Yi bian bao long

After capturing an escaped snake, a tracker heads to the head of the facility looking for answers about how it escaped, only to find that the company's latest experiment in genetic manipulation has resulted in an escaped Tyrannosaurus wreaking havoc on the staff and must try to get them to safety.

As an unapologetically cheesy ripoff, there's a lot to like about it. What works nicely here is the intriguing setup here with a lot going on which makes for some acceptable genre elements. Getting the tracker onto the project by means of investigating the effects of a simple investigation into the escaped snake and its strange properties that soon becomes a race to escape from the clutches of the released dinosaur when it gets loose is a highly enjoyable setup here. It generates a reasonable explanation for the creation of the creatures and how they're able to operate like they are with that kind of effectiveness at evading capture for so long. Added together with some scientific tidbits from the doctor about how the creature can survive as it can with all the tampering done to it and the ability to exploit those factors later on in a pretty interesting way, there's some workable enough setup in place. When it moves away from the main genre storyline of the research team creating the creatures, the resulting focus on action is quite fun. The ability to accept the goofiness of a dinosaur capable of shifting abilities to blend in with its surroundings will go a long way towards enjoying the action here. With several enjoyable encounters including the confrontation in the showers, a chase through the hallways of the research lab, and a solid chase through an exosystem controlled by several massive genetically engineered snakes, the film maintains a near breathless pace throughout. It all leads to the final confrontation in the main research facility where it offers up quite an impressive series of encounters trying to battle the creatures on the loose. With both the dinosaur and the snake getting to fight each other and still chase after the remaining characters, this has quite a lot of cheesy action that have quite a lot to enjoy. There are some issues with the film that hold it down. One of the biggest detriments is the rather unnecessary sidestory involving the evil geneticist who takes over as the threat of the whole operation. There's little reason to have him suddenly emerge with a swarm of troops and bodyguards to become a threat by holding the group hostage in order to continue his experiments. It not only comes out of nowhere but is an absolute cliche ripped off from the other film it's taking influence from which is quite unfortunate. That also highlights the somewhat generic low-budget CGI featured here, with the various creatures being obviously inserted here via lackluster and generally unimpressive CGI that never once looks realistic. The main dinosaur is close enough but it's mainly the few scenes of it putting the genetic enhancement qualities on display that make these issues more impactful by enhancing the cheesiness of the film more than anything and are what hold this one back the most.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.

These Chinese monster movies are best taken in small doses, because they soon get stale with stereotypes. And this one is no exception. They use a pudgy person for comic relief. Certain characters that seem to run all right suddenly start to trip and fall and get themselves in danger. And one always seems to need an inhaler for asthma. And several think they can out run giant creatures. The scripts, with some variations, are all cookie cutter. This time it is set at a company using genetic splicing to create new creatures. The t-Rex is spliced from dinosaur, alligator and chameleon and some snake. So as part chameleon, it simply can disappear against the background. The snakes are spliced from different snakes, and get quite big. And of course it is a scientist doing things the company is not supposed to be doing. The CGI snakes are quite garish colored, and the t-Rex is all right, but later in the film gets some interesting color streaks. The idea is somewhat inventive, they simply need an inventive script.

If you don't like Asian monster movies you need to take a pass on this one. If you do love the genre then you will love this one. There is no real plot, just monster action and kung-fu to save the 2 damsels in distress; they've one upped everyone and given us 2 to save in this one. The music score is Chinese Death Metal intermixed with Rock-A-Billy, and actually not too bad - if you can get over the lyrics and no subtitles for them. The actors are just hilarious in their parts. Every part is overplayed, thin, and if this was an American film there would be tons of nudity to fill in the gaps. I would swear that the audio for the monsters is straight up stolen from the Godzilla movies, but then again they all do kind of sound the same. While pure CGI they do a decent job on the monsters, though with all cheaper CGI there is no 'battle damage' when they fight.

This is a perfect movie for Riff-Tracks; if you are like us and love the home made Riff-Tracks party then make this one your next show.

A bunch of people get trapped in a gene splicing institute with a T-Rex that was crossed with a crocodile and chameleon and they quickly become dinosaur chow mein. Youku obviously has some sort of tier system with their films as this appears to have more care given to the CGI versus my earlier views of Snake 3 and Crazy Spider. This leans heavily on the Jurassic Park series and, believe it or not, Roger Corman's Carnosaur, going so far as to copy that film's dinosaur vs. Forklift finale. I knew I was in for a treat within the first four minutes when it is revealed the chameleon dinosaur is released because a cleaning lady (with a tiny broom and dust bin) decides to clean the inside of a huge cage. Yes, her employee card gives her access to not only the top secret lab, but also greenlights her to opening the cage. It's fast (only 71-minutes) and dumb, but that seems to work for me nowadays.

"Liangyan Chen's 'Metamorphosis' is a visually stunning and thought-provoking exploration of identity and transformation. With captivating cinematography and a compelling narrative, the film delves into themes of change, self-discovery, and the human condition. Chen's masterful direction and stellar performances make 'Metamorphosis' a must-see for anyone seeking a profound cinematic experience. 'Metamorphosis' is a visually stunning and thought-provoking exploration of identity and transformation. The film captivates audiences with its mesmerizing cinematography and compelling narrative, weaving together themes of change, self-discovery, and the human condition. Chen's masterful direction and the stellar performances of the cast make 'Metamorphosis' a must-see for anyone seeking a profound cinematic experience."