The Relic
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Movie Reviews of The Relic
Movie Review: So boring, it's scary!!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
If you're a hardcore horror fan looking for a hardcore monster movie with non-stop action and a high body count..... See "Aliens". But if you're looking for a monster movie with a dumb monster, dumb characters and only one exciting scene at the very end, then you just might like "The Relic". The story is that a reptilian creature snuck into a museum, and killed a security guard. A few dumb detectives go into the museum to find out how the guard was killed. They want to keep the public from coming to the museum until the problem is dealt with, but the museum's staff insists that the public be let in for the grand opening of their latest exibit. People come in by the thousands. Right in the middle of the tour, the creature causes some more problems, and the museum's security computer locks the whole place down. Will the hundreds of thousands of no-name people be trapped inside for the monster to feast upon? Nope. Large, metal security doors start to close, like that scene in "Titanic", and at least a billion people make it out alive. Instead of feasting on a sea of people in the main room, all the monster does is kill off two lovable dogs and an old, crippled guy. About twenty guests become trapped in the museum, and at least seventeen of them make it out alive. A stupid police guy leads those people out of the museum through a sewage system. He's carrying a shotgun, but he never fires it, even when the monster is coming for them, and he has a clear shot. Why did he have a shotgun to begin with if he couldn't figure out how to make it work? A hundred-thousand billion people survive who you could care less about. Instead of having many expendable no-name characters get eaten, most of the few characters who do die have names and backgrounds. I hate this movie so much! This movie make Hulk angry! Hulk smash terrible monster movie that rips off scenes from better movies! And I should probably mention that it takes a good hour before anything that looks like it could get scary happens. If you still want to see this lame film, regardless of what I say, read this: In the scene where the monster is chasing the large group of slow-moving idiots through the sewers, the monster gives up on the chase. Yeah. Sad, isn't it? Still care to watch? Don't. I beg of you. This is pure filth, and a real let-down for horror buffs like myself.Movie Review: Too slow getting started, but one very cool monster.
Summary: 4 Stars
I like this movie for one very simple reason. I enjoy a cool monster, and the creature in this film is really, really cool. Unfortunately, he doesn't show up until the third act. In the meantime, there's a handful of off-camera deaths and a lot of set up. It's handled well enough, and the acting and directing are solid on all accounts, but for a lot of monster fans, it might take too long to get to the action. Just hold on because it's worth it.
The last act is crammed with action / scares, and the monster is just plain neat. And when he finally shows himself, he does a lot of damage, eats a lot of people, and just generally makes a helluva nuisance of himself. All the buildup ultimately pays off because even the minor characters have personalities and seem like real people so that when they die, you feel something.
As for the monster, like the dragons in 'Reign of Fire' it's so dangerous that we humans have little hope but to run for it. But never does the story seem hopeless, despite the situation, and suspense is maintained throughout.
It's a good movie, not great. But the monster is great, and isn't that the point of a movie like this?
Movie Review: GREAT MOVIE
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is one of the most enjoyable films I have seen in years. A must see.Movie Review: The Relic (1997)
Summary: 4 Stars
Director: Peter Hyams.
Cast: Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore.
Rated R for extreme violence, language, and lots of gore.
Running Time: 110 minutes.
A supremely underrated monster mash, "The Relic" is one of the better of its kind produced in the last 1990's. Director Peter Hyams does a great job staying true to the acclaimed 1995 novel of the same name (written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child), using a great balance of humor and terror to entertain. The premise revolves around a frazzled researcher (Penelope Ann Miller) working at the Chicago Museum of Natural History who happens to come across a strange shipment. The shipments are empty besides a strange kind of plant life that is unknown to the scientist. Miller thinks nothing of it until museum workers start showing up dead, jeopardizing the grand opening of the museum's biggest exhibit opening in history.
Tom Sizemore (in a refreshingly funny performance) stars as the detective assigned to the case, not realizing the terror that is running amok in the museum. Both Sizemore and Miller work together to put the pieces of the mysterious deaths together, all the while attempting to survive against a fiendish beast of a monster that is eating everything in sight. Both Linda Hunt and James Whitmore are very good as a museum coordinator and supportive old scientist, respectively. Superb special effects (conducted by none other than the great Stan Winston himself, who created the "Alien" monsters), a fine ensemble cast, and a riveting musical score that gels well with the film. Scary, humorous, and devilishly entertaining.
Movie Review: More fun than you might think.
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie has been compared to Alien(&s) and Predator(&2). Some would go so far as to say this movie is a "rip off" of those other works.
That is pretty narrow minded, as this movie really does stand on its own; just like many other good flicks of the genre. The movie is based on the novel of the same title(ISBN: 0812543262), not the other way around as with so many novelizations of movies. It's a good book and worth a read, if that is your cup of tea.
Anyway, the movie is a fun experience with good acting and a picture that is almost always interesting to watch.
I especially loved the delicious little plot point of what one tribe of "primatives" did to an arrogant American Anthropologist who'd come to study their "quaint" little beliefs.