TRIASSIC WORLD (2018)

TRIASSIC WORLD (2018)

Tagline: Nope

(Sci-Fi, Horror, Dinosaurs Will Eat Your Face Off) [R]

Note – This movie wasn’t given an MPAA rating, but if it was it would get an R due to gore. 

In this one, a lab is genetically breeding dinosaurs for human organ transplants. However when one of the dinosaurs escapes it is quickly learned that the dinosaur's bite and its blood contain a virus that takes over the human mind making them slowly go insane. Meanwhile, two new guests who have arrived at the facility are caught up in the frenzy with only a skeleton crew on hand to try and contain the dinosaur. On top of all this, the building is on lockdown and a quick escape from the danger is not an option.  

First off, at one point THE ASYLUM was where you went to get one of the lowest quality movies you could find on the SYFY channel. It’s still pretty down there on most of its efforts, but they have had a few hit series like SHARKNADO and shark with more than 1 head. Surprisingly the CGI in some parts of this movie is pretty stellar while others are lackluster, but not as bad as in the past. The other notable thing is that all of the acting in this movie is a step up from almost any other ASYLUM film I have seen. 

One thing you may already know if you read my reviews is that THE ASYLUM is a studio that mostly tries to capitalize on direct-to-streaming or video movies that are basically ideas copied from other major movies that come out. For a few examples, 2021’s APE VS MONSTER was meant to capitalize on GODZILLA VS KONG, 2020’s TOP GUNNER was meant to capitalize on the delayed TOP GUN: MAVERICK release and this movie was meant to capitalize on JURASSIC WORLD: THE FALLEN KINGDOM which actually had a pretty claustrophobic horror movie flare to it, as did this film. 

Outside of the ridiculously stupid idea that you could grow dinosaurs for human organs or even needed to, this movie is actually pretty decent. It’s also given even more levity by throwing in some ideas borrowed from movies like DEEP BLUE SEA and even The Walking Dead. I thought the score was really good and the pacing is decent because things get going pretty much right away. 

Acting-wise we get Shellie Sterling as Diana. She ends up probably getting the most or second most lines in the movie. She is probably most famous for ARMY OF FRANKENSTEINS put out by Boiling Point Media. If you are ever looking for movies even worse than what THE ASYLUM puts out, then check out Boiling Point Media. When I looked them up I was kind of shocked to discover I drive by the studio's headquarters almost every day. Anyway, back to this thing. We also get a heavy dose of Hayley J Williams who plays Dr. Marisa Martinelli. She kind of reminds me of the actress you would get if you called 1-800-RENT-A-TILDA-SWINTON and Tilda wasn’t available. That isn’t a cut-down. Williams is actually very good in this. Probably the roughest performance we get is out of Jennifer Levinson who plays Bridget, but even she is better than most of the cast in most ASYLUM movies. Thus far Levinson’s career has mostly consisted of shorts. One of the crazier roles goes to Greg Furman who plays Dr. Charles Ovidio. He does a very good job in this in spite of some grueling shots. At 33 years old (as of 2022), I hope he gets plenty of great roles moving forward. 

Don’t expect a grand-scale production here and maybe watch the preview before you jump into it, but TRIASSIC WORLD is actually better than a lot of other movies in this wheelhouse and I was happy to see that the CGI work for THE ASYLUM isn’t always just a total crap fest. 

I have to give this one a 5 out of 7. It’s not a better movie than JURASSIC WORLD: THE FALLEN KINGDOM, but it doesn’t suffer from the problem of frontloading the biggest and best action sequences at the beginning of the movie like FALLEN KINGDOM does. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE ASYLUM COMPANY AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture. Because no one should die buttonless.