Crawl: Movie Review

"Crawl" tackles the very primal dilemma of man versus beast. It's a simple and efficient take on the genre which has provided classics like "Jaws". With nothing much to provide but visceral action and thrills, its very slim running time means that even with its faults, "Crawl" will not make you regret on giving it a chance.

When a massive hurricane hits her Florida hometown, Haley (Kaya Scodelario) ignores evacuation orders to search for her missing father (Barry Pepper). Finding him gravely injured in the crawl space of their former home, the two become trapped by quickly encroaching floodwaters. As the hurricane intensifies and the floodwaters rising, Haley and her father must find a way to escape nature's wrath. It's either drown to death or be eaten alive by alligators.

Menacing alligators abound, "Crawl" was effective in bringing in the primal fear in facing one of nature's apex predators. Director Alexandre Aja was able to capture the intensity of how these beasts operate. Admittedly, at times, the film was bordering silly with the alligators showing some semblance of intelligence and memory. Regardless, its action is the definite highlight for the film and one that gave us a handful of authentic shock and awe moments with its unabashed take. As for the film's narrative, it was too hollow and shallow for our taste. There's a father-and-daughter dynamic but it's a plot point that has been done countless times before and the outcome doesn't bring anything new into the table. The acting was just okay but we felt that both leads lacked any depth or chemistry between each other. Luckily, at around 87 minutes, "Crawl" ends before it can overstay its welcome.

Rating: 3 reels





Why you should watch it:
- it is simple, quick, and efficient

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- minus the action, the film was a little too hollow and shallow for our taste