WELCOME TO SEA MONSTER WEEKEND!!!
Disclaimer: Spoilers ahead!!! If you want nothing spoiled, I recommend turning back now before it's too late!!!
Today's review is the television adaptation of The Beast which was based on the novel by Peter Benchley. Hey, remember Jaws? Remember how suspenseful and awesome that movie was? This isn't that. I'm sorry, I know that discolors this film completely even before I start the review. However, I will point out that I am not actually trashing this film from the get go. The comparisons are inevitable and I thought I should get that out of the way. Yes, it is true, The Beast is Jaws with a a giant squid in place of a great white shark. That was how the books read, in any case. The films started out similar enough, but by the second half of the Beast's adaptation, there were notable differences.
Why don't we begin with the story? Yeah, I know, I summed it up already when I stated the shark is replaced with the squid. The story of the movie decided to go in-depth with the characters a little more so than the novel on which it is based. In fact, the film only loosely followed the novel (big shocker, right). The story goes that people start disappearing in the ocean and there are signs left behind that point to a giant squid as the culprit. From there, it becomes a debate of what should be done about the situation: Leave it alone and let it move on or kill it. I bet your wondering which option the townspeople choose to take? Just like in Jaws, the town's economy thrives on the ocean from fishing to tourism. Obviously, they decide to go with option number 2.
And they succeed!!! Well, good for them, right? But wait, there is a twist. The film was divided into 2 parts as a miniseries. And the cliffhanger ends with the death of a giant squid, but the reveal of an even larger squid, leading in to part two. This didn't actually happen in the novel. It was only one squid, but hey, who am I to complain, right?
Okay, time for some history on my part. I recall the promos for this film had briefly caught my attention. I only saw about an hour of part two before I went to bed. I remember it was during the summer vacation period of '96. How do I recall such specifics you may ask? I remember swimming lessons the following morning and being too terrified from what I saw of part two to want to get in the pool. Yup, I found it frightening.
Obviously, I had to watch the rest of it. I actually don't remember when I did sit down to finally see it all the way through. Mostly, I just remember taping it and watching through it quite a bit. This was the film that started my obsession with the giant squid as the most fascinating creature of the sea. Sorry, great white, but it was time to swim aside (see what I did there?) for Architeuthis. I was in love with this film and thought it was pretty awesome for a while. The giant squids themselves looked great and authentic throughout most of the film. Not bad for a made-for-tv film unlike the Syfy channel. The other kudos I do have to give this film is a focus on characters and their own story arcs. That is one improvement over the book I can give it. They even have a tough coast guard woman who deals with sexism and trying to prove herself equal. It works out pretty well in the end, because *spoiler alert* she takes out the Beast. Okay, okay, the male lead does pave the way for that to happen, but I still feel it gets the message across just fine, because they worked together. Equality. And that isn't the only arc. There are characters who are trying to overcome their financial burdens and helplessness and it just happens to intersect with the extra problem of having a sea monster or two in their area. The film stars William Peterson before CSI aired does a pretty good job as the reluctant fisherman Whip Dalton. Karen Sillas played the female lead I mentioned earlier and I thought she was pretty good as well. Unfortunately, I haven't seen her in much, but I guess she played a cop in a t.v. series titled Under Suspicion. So, there you go, what do two police drama stars have in common? They hunt giant squids *cue Elmer Fudd's laugh*.
Looking back on it now, my opinions have altered slightly and there are some criticisms from my new perspective. Well, for one thing, they certainly have a lot of p.o.v. shots from the monster just like in Jaws, but they go overboard with it just a little bit. Thankfully, they ditch it completely in part two. It seems like the scale of the squid is all over the place. There is one cgi shot of the beast that makes it look way bigger than it does through the rest of the film. How about some consistency with the calamari, huh? The acting isn't always great and some shots and even the music are a bit overly dramatic. Back to the p.o.v. shots, they play some less than subtle music unlike in Jaws. It is pretty overblown, but maybe that was the point since the squid is a lot bigger than the shark.
Finally, here is the kicker. This is the big criticism that doesn't quite hold up as well as when I was a child. Remember I stated earlier that part two ended on a cliffhanger about a larger squid? As you go into part two, *spoiler alert again*, it is revealed that the squid that was killed was only a three-month old infant. The larger squid is the mother who is now out for revenge against the death of her child.
I'll just let that sink in.
As a youngin', I brushed this away without a second thought. It didn't discolor my opinion of the film at all. If anything, I thought it upped the stakes and made it more personal. As an adult, I find it kind of ridiculous for many reasons. The first one being the inaccuracy of the creature on display. From what I discovered over the years, squids lay about a thousand eggs and abandon their young. There is no parental guidance or affection amongst these animals. It is just a circle of life. Making a vengeance-bent giant squid just feels a bit cheesy and maybe a desperate attempt to distance it from Jaws. Yet, I can't help feel that this storyline mimics the lousy Jaws 3 film since that dealt with the death of a baby great white and incurred the wrath of the mother. So, really, if you want to enjoy this film as an adult, you would have to swallow the ludicrousness of the revenge storyline from part two. Part one merely acts as a version of Jaws. Lucky for me, this film is rooted in enough nostalgia that I can get past the ridiculous family feud of squidom to still enjoy the film.
