Crawl centers around an aspiring swimmer named Haley, played by Kaya Scodelario, who is preparing for a Category 5 hurricane in her home state of Florida, who gets concerned when her dad Dave, played by Barry Pepper, doesn’t return her repeated calls and texts. Against multiple warnings, she finds him injured in the basement of her old family home. As she goes to rescue him, they soon become trapped in the basement with large alligators, who entered through a storm drain. Now Haley and Dave have to escape the alligators as the house becomes flooded and the hurricane gets worse.
It’s been a while since there’s been a good old-fashioned creature feature. A bunch of characters stuck in a specific location fighting a large, ravenous animal (or animals) makes for a very simple premise, but if done right, can be a lot of fun. And on that front, Crawl delivers. While this is a movie that takes itself fairly seriously, there’s still a sense that it knows exactly what it is and knows how to have some fun with it.
The film starts off by setting up both Haley and Dave’s characters. In terms of character development, a movie like this can only go so far with providing really fleshed out characters. And because of that, some of the interactions between the two, as well as other supporting characters they speak to early on in the film, can feel a bit familiar at times, with certain relationships summed up in broad lines of dialogue that can feel so generic that they’re almost silly at times.
Despite this shortcoming, the movie does a commendable job firmly establishing both Haley and Dave’s characters enough at the beginning before quickly moving on to what the audience truly wants to see. But what’s nice too is that even though the film is mainly about the two escaping murderous alligators, it still never loses sight of its character moments, and despite only having so much to work with, it makes sure to come back to everything it brought up earlier on in the film, without ever coming across as too cheesy for the most part.
And it’s also easy to care for both Haley and Dave due to the performances. Both Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper have some truly fantastic chemistry together, and really give it their all with their performances. It’s easy to believe these two as a father and daughter, and even though some of their interactions can be stretched out a bit too long at points in between the action, they are still great to watch. Scodelario in particular clearly has a blast with the material, which may be in part due to the fact that she’s given more opportunities to move around - as Pepper is mostly confined to lying around injured for long periods of time - and in turn, it makes her a lot of fun to watch.
While the movie is serious in tone, it still doesn’t hold back when it comes to scenes of alligators wreaking havoc. Once the gators are introduced, the film becomes a lot of fun. There are plenty of action-packed instances where they gang up on outside parties attempting to help Haley and Dave, as well as the many close encounters they have with the two lead characters. And what’s great is that the film stays within the confines of reality when they’re seen. The film never portrays them as these oversized creatures who can easily outsmart the heroes. They’re simply normal sized gators who have their limits and the two characters - both Florida natives who would have some knowledge of alligators - use what they know to simply outsmart them.
And part of the fun too is just how well directed this movie is. Alexandre Aja’s direction is without a doubt of one of the strongest aspects of this film. He captures the atmosphere perfectly, with moments in which the hurricane itself feels nearly as terrifying as the gators, never letting the audience forget that it’s still a dominant presence throughout the film. And the way in which the characters have to maneuver themselves throughout the house, confined to certain spaces, is extremely creative, and the way in which Aja gets them to move around from scene to scene never comes across as hokey. For a movie of this nature, it still feels grounded in a way.
Crawl is a fun B-movie that knows what it is and takes full advantage of its premise. While its character interactions can often feel overly familiar and tend to go on for a bit too long at times, it contains some great performances from both Scodelario and Pepper that make them totally engaging to watch. And in terms of gator action, this movie is completely fast-paced, with plenty of atmospheric, action-packed venture that, despite its serious tone, allows the audience to have a good time with it, making for one of the most fun movies of the year.
Recommendation: Watch It
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