User reviews

Greg McLean is looking to be someone to watch out for. After scaring audiences witless with his Aussie outback shocker "Wolf Creek" and hurting the Australian Tourism Board immensely his back at it again. However, this time he replaces a serial killer with a 7 metre saltwater crocodile who's hungry for humans and luckily a boat full of them arrives at his doorstep.

McLean doesn't waste time with a huge story, it is very basic and to the point. Pete McKell is an American travel writer who travels the world and writes about the places he visits. He is sent to the Northern Territory to go on a river cruise which is lead by Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell). On board there are plenty of other tourists waiting to become bait.

The movie starts off with some beautiful scenes of Australian outback, they are absolutely stunning. When the action starts, though, it never lets up. For the rest of the movie I was on the edge of my seat, McLean really knows how to racket up the tension. It helps that the river is murky and we don't see too much of our monster until the end. And when we do see our crocodile friend it is amazing. Part CG and part animatronics, the crocodile looks very good and very menacing.

The acting is good all round, although the characters aren't hugely deep, the actors do a good job of making us love them or hate them. Particularly good is John Jarret (of Wolf Creek fame) and Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill).

For those that like blood and gore you won't be too disappointed, there is some and it's nice and bloody when it comes.

3½/5

In the Northern Australia, a group of tourists goes on tour in the Ryan's Wildlife River Cruise to see crocodiles in the Australian Outback in the boat The Suzanne with the guide Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell). When they are ready to return, one tourist sees a distress flare 3 km upstream the river and Kate heads the boat to an unexplored territory. They are attacked by a huge crocodile, the boat sinks and the hysterical group is trapped in a small muddy island stalked by the crocodile. However, the high tide forces the group to move, and the American journalist Pete McKell (Michael Vartan) has an idea to hold the killer croc while the group swims to the other side of the river.

"Rogue" is a light version of the tense, realistic and dramatic "Black Water", which is based on a true event. The beginning is well developed and tense, but in a certain moment the story becomes unrealistic and corny with a silly conclusion. Anyway, "Rogue" is an entertaining adventure, and the viewers that have not watched "Black Water" or appreciate a commercial happy ending, will certainly like this flick much more than I did. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Morte Súbita" ("Sudden Death")

Granted, it's not perfect, and the idea is not 100% original (from a cinematic point of view) but one thing I love about Greg McLean's films is that he takes what are essentially Australian icons and flips them totally askew. For instance in Wolf Creek the films brutal killer - Mick Taylor is basically Mick Dundee turned psycho. And in Rogue, he yet again takes a well known Australian reptile and sets it loose on some unsuspecting tourists.

There's no denying McLean can shoot a beautiful movie, and some of the wonderful scenes of the Australian top-end are simply stunning. The characters all portray strong performances, especially when the pressure sets in and they begin to crack. McLean also does a good job at drip feeding the dread and teasing the audience with nothing but growls, grunts and slippery tails. It's an age old formula where directors don't show the full extent of the threat till the end - well, thankfully we don't have to wait that long, as when the croc does reveal itself - we see that it is frickin'MASSIVE! And what's even more scary is that these thing's actually exist up there.

The croc itself is naturally CGI with some animatronics, and it's a relief to see that it looks "real". The movement and animation is authentic and the sound design is also effective in giving the audience that jolted feeling a 3 tonne croc would give.

It's a tense, taught and well directed film, and the only gripe I have about it is that it seems a little short - maybe that was put down the fact that I was so immersed into the film? But it did feel a little short. It also lacked the brutal punch Wolf Creek gave us back in 2005, but never the less, it's a cute little Aussie horror thriller where McLean pays sound homage to classics like Jaws and Aliens. And it's also good to see more "genre" films like this coming out of Australia, and it's also good to know people like the Weinsteins and Warner Brothers are backing horror films from Australia for international releases and distribution.

For anyone into their Reptillian chills and thrills - I highly recommend ROGUE.

I saw Rogue this morning at a preview screening in Melbourne, I've been looking forward to this film for some time. I don't want to say that it was a disappointment as it is a solid effort. There is nothing that stands out as something I think should have been done differently.

Some wandering British and American accents from the mostly Australian cast can be forgiven.

The obvious difference between the locations in the Northern Territory and those in Victoria caused a brief chuckle (mainly because director Greg McLean introduced the film and commented that he hoped the transition would be seamless), though this may go unnoticed by foreign (non-Australian) audiences.

Visual effects were highly competent, I doubt that the average cinema-goer will pick the matte paintings or have an issues with the CG croc.

