I'm a huge fan of the Tremors franchise. The first movie starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Michael Gross and others is an absolutely delightful monster romp, a flick with heart and brains. Smart story, snappy dialogue, and a theme which holds together all the way to the fabulous ending. The many sequels fall short of the perfection of the first, but they by and large are entertaining additions to a burgeoning franchise. Michael Gross, who was part of the original ensemble cast, becomes the focus of the series in the later movies and he's definitely front and center in the latest Tremors 5: Bloodlines.
Burt Gummer (Gross), the experienced monster hunter is trying to eke out a living in the isolated Nevada desert with survivalist video when he's tapped to head to Africa, a continent which heretofore had seen evidence of Graboid activity. The monsters were to that point believe to be a North American problem exclusively. Burt and his new videographer Travis head to the dark continent, South Africa to be specific and look for monsters. They find them of course, and as is usual in the Tremors series we learn something new about the fundamental nature of the monsters. Sadly what we learn runs contrary to already established biological data, but even that would be fine if the new info was presented more clearly.
And that is the fundamental issue with this movie. Made in South Africa, it clearly had a limited budget. That's fine, but basics like clear editing would've done wonders for the last half of the movie which rambles from scene to scene with limited sense. We learn things sure and secrets are revealed, but the storytelling is so ragtag, the pacing so off kilter, that I was constantly falling out of the flow of the storytelling. There's a decent movie here, but it needs another hand to finish polishing it up.
I can't recommend this one for anyone not already a fan of the series. Rather I recommend you scout up a copy of the exquisite original and give it another watch. That's movie making.
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I've been enjoying your movie reviews lately. The original Tremors is a great movie and no matter how weird or cheaply made the sequels are, I can't help but love them.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I think you have a missing word in the article: "a continent which heretofore had seen evidence of Graboid activity." I think that should be "which heretofore had NOT seen evidence."
Regardless, it is still a fun review. Take care.