Review – Lake Placid

As previously noted, I’ve got a relatively low tolerance for animal violence, and this offering was rife with it. Gruesome, graphic bear death, cow death and crocodile death are in the offing, with precious little to justify the ordeal. Unless, that is, you happen to enjoy muddled pageants in which all the characters deliver the same soupy brand of sarcastic jabs and act in accordance with motives that are at best poorly developed and at worst completely absent. In addition to the animal stuff, I guess I also felt a little cheated by the hype; the early, pre-release promos made it sound like this was going to be a movie about a lake monster, and all it ended up delivering was a giant, plastic and/or computer animated crocodile (and don’t bother to wonder how a 30-foot Asian croc managed to end up in a cold Maine lake). Further, somebody seriously needs to pass the word to screenwriters that dotty old ladies (in this case Betty White) who swear like sailors have no inherent amusement value. Wish I’d skipped it