Primate (English) Review {2.5/5} & Review Rating
Star Cast: Johnny Sequoyah, Victoria Wyant, Gia Hunter, Benjamin, Jessica Alexander, Troy Kotsur
Director: Johannes Roberts
Primate Movie Review Synopsis:
PRIMATE is a story of a vacation going wrong. Lucy Pinborough (Johnny Sequoyah) is returning to her home in Hawaii after spending many years in a different part of the USA for her studies. She is accompanied by her friends, Kate (Victoria Wyant) and Nick (Benjamin Cheng). Kate brings along Hannah (Jessica Alexander), without informing Lucy about it in advance. The four friends land in Hawaii and arrive at Lucy's mansion, located in a remote part of the island, with no other residences around for miles. Lucky meets her father, Adam (Troy Kotsur). Though he's deaf and dumb, he's also an acclaimed novelist. Lucy also meets her younger sister, Erin (Gia Hunter), who's upset with her for being away for a long time. The next 'family member' Lucy meets is a chimpanzee named Ben. Ben was adopted by Lucy's late mother, a linguistics professor, and he's highly intelligent and even friendly. Trouble arises when a mongoose enters Ben's enclosure and bites him. Since then, Ben starts behaving strangely. The next day after Lucy's arrival, Adam goes to the city for a book event. While on his way, he drops the carcass of the mongoose at a medical lab for testing. At night, Lucy, Kate, Nick and Hannah are partying when suddenly, Ben starts attacking them and even tries to kill them. They try to seek help but are unable to do so. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Primate Movie Story Review:
Johannes Roberts and Ernest Riera have written a simple and chilling story. Johannes Roberts and Ernest Riera's screenplay is nail-biting but also has its share of loose ends. The dialogues are conversational.
Johannes Roberts' direction adds to the scare and tension. The biggest victory of the execution is that the goings-on keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. The manner in which the ape goes on a killing spree sends a chill down the spine. The director has gone all out with the action scenes; a few of them are extremely disturbing and not for the faint-hearted. Even in such tense moments, a few scenes, intended for humour, land properly.
On the flipside, while the principal plot is novel, the film soon gets cliched at some places. The way the ape goes around the house looking for its target and the way the characters hide in the closet and other places gives you a déjà vu of several creature disaster films in the past. The initial 15 minutes are just okay and it's only when the ape starts his rampage does the film get better. A few questions are left unanswered and that might not be liked by a section of the audience. Lastly, the release period might go against the film. PRIMATE was released in North America on January 9 and ideally, it should have been released on January 16 in India, when the competition was minimal.
Primate Movie Review Performances:
Johnny Sequoyah plays the lead role and delivers a sincere performance. Victoria Wyant and Gia Hunter are passable, while Benjamin Cheng does well in a small role. Jessica Alexander leaves a mark due to her characterization and performance. Troy Kotsur, who’s a deaf person in real life, is quite good. Charlie Mann (Drew) and Tienne Simon (Brad) lend able support.
Primate movie music and other technical aspects:
Adrian Johnston's music adds to the madness. Stephen Murphy's cinematography is smooth. Simon Bowles' production design is luxurious. Verity Hawkes' costumes are realistic. The action is very gory. Though it is required, the action team has also needlessly pushed the envelope in a few scenes. Peter Gvozdas's editing is slick.
Primate Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, PRIMATE rests on an interesting premise and is peppered with several nail-biting moments. However, the buzz is limited and it faces competition not just from two other significant Hollywood films but also the biggie, BORDER 2. As a result, it’ll need a very positive word of mouth to sustain at the box office.