In closing, the film is not perfect and certainly lacks the quality of Jaws. It places heavy emphasis on character drama while pushing the squid storyline past its boundaries of believability a bit too much. Some of the effects are off and lack consistency on the scale of these animals and some of the acting is a little choppy. However, in its own right, it is still a decent made for t.v. adaptation. Most of the effects are genuine and the acting succeeds more than it fails. Despite the goofiness of the vengeance plot, the squids still help this film succeed as a fun and entertaining sea monster movie without venturing too far in typical made-for-syfy z-grade affairs. I still enjoy this film for what it is and think that it is underrated and not as lousy as it could have been.
Why don't we begin with the story? Yeah, I know, I summed it up already when I stated the shark is replaced with the squid. The story of the movie decided to go in-depth with the characters a little more so than the novel on which it is based. In fact, the film only loosely followed the novel (big shocker, right). The story goes that people start disappearing in the ocean and there are signs left behind that point to a giant squid as the culprit. From there, it becomes a debate of what should be done about the situation: Leave it alone and let it move on or kill it. I bet your wondering which option the townspeople choose to take? Just like in Jaws, the town's economy thrives on the ocean from fishing to tourism. Obviously, they decide to go with option number 2.
And they succeed!!! Well, good for them, right? But wait, there is a twist. The film was divided into 2 parts as a miniseries. And the cliffhanger ends with the death of a giant squid, but the reveal of an even larger squid, leading in to part two. This didn't actually happen in the novel. It was only one squid, but hey, who am I to complain, right?
Okay, time for some history on my part. I recall the promos for this film had briefly caught my attention. I only saw about an hour of part two before I went to bed. I remember it was during the summer vacation period of '96. How do I recall such specifics you may ask? I remember swimming lessons the following morning and being too terrified from what I saw of part two to want to get in the pool. Yup, I found it frightening.
Obviously, I had to watch the rest of it. I actually don't remember when I did sit down to finally see it all the way through. Mostly, I just remember taping it and watching through it quite a bit. This was the film that started my obsession with the giant squid as the most fascinating creature of the sea. Sorry, great white, but it was time to swim aside (see what I did there?) for Architeuthis. I was in love with this film and thought it was pretty awesome for a while. The giant squids themselves looked great and authentic throughout most of the film. Not bad for a made-for-tv film unlike the Syfy channel. The other kudos I do have to give this film is a focus on characters and their own story arcs. That is one improvement over the book I can give it. They even have a tough coast guard woman who deals with sexism and trying to prove herself equal. It works out pretty well in the end, because *spoiler alert* she takes out the Beast. Okay, okay, the male lead does pave the way for that to happen, but I still feel it gets the message across just fine, because they worked together. Equality. And that isn't the only arc. There are characters who are trying to overcome their financial burdens and helplessness and it just happens to intersect with the extra problem of having a sea monster or two in their area. The film stars William Peterson before CSI aired does a pretty good job as the reluctant fisherman Whip Dalton. Karen Sillas played the female lead I mentioned earlier and I thought she was pretty good as well. Unfortunately, I haven't seen her in much, but I guess she played a cop in a t.v. series titled Under Suspicion. So, there you go, what do two police drama stars have in common? They hunt giant squids *cue Elmer Fudd's laugh*.
Looking back on it now, my opinions have altered slightly and there are some criticisms from my new perspective. Well, for one thing, they certainly have a lot of p.o.v. shots from the monster just like in Jaws, but they go overboard with it just a little bit. Thankfully, they ditch it completely in part two. It seems like the scale of the squid is all over the place. There is one cgi shot of the beast that makes it look way bigger than it does through the rest of the film. How about some consistency with the calamari, huh? The acting isn't always great and some shots and even the music are a bit overly dramatic. Back to the p.o.v. shots, they play some less than subtle music unlike in Jaws. It is pretty overblown, but maybe that was the point since the squid is a lot bigger than the shark.
Finally, here is the kicker. This is the big criticism that doesn't quite hold up as well as when I was a child. Remember I stated earlier that part two ended on a cliffhanger about a larger squid? As you go into part two, *spoiler alert again*, it is revealed that the squid that was killed was only a three-month old infant. The larger squid is the mother who is now out for revenge against the death of her child.
I'll just let that sink in.
As a youngin', I brushed this away without a second thought. It didn't discolor my opinion of the film at all. If anything, I thought it upped the stakes and made it more personal. As an adult, I find it kind of ridiculous for many reasons. The first one being the inaccuracy of the creature on display. From what I discovered over the years, squids lay about a thousand eggs and abandon their young. There is no parental guidance or affection amongst these animals. It is just a circle of life. Making a vengeance-bent giant squid just feels a bit cheesy and maybe a desperate attempt to distance it from Jaws. Yet, I can't help feel that this storyline mimics the lousy Jaws 3 film since that dealt with the death of a baby great white and incurred the wrath of the mother. So, really, if you want to enjoy this film as an adult, you would have to swallow the ludicrousness of the revenge storyline from part two. Part one merely acts as a version of Jaws. Lucky for me, this film is rooted in enough nostalgia that I can get past the ridiculous family feud of squidom to still enjoy the film.
In closing, the film is not perfect and certainly lacks the quality of Jaws. It places heavy emphasis on character drama while pushing the squid storyline past its boundaries of believability a bit too much. Some of the effects are off and lack consistency on the scale of these animals and some of the acting is a little choppy. However, in its own right, it is still a decent made for t.v. adaptation. Most of the effects are genuine and the acting succeeds more than it fails. Despite the goofiness of the vengeance plot, the squids still help this film succeed as a fun and entertaining sea monster movie without venturing too far in typical made-for-syfy z-grade affairs. I still enjoy this film for what it is and think that it is underrated and not as lousy as it could have been.
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