Manticore (2005)

The Iraq setting is unique and a definite plus for "Manticore". The daylight photography of the barren, rocky, landscape is interesting. The acting is average. The script relies heavily on conjuring up a beast from the past, that is about as likely as a children's bedtime story coming true. Now that I have built up expectations, prepare for a massive letdown. The Manticore itself is not only ridiculous, but displayed in c.g.i. that is totally unacceptable from any angle. There is no nudity, laughable gore effects, and a story that leads to one of the most preposterous conclusions ever. If the Manticore had been depicted as something that you actually believed was in the film, it would have helped. - MERK

Don't let those flaming, bleeding-heart liberals fool you. It's a good thing we went in to liberate Iraq, because Saddam Hussein might have unleashed the Manticore on the peaceful shores of New England if we hadn't. The last thing this country to deal with in the War on Terror is some acne-faced, flying lion with a scorpion's tail. Luckily, the CNN embed who was covering the war in this movie was skeptical enough to uncover this major scoop and report back to the homeland. Of course, by investing five minutes into research we could discover that this thing turns to stone if he sees his reflection inn the mirror. There are enough mirrors in the United States that I think we can make this country safe for democracy again. Just try to mess with us, al-Qaeda! Maybe we should send the Manticore to Afghanistan to go after bin Laden. Anyway, this is your standard, formulaic monster movie. If you like monster movies, you'll enjoy it; if not, you'll slash your wrists in agony.

After watching crap like Raptor Island from the scifi channel, I had shall we say, LOW expectations but was pleasantly surprised. Despite a no name cast with the exception of Jeff Fahey, the acting was solid. In terms of plot, it was REAL DIREVITAVE of James Cameron's Aliens, and a had a few moments from other classic action movies like Predator. But as a low- budget knockoff, it was done quite well. I know a lot about the limitations directors have on low budget action movies. WIth little money or time, its hard to make an action movie that is as slickly made as this movie is... The FX weren't that good however but that's largely the problem of the budget, not the director.

This is about a group of American GIs in Iraq. We start with a scene of them interrogating some people who were caught looting a museum. They decide that these people were just really hungry, and it's completely understandable that they would loot someplace in order to be able to buy food. The soldiers release the suspects and give them all their MRE's, establishing them as really nice guys and gals. Some idiot reporter from CNN is hanging around bothering them as well. She pompously informs them that she's embedded with a Marine unit, so she's got the right to go anywhere. They inform her that they're with the Army, so she should go away. It's kind of funny. The reporter is cute and kind of sexy, but she never establishes herself as anything more than the standard issue "anything for a story" cliché. Next, the townspeople arm themselves and we get our first big shootout. It's actually pretty good, not exactly Blackhawk Down, but at least they tried. One thing that is rather amusing is watching these American soldiers ride around in a Russian BTR-70 armored personnel carrier. Don't tell me, let me guess: This was filmed in Romania? Next we get the obligatory scene of the soldiers having some time off between missions, playing football. The guys have their shirts off and most of them just happen to have chiseled abs. The girl wears a sweaty tight T-shirt, which she fills out very well, if I do say so myself. The commander (that Chakotay guy from Star Trek Voyager, here playing that Chakotay guy from Voyager except in an Army uniform) gets suitably dressed down for letting all the suspects go. Then the "I'm sick of doing puff pieces" reporter gets herself in some trouble in a remote town, and the GI's are sent to rescue her. Little does anyone know (well, we know) that some bad guys have looted a very special artifact from the museum, one which allows them to bring the Manticore to life! Yes, the Manticore will kill the infidels, yadda yadda yadda.There's a small shootout, then the soldiers get to the town and find everyone dead. Except of course for the reporter and about 4 other guys who were apparently the only ones with enough brains to hide inside a room to escape the Manticore. Then we get a whole bunch of shootouts, one of which involves a really fake CGI helicopter doing all the things that fake CGI stuff does so well, like bursting into flames in totally fake ways. The Manticore itself looks fairly good, at least in close up shots; it's CGI, but they did a good amount of detail on it, and it does look pretty icky. The ending really defies any sort of logic, but what the hey.Overall, not a bad movie for the Sci-Fi Channel. You've got some hot babes, some very average B-movie acting, and thousands of rounds fired. Nothing particularly exciting, but if you've got a couple of hours to kill and you're a fan of low budget movies, you could do worse.