Leio

The synopsis and the cover/poster for this 2022 Thai action adventure movie titled "Leio" definitely seemed interesting, and it was that which initially made me pick up this movie. Sure, I hadn't even heard about "Leio" prior to sitting down to watch it, but from the synopsis then it seemed like this could be a movie much akin to the likes of "Tremors" perhaps.

And thus I opted to sit down and watch "Leio", and I managed to get through about two-thirds of the movie, then I just gave up on it, as the storyline had very little appeal actually. The plot was not catching on with me, and I didn't care one bit about the one-dimensional characters that milled about on the screen.

"Leio" runs for about two and a half hours, which simply is way too long, especially since there isn't even proper contents to the script to fill out half that amount of time whilst keeping the movie interesting and entertaining. So it was quite a drag to suffer through this prolonged play time.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble here, but the actors and actresses had very little of any proper material and contents to work with in terms of script, plot and character gallery. So they were somewhat challenged.

Visually, however, then "Leio" was quite good. The reptile looked very realistic and the CGI team really put a good effort into this project. But CGI effects can only do so much for a movie that lacks appeal and entertainment value.

My rating of director Chalit Krileadmongkon's 2022 movie "Leio" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

I dont understand about their reason to make this movies. If you want to see idiot people die maybe you'll like this movie, BUT!! Trust me you'll never like this movie for sure.

I always support Thai cinema but I have to be honest as well. I watched this movie with little expectation due to its negative criticism which seemed to surpass appreciation. Even so, I found that the movie was still lacking all the elements monster films should have. The giant lizard itself was far inferior to those we have seen in the classic works. It was less scary, less mysterious, less powerful. The dialogues sounded unnatural. The acting looked unconvincing or, at least, it could be better. The storyline didn't captivate my attention. It was filled too much with unnecessary situations.

If the filmmaking team was more careful about the screenplay and acting, the movie would come out finer.

With his popstar career going downhill, a man goes back to his native village where he accepts an offer to partake in a drilling competition that could get him a lot of money with other participants, but the underground tunnels hide more than just water as what they do not realize is that a mysterious beast lurks underground.

Generally, there's a lot to like with this one. Most of the positives here stem from the familiar yet still strong setup that allows for a highly familiar series of immersion points to develop. The whole setup of the pop-star retiring from his life in the fast lane to return to his roots and rediscover his childhood friends works to start everything with a well-worn concept that serves to introduce the audience to him as a man who's attempting to do the right thing rather than looking for an easy payout. Looking to use the money as a means of helping him to reconnect with his family legacy with his friends while reconnecting with his childhood friend who stayed behind in the village comes off as a common tactic but still works well here. The concept of the competition drilling to find the water source for the community also serves to get people out of the community and into the desert where the creature can utilize several advantages quite effectively. Utilizing the undiscovered nature of its existence to launch several surprise attacks or its massive tunneling speed to travel quickly undetected, everything comes off rather nicely. With that strong of a setup, the film manages quite a lot of fun creature attacks. Using the aspects of its' biology and physical attributes quite well, the ability to burrow at high speeds and pop out of the ground allows for some solid ambushes in the first half of the film. Likewise, the gliding ability is put on display in several genuinely impressive attacks where it launches out of the sky to grab unsuspecting victims. The centerpiece sequences here are far more impressive, though, letting the creature pull off massive attacks in broad daylight with multiple participants trying to evade it and get away alive, resulting in sequences like the initial attack on the drillers in the middle of the desert, the escape attempt where it crashes the campsite to find a place to nap, and the stellar trap to catch it while a rescue mission is launched to rescue the captured victims. This sequence shows off the creatures' abilities in some rather fun high-energy action scenes that are given a slick, glossy appeal that provides plenty to like about it. There are some minor issues in this one but are luckily not that detrimental. The main drawback here is the rather overlong running time that emerges from having a bit too much excess in the first half. The exploits involving how he gets caught and dumped from his career forcing the return visit are much too long especially when coupled with the flashbacks involving him growing up together that serve a fine point but get included a few too many times. As well, there's the usual amount of rather wacky and somewhat confusingly-added comedy present that becomes somewhat of a hindrance. The smarmy driller constantly hitting on the female host comes off as expected, but the slapstick antics and mugging that goes on involving the workers who are a part of the water-searching competition. The other issue with this one is the small issues that crop up involving the creature, which are quite easy to see. The fact that it's shown way too early in the film feels like a mistake as the reveal should've been done once it attacks the group rather than being seen near the beginning. As well as the obvious CGI used in bringing it to screen, these issues stand out and bring it down overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

The had the basis for an interesting B movie. For a Thai movie, they may have had censorship requirements that prevented them from going all out as would have happened in an American movie of the same story. It is a comedy, and there is a lot of slapstick, but again the director doesn't seem to understand how American slapstick is done, and being dubbed, timing and words often ruin the intent. But the scene of the sleeping and snoring lizard on the truck is a real gem. Boss Mhee is thrown in for comic relief but probably couldn't be used fully as would have been done in an American film. The film involves Kao, who returns to his home for the funeral of his uncle. There are flashbacks of lessons learned from being with his uncle. The land is parched and Fon arrives. She knew Kao, and is a You Tube star, so she offers a huge reward if water can be found. The lizard is not pleased. There are things that could be liked, but it suffers in the translation, some of which is not under the control of the director or producer. The opening scene where people first are in the tunnels seemed so fake, it was jolting.. Some of the lizard scenes were real lizards in small sets, and other times the CGI lizard, which wasn't bad. Take the same story, polish the script for American audiences and set it in the American desert Southwest, and one could have a very good movie.