PrimevalMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Primeval."

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Avg. Critic Score: 35 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly |

    Pit a reptile the size of a school bus against an American TV-news crew in war-scarred Burundi, and you get "Hotel Rwanaconda," a horror movie interested in cheesy scares and drawing attention to the plight of poor Africans. (So no, Primeval is not the '"serial killer'" film promised by the ads.) Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Dennis Harvey

    It's not exactly good, but it's not bad, and far from boring. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times |

    Strangely self-serious, and without covering the prerequisites of top-shelf nastiness that contemporary horror requires, this giant crocodile movie turns out to be neither fish nor fowl. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    The screenplay, by John Brancato and Michael Ferris, tosses out a few chewy bits of B-movie wit, most of them supplied by Mr. Jones, who expresses the ambivalence of an African-American visiting the motherland through a series of bitter jokes. Read full review

  • 38
    New York Post | Kyle Smith

    One of the few monster-crocodile movies that simultaneously tries to rip off "Jaws" and "Meet the Press." Read full review

  • 38
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    Primeval is a hoot if you're in the mood, though, and it gets points for trying to stuff a little globo-think into the minds of Friday night mayhem fans (who will probably rebel, since only one skull pops like a grape). Read full review

  • 33
    The Onion A.V. Club | Scott Tobias

    If there were a shred of sincerity to its straight-faced expos of African strife, the film would be easier to forgive, but since it's really just a cheap horror-thriller about an ancient predator, the austere tone does it no favors. Read full review

  • 30
    L.A. Weekly |

    With a little camp, this could have been fun --see "Lake Placid" or "Anaconda." Read full review

  • 30
    The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck

    A low-rent monster movie that could well have been released by American International in the early 1970s, Primeval boasts a level of cheesiness that should well merit it a regular rotation on late-night cable. Read full review

  • 25
    ReelViews | James Berardinelli

    By the end of the film, I was hoping everyone on two legs would die, preferably suffering as much on screen as I was in the audience. Read full review

View more reviews for Primeval on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Grisly croc tale lacks any meaningful bite.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this creature-centric horror movie includes lots of bloody violence: The film's giant crocodile rips up and eats people, militiamen shoot at civilians, a family is executed, and more. There's discussion of "black-on-black violence" in the United States and Africa. A teenager character shoots a villain and is upset by it. An attempted rape scene involves a rough assault, ripped clothing, and the female victim's distress. Some drinking and smoking; language includes multiple uses of "f--k," plus other obscenities and sexual slang.
  • Families can talk about the characters' different attitudes toward the crocodile. Why does Matt want to capture it and Krieg want to kill it? Is either of them right? How do the civil war storyline and the crocodile-hunting plot parallel each other? The movie claims to be based on true events; how accurate do you think it is? If you've seen it, how does this movie compare to National Geographic's story of the real Gustave?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Croc hunters range from cynical to well-intentioned, but all are ignorant and cocky (until they die or are taught lesson); villains are greedy, bloodthirsty, cruel.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Movie opens with shot of a mass grave (closeups of worms, rotting remains); crocodile attacks are brutal (chomping bodies, crunching a skull, screaming victims); fights (punching, kicking, hit to crotch); fairly explicit shooting executions; weapons include axe, machete, AK-47s, handguns, knives, grenades; war participants shoot repeatedly (bodies thrown, bloodied, dismembered); attempted rape; blood splattering onto observers during violent scenes; dismembered limbs, skulls, bones; boy shoots a villain in the back; Krieg describes watching his wife be eaten; blood spreads in water (shown from overhead); blood/urine mix (made to attract croc) thrown on villain.
  • sex false0 Sex: Some cleavage shots; Steven makes sexually themed jokes about the croc (puts his hand through his fly as if it's the croc; alludes to too-small cage as a too-small "condom"); sexual slang ("tap that ass," "hard-on"); jokes about a closeted gay man getting his "ass tapped").
  • language false5 Language: Multiple uses of "f--k" (about 15, some with "mother"); other language includes "s--t" (20+), "ass," "damn," "hell."
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Verbal reference to Starbucks, visuals for Nike and Fubu (T-shirts), Budweiser (sweatband), Sony (camcorder).
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Cigar smoking by villain; beers for protagonists.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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