The main issue I have is that the film lacks the suspense and excitement of a truly great monster/horror film. Due to the nature of the material this will have to be compared to Jaws and Rogue will inevitably suffer. A fairer comparison has to be Lake Placid, and in that scenario Rogue also comes off second best. Rogue lacks the suspense and the humour of the American monster Croc effort.

This follow up to Wolf Creek was written long before the surprise Aussie hit, Rogue has the hallmarks of a first feature script, hitting all of the genre conventions without ever attaining any moments of originality.

If you enjoy this kind of monster movie (and I do) you'll find it a decent way to spend a couple of hours, you won't be missing much if you see it on DVD. Apart from Radha Mitchell looking great in khaki shorts, and believably playing a 28 yr old, though she has to be at least 35.

Nice job over all, good job, not great but good.

This is the third croc movie I've seen, after the first Lake Placid (which was quite fun) and the Dominic Purcell starring Primeval, which I was pleasantly surprised with, and felt was actually a political film disguised as a croc film.

2007 was a ripe year for croc films, with the aforementioned Primeval, Australian flick Black Water, and now another Australian flick, Rogue, writer/director Greg Mclean second feature effort after the well-received 2005 gorefest Wolf Creek.

I got to see this film in the cinema, and let me tell you it was worth it. The film is simply beautiful to look at. Mclean and his unfortunately now dead cinematographer Will Gibson offer some amazing, breathtaking shots of Australia's Northern Territory (where the story is set). Seriously, I cannot stress how beautiful this movie's setting is, you have to see it to believe it.

However stunning visuals do not a good movie make, and thankfully Greg Mclean and his team deliver the goods in the other departments as well. Have you ever been disappointed by that "keeping the monster hidden makes him more effective" rule of monster movies? Well Mclean actually pulls it off. You almost never see the croc during the first part of the movie, yet his presence is felt at every turn. The pacing is just right, the atmosphere is appropriately tense and the characters are pretty believable. Unfortunately, the film becomes slightly less interesting during its second part, where Rogue takes a more conventional turn.

Nevertheless, I'd recommend watching Rogue, even if you're not that into horror films, as Mclean's mastery, originality and inventiveness is felt throughout, from the superb opening to the awesome rendition of the Disney song "Never Smile At A Crocodile" which accompanies the end credits.

On a side note, I'm not sure how happy Australia's tourism board are with director Greg Mclean. On the one hand, he captures the beauty of the setting in a way not often seen, but on the other, you won't want to go anywhere near that place after seeing Rogue. Especially considering the size of our killer croc is apparently entirely plausible. Scary stuff.

Not another crocodile movie again, you might groan. I did too, as I wonder just how many killer shark and killer crocodile/alligator movies need to be made, before they finally die off. Not too long ago we had Primeval, which was a crocodile movie set in the African continent which had attempted to weave local politics into it. Here, it's set in the Northern Territories of Australia, and with such killer-reptilian movies, the more exaggerated the size and aggression of the animal, the better. So we have a seven metre long crocodile for the characters to contend with.

It's a simple set up, in which Radha Mitchell plays Kate Ryan, a river tour guide who pilots her own boat to ferry tourists down a river to experience the wild life, as well as learning little details such as them not getting themselves attacked by any crocs because their tour boats are larger, or so they would like the tourists to believe. That said, our monster in question took about 30 minutes before deciding to increase the pace and tension of the movie, by knocking up against the boat of our merry bunch when they respond to a distant distress signal.

It takes a while to get things moving because writer-director Greg McIean (Wolf Creek) had dedicated the earlier portion of the movie to get the audience chummy with the characters, before they become fodder for our hungry crocodile. And surprisingly, I have to say that Rogue Crocodile did work, despite it being a crocodile movie done countless of times over, and whose plot development we can see coming from a mile away. What probably worked in its favour, is that there aren't any gung-ho heroes in the story - no cops or natural crocodile dundees, but everyday folk like you and I, and we naturally would root for them as they try to escape their predicament.

And it looks like a typical episode from the television series Lost too. You have a makeshift island where our temporal inhabitants seek refuge from, though the tide's coming through to flood it in time, and with water comes natural territory for the crocodile to wade through. Communication devices aren't working and they're cut off from the rest of the world. So they can only rely on their own ingenuity, plans crafted with time working against them, if only they can get past their occasional bickering on what to do.

