Rogue (2007)

Rogue (2007)
Director: Greg Mclean
Writer: Greg Mclean
Cast: Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, Sam Worthington
An idyllic wildlife cruise disintegrates into terror when a party of tourists are stalked by a massive man-eating crocodile. Pete McKell, a cynical American travel writer, joins a disparate group of holiday-makers on a river cruise through the waters of Kakadu National Park. Initially Pete clashes with their tour captain, Kate, a feisty young woman who assumes he is just another 'city-slicker' in search of a quick thrill. After an uneventful day cruising the river, Kate is reluctantly persuaded to steer their boat into unexplored territory. They discover a secluded lake but terror strikes when their craft receives a powerful blow from beneath the murky depths and begins to sink. With little choice, she beaches the vessel on the closest dry land, a tiny mud island. With a rising tide and only half an hour of daylight left, fear grips the group as they realize they are trapped in the lair of a 'rogue' crocodile, governed only by its need to hunt and kill. Begrudgingly, Pete and Kate join forces to keep hysteria at bay and in the process start to see beyond their initial impressions. Their first attempt to escape fails, but then Pete has an idea - they must trap the crocodile to enable the group to flee to the other side of the island whilst Kate swims for help. Pete volunteers to stand guard, but without warning, the beast breaks free and targets Kate who fails to resurface. As darkness descends and the muddy waters rise, a terrifying struggle ensues with only one probable outcome death.

'After covering his country's backpack killer in the Aussie horror Wolf Creek a few years back Greg Mclean stays on home soil to cover another of his country's man slayers this time a giant crocodile. Mcleans trouble is though Rogue is well done and entertaining, film fans or at least this one has had more than his fill of croc/gator films recently what with the two Lake Placid ones and Primeval and that lower budget but great fellow Aussie croc film Black Water you can't help but ask yourself did we need Rogue. Plots about an American travel writer Pete McKell who travels the world and writes about the places he visits. He's sent on a river cruise in Australia's Northern Territories which is headed by Kate Ryan along side various other tourists who we know are likely to end up as croc bait. Its more glossy than Black Water was and more what you'd call a traditional cinema animal attack styled romp I preferred Black Water though as it captured the tension of the trapped peoples situations much more realistic.'

(6½ out of 10)