Rogue (DVD)

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Back in 1974, an overly aggressive saltwater crocodile known as "Sweetheart" was responsible for numerous attacks on humans in the Northern Territory of Australia. Over the course of five terrifying years, the rogue reptile reportedly made short work of any dinghy, fishing boat, or outboard motor intruding in what he felt was his own personal space. Sweetheart was eventually caught by wildlife officials and died a short time later in captivity, but his story lives on serving as the inspiration behind the film "Rogue."

Besides being one of the most misspelled words all over the Internet (rogue vs. rouge--sorry... it's a pet peeve of mine), "Rogue" is a horror movie written, produced, and directed by Greg McLean--the man who brought us 2005's "Wolf Creek." McLean actually penned the script for his creature feature roughly a decade before "Wolf Creek" hit theaters, and received the green-light to revisit his old snaggletooth project thanks to the box office success of his first theatrical hit.

Unfortunately, "Rogue" didn't last much longer than a week in US theaters, which is sad because it's really a decent flick. In fact, as of the time of this writing, "Rogue" has a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes if that's any indication for you. Most moviegoers seemed to have passed it over assuming it is just another run-of-the-mill man versus monster affair--even yours truly was guilty of that misconception--and I think that had some impact on why I ended up liking it. My expectations were low, and it turned out to be a well-made movie that sets itself apart from its problematic brethren. "Rogue" isn't as cheesy as "Lake Placid," serious as "Black Water," ludicrous as "Primeval," or downright dull and boring as "Croc." I'm not even going to touch the horrid "Lake Placid 2" with a stick, as I'd probably end up catching some sort of disease.

Anyway in "Rogue," Michael Vartan (TV's "Alias") stars as Pete McKell, a cynical travel writer from Chicago doing research for one of his upcoming articles in the remote north of Australia. You could say Pete is having a bad day--the airport lost his luggage, his cell phone has poor reception in the area, and one of the locals had a hoot slipping a dead fly into his coffee. If that wasn't enough bad news for the city slicker, he finds the scorching heat nearly unbearable, the bugs relentless, and to top things off, he's about to be crammed in with a bunch of other tourists aboard Ryan's Wilderness Cruise for the rest of the afternoon. Good times.

What Pete doesn't realize, though, is that the worst is yet to come. Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell), the tour guide and captain for the sightseeing trip, takes the group downriver to marvel nature at its finest. This first act is slow going, taking the time to build up character development, but McLean doesn't drag things out here as much as he did in "Wolf Creek." The pacing is better, and the characters on the boat felt like regular people instead of the usual over-exaggerated caricatures we normally find in these types of films.

Just as the cruise is about to turn around and head back, one of the tourists spots a flare in the distance. Kate informs everyone that it's part of her job and duty to investigate, and much to the dismay of most the group who have tight schedules to keep, the party is forced to continue on their present course to see if someone is in dire need of help.

Eventually, the group comes across the overturned wreckage of a smaller fishing boat in the river, although there are no immediate signs of life in the water or on the riverbank. That's when out of the blue, something massive rams the tour boat from beneath and causes enough damage that they start taking on water. Kate has no choice but to beach her boat on a nearby sandbar to get everybody on board to safety, and with no cell phone signals and a damaged radio, they find themselves up the creek without a paddle.

Waiting for rescue isn't such a bad thing under normal circumstances, but here the group learns that it was an aggressive rogue crocodile who put them on the sidelines, and the tides are causing the waters to rise. The situation becomes increasingly tense and suspenseful, for soon the whole little island that is keeping the victims relatively dry and out of harm's way will be completely submerged in a matter of hours. I guess Pete should have stayed in bed today after all.

"Rogue" doesn't really bring anything new to the table, but the film just has an authenticity about it that somehow makes it work. Most of the production is filmed in stunning locations rarely seen by the general public, and McLean had to acquire special permits to enter and film these untouched Gardens of Eden. Also during the cruise, the cast swats away at real bugs, as I saw flies land on their faces more than once. I know this isn't technically a big deal, but with all of the green screen overusage nowadays, it was a nice change of pace. I wish more directors would take a page from McLean and not totally copout with their special effects.