There are enough tension filled moments to excite you as this crocodile chomps without remorse, and it doesn't shy away from showing some gory bits, though the number of set action pieces are limited, and involves a little too much thrashing about by the roguish reptile which turns out to be not too smart, relying on plain brawn. Suitable for those lazy Sunday afternoons.

This story of a monster crocodile eating tourists is solid enough to watch once, but not twice. The crocodile is seldom visible and there is very little gore. The tourists efforts to get away from him are somewhat laughable - they never seem to consider just walking away into the woods.

There isn't much comedic effect, the rogue is not played for laughs, nor is there any gratuitous nudity, much in the way of suspense, or gore. Just a horror movie that isn't horrible, sleazy or gory.

My 8-year-old son watched it with me and pointed out the plot holes. That should tell you everything you need to know about it before deciding whether to watch it or not.

I thought this would be a real cheesy B movie but was in for a great surprise.

Starting with the cinematography and the initial town scenes I figured this may be half decent. Things picked up even more with the scenes on the boat introducing the characters. Small touches like the guy letting his loved ones ashes into the water and the photographer having a sly chow down on a hidden sandwich were really cool touches. Bigger budget films should take note! It got better from there, not showing too much of the croc and building suspense with good pacing and realistic reactions from the cast. The cinematography and editing on the river journey were great. After seeing this I almost want to go to the Northern Territories. Almost, but not after the Croc finally shows its face.

This is one primal beast. The film does a good job of keeping it under wraps for the early portion of the film but when it finally shows its face its a great moment. The visual fx are faultless and the croc acts in a very realistic manner.

In the second act the filmmakers do a great job at ratcheting up suspense, using a great set up involving the river. I wont spoil it here but its so simple but very effective.

I am a jaded monster film fan and this one had me wanting to see it for a second time straight away.

Crocs and Alligators seem to be the whipping boys of the film industry with so many comedy or low budget appearances. To finally to see one with real teeth and to give it a go with a good story and great fx is fantastic. I would recommend this to anyone after a monster night out.

A boatload of tourists gets trapped on a tiny island and hunted by a huge crocodile. I watched this not knowing what to expect but having a general liking for B movies, especially what I call "aquatic horror." Compared to others in that genre I thought Rogue was very well written, well acted, and quite suspenseful. I saw a review that criticized it for lacking a sense of humor, which is a fair criticism, and it's true some scary movies just don't work without the humor. But this one was straight-up suspense, more realistic than over-the-top: it invoked no radiation accidents to create the horror nor presented any seriously improbable approaches to attempt to escape it. It was closer to a drama about how people might act in a desperate situation. I also liked that it had a large enough cast of quickly-delineated characters to play the "who will survive game?" without any certainty you'd get it right. Along with plenty of scary moments. Recommended.

Greg McLean's follow up to Wolf Creek about a killer croc may well come back to bite him...on the arse. Underwritten to the extreme, this movie harks back to 70's creature films but isn't anywhere near as fun. The cast have nothing to do, especially John Jarratt who seems to stand around in a bad moustache and fat suit. The acting is on par with bad Crocodile Dundee ultra-Australian stereotyping. We don't see enough gore which made me think there will be the obligatory "Unrated" DVD to suck more money out of us. Disappointing film that pays not to think about too much because logic was out having a smoke on the set of this one.

In choosing a follow up to his critically acclaimed (for some reason, it was only OK) debut Wolf Creek, Greg McLean chose an old favourite, the big scary animal movie.

This time it is crocodiles, or crocodile to be specific.

The story starts and ends in Australia's Northern Territory, where an American joins a tourist cruise along a river.

The American turns out to be a travel writer, though that is just a reason to get an American in the cast and on the boat. As with every disaster or monster movie there are a host of miscellaneous extras of various backgrounds and circumstances, around 12 in all… initially (wink!) and of course when the sh*t hits the fan various among them clash and react differently.

But I'm getting ahead of the plot… a little.

The cruise is "manned" by the daughter of the never-seen owner, named Kate, and her faithful dog Kevin is along for the ride. We spend 10 or so minutes meeting the cast and hearing tidbits about their background and why they are on the boat. I call this time "meet the soon deceased", and use it to pick 1) who will be the first to croak and 2) who will live. I'm almost always wrong about 1) but can usually get 2) right, and I did here.

Along the cruise two boneheads show up to stir Kate and a minor standoff ensues, where a couple of passengers muster the courage to tell the clowns to "bugger off mate", (hey this is set in Australia after all, strewth!).

