Crawl (2019) Movie Review or Who Let The Gators Out!

Hello guys and welcome back for another round of movie reviews with Movie Nerd, a place where you can be nerdy about movies and that's OK!

Well, everybody knows that the disaster movie genre is a tough pill to swallow and it does succeed sometimes but, in most cases, especially with critics, these types of movies strike out, even from the first pitch.

Technically, this movie is not a full on disaster movie but I can safely say that it can be categorised a mix between a disaster and a creature feature movie.

So, forget Jaws, Jurassic Park and subsequent sequels, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 and San Andreas plus that piece of crap that is Geostorm and The Hurricane Heist. Crawl has arrived and it's got one hell of a bite!

Before I dive in, a bit of a synopsis for you: 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.

So, like I said before, a mix between a disaster and a creature feature movie with the basic story of man versus nature but director Alexandre Aja and producer Sam Raimi manage to infuse this basic story with some action packed scenes, some terrifying and very suspenseful moments, a little creepiness and a few jump scares that really work and really make you literally jump out of your seat.

It is fast paced and no surprise there considering the very short running time of the movie, which clocks around the mark of 87 minutes, with credits and that benefits the film because we have some very short and concise introduction to one of the two main characters in the movie, a couple of minutes of building the suspense and then it's full on action. What I'm saying is that it does not waste time with some boring and long backstory of the characters. We know everything that we need to know fast and precise.

Another good thing about the movie is the performance of Kaya Scodelario, who you may know from a little series of movies called The Maze Runner and, more recently, that movie about Ted Bundy with Zack Effron. Point is that she is full on in on this, very committed, making her character feel strong, despite the dreadful situation. As well, Barry Pepper is very good but Kaya was the standout in this one.

Overall, a surprisingly very good movie, with some very well constructed scenes, a chilling atmosphere and huge ass gators. 7.5/10

OK guys, that is my review for this one. Next up, prepare to engage and put the pedal to the metal because Hobbs and Shaw is coming out and you know that I am gonna watch it. Review coming this weekend. Until then, take care, stay movie nerdy and keep on reviewing!