Movie Reviews

‘Crawl’: Movie Review

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Crawl (2019)

Synopsis: When a massive hurricane hits her Florida town, young Haley ignores the evacuation orders to search for her missing father, Dave. After finding him gravely injured in their family home, the two of them become trapped by the rapidly encroaching floodwaters. With the storm strengthening, Haley and Dave discover an even greater threat than the rising water level — a relentless attack from a pack of gigantic alligators.

When I heard about this film by watching the trailer, my first reaction was, “this is going to be a generic jump scare horror film”. I was bored and thought that I should check it out since I have free time, and honestly I was not disappointed. If anything, I felt like this film may be SLIGHTLY underrated.

Crawl is about a massive hurricane that hits a Florida town, young Haley ignores the evacuation orders to search for her missing father, Dave. After finding him gravely injured in their family home, the two of them become trapped by the rapidly encroaching floodwaters. With the storm strengthening, Haley and Dave discover an even greater threat than the rising water level; a relentless attack from a pack of gigantic alligators.

PLOT

Luckily, the introduction of characters did not last too long. We were introduced to the protagonist Haley Keller (Kaya Scodelario) and it is mostly fast paced of showing the main and side characters, her life and her relationship with her father (Barry Pepper) in ten minutes. The plot and dialogue throughout the film showcase the tension building, conflict, and struggles that Haley and her father face. The plot is simple and at first I thought there would be character arcs, but then again it is a horror film. Expectations for a fleshed out character arc were low and understandably as audiences are here to be scared and see good suspense scenes which leads to my next topic.

ACTION

The action in this film interested me the most. I liked the back and forth between Haley and her father attempting to get out the hurricane storm, and the film used the alligators well. Creating decent jump scares and using tactics that alligators do to catch and defeat their prey. The action really improves from the first sign of trouble to the very last battle. There were some scenes that had me on the edge of my seat, cautiously seeing what happens next and rooting for Haley and their father to beat the next obstacle that comes their way. The film is R-Rated so expect very brutal and bloody scenes. I don’t recommend bringing children or someone that does not like seeing a lot of blood or dismembered body parts as well.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

Alligators are creatures that I do not wish to be around. Especially during a hurricane where they can break into my house. With a budget of $13.5 million, the alligators looked completely realistic and I did not see a scene where I thought it was too animated and did not feel real. If I was swimming next to those alligators I would’ve been scared for my life.

CONCLUSION

Finally, I really enjoyed this film more than I thought I would. When I was sitting there, it went from the idea of being below average, to average film when the action really picked up, but then it went to slightly above average when the tension and different obstacles kept coming more than I expected them too. Also, I really enjoyed how they ended the film and I pray that they don’t green light a sequel because this deserves to be a standalone that should have its moment. If you’re bored one day or you are with your friends and can’t think of something to do, or want to see a movie but don’t know what to watch, I suggest you see Crawl. Check it out in theaters and when you’re done, let us know your thoughts.[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtwzhzCYYRI” align=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]