothing to do with the project and there are no references to his film. If the first one already smelled of "useless" (which, however, managed to offer something good), one can easily imagine the level of "usefulness" of this film directed by Gary Jones ("Spiders - Metamorphosis Letal"). The only positive note to spend in favor of Jones' film is the starting plot because, for once, it was decided to insert a small diversion within a genre (that of beast-movies) that recycles, in most cases, the same synopsis. Therefore, the first twenty minutes are pleasant in which one gets the impression of watching one of the many sequels of "Turbulence" with armed criminals and endangered hostesses; but if the first twenty minutes can make the viewer hope to have something slightly different from the usual, in reality it is not so, because the film, as the minutes go by, sinks into the "already seen a thousand times" resulting repetitive and terribly predictable. But the really shocking thing is the pathetic realization of the crocodile. In fact, if the realization of the large reptile was poor in the film directed by Hooper, here the situation does not improve at all but rather worsens considerably; sometimes (in the best cases) the crocodile is made with a decent puppet but, in most cases, the ferocious animal is created with really poor and primitive CGI effects. Furthermore, particularly annoying are the terribly stereotyped characters and here dumber than usual, and poor is the acting of the actors, mostly unknown; while an additional criticism must be made for the total lack of imagination in the staging of the murders and the almost total absence of splatter scenes (only one detached arm and nothing more!) that would certainly have benefited the film. In conclusion, this "Crocodile 2" turns out to be the classic home video product that does not rise absolutely above the mass of products of this type but that anyway does not place itself among the most scanty products. If you intend to watch a beast movie in which there is a crocodile that goes around eating people, put aside "Crocodile 2" and rewatch Hooper's film. To be avoided.