Boneheads leave. Kate turns the boat to head back to dock, only a passenger spies a flare in the distance, followed by others. Obeying the law of the sea (probably) Kate decides to do the right thing and check it out even though it causes a delay to all.

They arrive at the source of the flare to find only an upturned dinghy and BANG, something runs into the boat, causing it to slowly sink. While they have time Kate steers the boat to a tiny mid-river sandbank and they rapidly disembark.

Now the fun starts.

The boneheads once again reappear, to pad out the onshore numbers and create a bit more tension, and ol' croccy starts munching. It soon becomes evident that they are all intruding on the crocodile's home turf, and he is none too pleased with their presence.

Like hippos, where you aren't supposed to get between a hippo and the water, the live bait that is the survivors need to get ashore to calm the croc down, only like Frogger doing that involves crossing a dangerous area, namely swimming past his choppers.

So they try a few plans, needless to say they use three because the first couple don't work, and each failed plan brings about a more croc-snacks. There are promises made and broken, allegiances made and conflicts created and settled in between fatalities, and as a special treat I got to hear someone call a guy "numbnuts" for perhaps the first time in cinema history.

McLean sensibly avoids certain standards, not everyone who gets chomped deserves it and those that deserve it (at least in your mind) don't always get what's coming to them. Some things work that shouldn't and where human interaction is concerned things don't ever go exactly to plan.

I was happy enough with the pace, the frequency of kills and thankfully the heavy handed Steve Irwin style Ozzy slang was kept to a minimum, the finale was OK and happily when they ran out of things to do and people to kill… Then the film stopped - no Lord of the Rings 37 pointless endings here, movie part ends, the credits roll.

Final Rating – 7 / 10. Less tongue in cheek than Lake Placid, but less serious than Wolf Creek, Rogue gets the lazy video night mix about right.

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In the Northern Territory of Australia a River Boat Tour, led by Radha "I didn't know she was Aussie" Mitchell is struck by enormously and hungry bad luck, in the shape of a Killer Croc. The Croc wants them for food and with this ragtag group of geniuses, this Croc will get his wishes.

Rogue was an alright flick, it had okay acting, a cool atmosphere and a few deaths. The whole beginning was actually really well-done and really made me feel like these people better be careful. But that dropped when you got to know the characters, and the weak writing that plagued them.

It was pretty predictable, plagued with ridiculous decision-making, was a tad too dark, had weak writing, and the CGI was very noticeable. But hey, this is a horror flick, so you gotta go with the flow.

The whole idea behind this movie seriously felt like it was conceived by one idea. The last death of the movie. The Croc and the Chicago dude duel-off. Every other part of the flick was really nothing special at all. It's really just a very average flick.

Rogue isn't the best killer croc flick and not even the best the country has to offer (Dark Age), but it did offer jump scares (for those that like that crap), and some good ole fashion Salty Croc violence. Which is reason enough to check this flick out.

Since last year after reading all positive reviews and much Hype of this project, I was desperate to watch the movie but was not available because of flop Aussie production in Pakistan.. Luckily I got a chance to travel to Australia and last night I bought the DVD and MANNN I am disappointed.. The movie is too slow to start with, waste of time in name of character development and amazingly low body count.. plus no memorable kill (most are offscreen, even 1 on screen which is again not worthy)...

Fun part is that many extra were actually alive while main actors were targeted by smart creature...

In the end director of shocker Wolfcreek somehow wanted to make a character driven, medium scare and happy "Commercial" movie to recover 25Million investment but Failed badly because of exact intention...

with such a great landscape, good cast and nice croc... there was a true potential of good movie here which was missed...

I don't know why there is buzz around for this movie.. for me I wasted my money and time in DVD better just ignore it and watch something else..

BTW there is no comparison of JAWS with this movie... Even Black Water (From Australia too)is better movie than Rogue....

This 2007 offering from Australia does not make any totally innovative take on the "animals gone wild" sub-genre of Horror films. But, the story is told logically, well paced, suspenseful, and 'borderline' well acted for a B-budget flik.

In the outback of Australia, a down-on-her luck swamp croc tour boat operator takes out a group of stereotypical idiot tourists. Within 20 minutes, I made my "who dies" predictions. I was mostly right. In any event, the tour boat operator sees a distress flare and goes to investigate . . . Much to the upset of her passengers. They reach the source of the distress signal - clearly too late - and then things go south for them as well. All due to one really, really, really big MF croc. And the rest, of course, is survival focused. It is by no stretch brilliant, but kinda' good ! If you are a fan of this sub-genre, its worth a look.