Rouge, A Review

This is an extremely well done film, both written and directed by Greg Mclean. Using basic plot elements and real life situations to provide the bulk of the tension and suspense, it strays away from the more traditional methods of many horror films of today. Ultimately, Rogue supplies near constant suspense, all the while providing a detailed description of the human mind stripped of its natural inclination to be the hunter, instead of the hunted.
The movie starts out with scenes from the outback and some of the wildlife native to the same. The title credits roll a wildebeest is eaten and, finally, the movie begins. The main protagonist is portrayed as a young travel writer for some unnamed, and therefore unimportant, magazine. As he and the other unlucky tourists board the ill fated tour boat, we are introduced to our second protagonist, a sunny and comfortable tour guide named Kate. As the tour runs its course, the quirks and perks of our casts’ characters our revealed, while, incidentally, we learn about the salt water crocodile and view more of the Australian ecosystem. The movie then starts building momentum, as a several flares are seen somewhere upriver. Thus ends the first third of the movie.
As the cast move farther up river into, as Kate says “sacred territory”, the movie begins to take a sharp turn into the dark. Although still focusing on the Australian scenery, it loses its happy Rescuers Down Under look, and begins to take on a much more sinister appearance. The tension eases as the wayward tourists realize that they can longer search for the source of the distress signals and must turn back. This ends most abruptly as the killer croc attacks the boat, forcing the cast to crash land on a small island near the river bank. The movie then begins its fast paced climb to the climax with the cast proceeding with a series of ill fated attempts to get off the island and to the relative safety of the shore.
Tensions rise as, one by one; the rouge crocodile picks them off. After a sufficient number of tourists have been eaten, the story moves on when our resourceful reporter finds a way to occupy the croc and give the others enough time to swim to safety. All the while putting himself in mortal peril of course. The plan works for only so long, with the result being the capture of our female main, Kate. The movie then begins to slow with the cast walking towards safety and our hero at a loss as how to proceed. Thus ends the second third of the film.
As our heroic writer walks through the dawn lit forest, we once again are immersed in the beautiful outback setting. Following Kate’s dog into an underground cave, filled with mud, tree roots, and, naturally, water. It is here he finds Kate, thoroughly mutilated and barely alive. Here the tension rises once more, as our inevitable climax draws near. For of course, the cave belongs to our mammoth crocodilian. As the beast enters and our hero hides, the climax arrives. A fierce battle ensues between the protagonist and the antagonist, concluding with the death of the killer croc and our hero’s narrow escape from death. Carrying the girl off into the sunset, the rest of the remaining cast is found, along with several rescue helicopters. After a brief dialogue between the mains, the camera pans out, the credits fade in and we assume that everybody goes back home without further trauma.
Greg McLean should be congratulated on his savvy approach to this film. Instead of focusing entirely on the fact that a monstrously sized crocodile is eating people, he brings a sort of gritty realism to the film by also focusing on the characters reaction to a monstrous crocodile eating people. Throughout the film each character, no matter how small, is shown that they are, in fact, a real person with a real personality. This brings a whole new element to the film. Not only do you have the horror aspect that you paid to see, but you also get to watch real people, how they tick, and then wait to see who in the group cracks first. This takes some of the pressure of the croc and therefore lessens the films reliance on its special effects.
As one would expect, most of the films special effects are used in conjunction with scenes concerning the killer crocodile for which the film is named. Unlike many horror films however, Rogue does not rely on special effects alone to scare and shock the viewer. While of course the film did rely on them to make the movie better, it did not rely on them to actually make the movie. This film wisely used CGI and animatronics as very effective supplements to add on to the excellent writing and realistic characterization that made the film so successful.
Mclean missed a few things, but that fact is buried well beneath all the things he hit right on, so really, such things do not matter. He did exactly what he intended and he did it very well. The two fold focus of suspenseful horror and real characterization was successful in a way remiss of a Stephen King novel. The tour boat sequences were an excellent way to bring the characters toward the action, but also to provide situations to further understand the characters themselves. While I have to admit that there were several missed opportunities on the island to heighten the drama and a few lacking transitions, the film was still excellent. Mclean put in his own touch with many breathtaking scenes of Australian scenery and an awesome soundtrack that significantly furthered both the suspense and thrill of the movie itself.
In the end the film’s excellence on nearly all levels must again be acknowledged. It did exactly what it was supposed to and left a genuine impression. The fact that the croc featured in this film was only about 22 feet in length; a full six feet shy of the longest croc recorded, is probably the scariest facet of the entire movie. Not only was this monster real, but it could be even bigger.