Primal

I just spent ten months in the jungle, and this all smells like cat crapto me.

Films where animals mess with the protagonists' life. There are a lot of those movies. Only recently you could see in "Crawl" how alligators tried to outwit a father and daughter with their immense mouths full of razor-sharp, meat-tearing teeth. In "A quiet place" there were creatures with such a developed hearing that they can locate any human sound and quickly go there to tear the source of the noise to pieces. Birds, dogs, cats, crocodiles, tarantulas, grizzly bears, monkeys, ants, snakes, and sharks. An entire segment of the animal kingdom has already been used. This movie "Primal" immediately reminded me of a movie I saw years ago. Namely "Burning Bright". In this last film, too, it was a tiger chasing two innocent people. Only it took place in a kind of Pippi-Longstocking-house. In "Primal", on the other hand, it's a cargo ship that serves as a hunting ground. And Nicolas Cage is also present. Maybe that's why it's worthwhile to give this film a chance.

Nicolas Cage. Man, I admire this actor enormously. He's a phenomenon. I'm sure he's aiming to reach a specific goal in his life. And that's being able to announce on his deathbed that he broke the world record of "Actor with most appearances in feature films". The man (known for his phenomenal roles in "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Joe") did his utmost best in recent years. Every year he appeared in no fewer than six films. Of course, they aren't all masterpieces. But La Cage seems to have an enormous endurance. I think he accepts every offer he gets. Apparently, his love for acting is infinite.

The crucial question you can ask yourself is of course: "Is this movie worth watching or is it completely rubbish?". Well, the truth is actually somewhere in the middle. When Frank Walsh (Nicolas Cage) embarks on board a container ship, together with a whole load of exotic animals, he soon notices that he's not the only one with a unique, life-threatening specimen. Frank earns his living by catching exotic animals, which he then resells to the highest bidder. And the white jaguar ("white jag" as Frank repeatedly pronounces) is a lottery ticket for him. A million to one shot and the guarantee he'll own some real estate in Pine Lake. And suddenly the American authorities show up with a highly dangerous mercenary (Kevin Durand) in chains, a battalion of soldiers armed to the teeth and a personal female doctor (Famke Janssen) to ensure that the mercenary survives the trip. It has something to do with a brain abnormality and atmospheric pressure. A side issue afterward. You can already guess what's going to happen. Soon Frank realizes he has to use his hunting instincts to hunt both the white jaguar and the perilous Richard Loffler.

The film never really gets exciting. It looks more like a long version of playing "hide and seek". The accompanying soldiers are systematically liquidated easily. That kind of looked ridiculous. Also, after a certain period, Dr. Ellen Taylor no longer had a real function. Famke Janssen restricts herself to some annoying protests about catching endangered species. She looks like a feministic environmental activist, who's about to pull up a protest sign with slogans about animal rights. Even the jaguar only managed to convince in the opening scene. Afterward, the jaguar was nothing more than a sneaking shadow. Only the two characters Cage and Durand played, caused some excitement. Kevin Durand managed to play a psychopathic character convincingly. And Cage visibly had fun here. And to be honest, compared to "A score to settle", "Kill Chain", and "Running with the devil" (I shamelessly fell asleep while watching this last one), this Cage-B-film isn't that bad. Are you a Nicolas Cage fan? Well, you can safely add it to your list of "Must See Cage-Movie".

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Not so bad. An enjoyable B movie ride.

I am a fan of both Cage and Durand. I think they both enjoyed acting in this movie. It shows. And Famke Janssen does show good chemistry with Cage while not having not much to do. But she does stand in all of her scenes.

I found myself smiling most of the time.

Just a bunch of good actors in a not so bad story enjoying each other. This is not Oscar stuff of course. But, hey, nobody was looking for high standards here.

Fun.

First things first: Primal is carried entirely by its lead and antagonist. With Kevin Durand performing as his typical unhinged villain, Nicolas Cage channels his best Bogart and proves he still has the chops for an action movie. The remainder of the cast is at best forgettable and at worst irritating, but the script mercifully keeps their screen time brief (before killing most of them off entirely) and reserves the majority of the movie to be carried by Cage and Durand. The tension stays relatively taught despite a couple lulls, and the plot is simple but coherent. About as much as you can ask for from an offering like this. Thankfully Cage maintains his trademark commitment and energy till the end, and Durand makes an entertaining, if recognizable, foil. Plus there is a scene with killer monkeys...Decent late night fare.

If you took The Ghost and the Darkness, First Blood, Under Siege, and a dash of Snakes on a Plane you'd most likely get something like Primal, an okay action thriller that succeeds despite its low budget and shaky FX. Nicolas Cage plays big game hunter Frank Walsh who books a freighter to transport his illegally acquired exotic animals(including a white jaguar worth a small fortune) but his plans hit a snag when some U.S. Marshalls piggy back on his ship to transport rogue Black Ops killer Loffler played by Kevin Durrand. Needless to say Loffler escapes, releases franks menagerie of exotic animals and the fight for survival ensues. If there's anything to be said in Primal's favor it's that it's never boring. Despite the dodgy CGI and some phoned in performance, the action moves at a quick enough pace to keep you engaged and Cage is having fun playing a professional hunter now trying to use his skills against a crazed black ops mercenary. What makes the film stumble unfortunately is its obvious budget limitations and a lack of menace from Durrand as Loffler. Aside from a few moments, the movie downplays the threat of the exotic animals and focuses more on Loffler who just doesn't feel threatening despite his earnest attempts. There's also a tracker Walsh is in possession of that I thought would be used for Alien style suspense, but despite it being brought up, it never comes into play in any meaningful fashion. Primal is a serviceable rental, it'll kill 90 minutes and you'll never think of it again. And for DTV thrillers you can certainly do worse.

I watched this movie because of Nicolas Cage and Famke Janssen, nevertheless its a lowbudget movie and it shows, average cinematography and some average VFX. Kevin Durand as a villian is okay but overall i have seen much better performances of all the actors in other productions. The plot is very thin, but thats not really the movies problem, just the execution and whole pacing doesnt feel right. If you really need to watch a movie that plays on a boat with some lurking threat i highly suggest "Deep Rising" from 1998, its without Cage but with Janssen, much better pacing and much more entertaining to watch.