Primeval

Primeval is bad, but it's never boring, and you can't say that about many of its peers.

The sub-sub-Anaconda bottom-feeder Primeval makes the mistake of taking itself far too seriously; with its exploitative images of civil war and genocide, it's the Blood Diamond of 25-foot-killer-crocodile movies.

Essentially Jaws moved to Africa.

For some insane reason, the makers of Primeval attempted to create a film that blends Anaconda with Hotel Rwanda, and they failed miserably.

Can't a killer-crocodile movie just be a killer-crocodile movie?

Primeval is one of several recent movies to bill itself as 'inspired by true events.' So was this review, though in both cases 'inspired' may be too strong a word.

Primeval does too much for a movie of this caliber&#59; it feels stuck between two genres. As a counterpoint, its flawed and messy ambition is still preferable to all the more routine crocsploitation movies currently swimming in existence.

It's this sort of social insight that elevates Primeval above typical marauding animal fare.

Primeval is one of crummiest killer-beast flicks of all time. It actually makes the B.C.-shot giant-croc debacle Lake Placid look half-decent, but it sure the hell wasn't.