Arctic Predator (2010)

While searching for a long-lost ship in the Antarctic, a scientist and his research team stumble upon a giant creature made of ice that is responsible for his missing ship's fate, and after learning it's trying to steal their life-force must find a way of stopping the creature.Overall this wasn't that bad of a film, although it does have some problems. One of the better elements here is the fact that when this one gets going there's some good action scenes and some nifty kills featured here. It starts off rather nicely, with the creatures' attack on the shipmates that gives this a nice opening, the eerie creature attacks on the workers down in the underground ice caves are quite decent and the creature running through the works while outside on the snowbanks are quite fun as the attempt to melt it leads to some really thrilling moments. The manner of it attacking the pilot of a departing helicopter gives this one another great battle, and the numerous attacks against it while the creature tries to break into the campsite provides some even more thrilling and engaging work as it observes some rather impressive action to not only fight it off but also engages in some rather fun behavior to learn more about it. The final half, from the full backstory about it's original intention to track it down and how it attacked the first crew which leaves this one with another stellar action scene, leads into the rather fun final confrontation which uses some innovative idea and brings some solid action along that ends this on a really nice note. Given the rather unique powers it displays throughout here, these here are what make for a fun time, although strangely you just don't care as much as you usually do about these kinds of films. The biggest issue against this one is the fact that the creature here is an utter joke and barely even registers as a threat. A large part of this is due to its ongoing mystery, as there's no backstory about it appearing here on Earth and causing havoc as there's nothing about what the creature is and why appearing on Earth is needed. There's some rather lame deductive reasonings thrown about, but none of it makes any sense in the context of what's occurred to allow them to make that leap and it just comes off rather stilted and troubling to get to that possible explanation. Likewise, there's also a complete lack of gore and violence in many of the kills as the creatures' method of draining energy from victims doesn't make for a lot of opportunities for gory kills, and when they do occur it's got all the usual Sci-Fi Channel complaints that apply here as well in terms of lousy CGI to complete them. These, along with a rather languid pace in the beginning as it takes a while to get the ship out of the ice and let the creature loose, are what really hold this one back.Rated Unrated/R: Language and Violence.

The Fury, an English ship, in 1825 encounters an "ice creature" that emerges from the ice of the Artic after a meteor lands from space. The ship's captain is struck by the alien creature in solid form, taken back to the Fury, and documents his final words about what attacked him and his crew. An archaeologist (played by Dean Cane) completely fascinated with finding the Fury (his ancestor was a member of its crew), unintentionally releases the creature after it had been buried deep in the ice when the English ship was purposely mortared by their second English ship, the Hecla. Cane's team were allowed sanctuary in a scientific research outpost on the Arctic, so they could have the resources and accommodations available. They find the Fury, and some frozen passengers, but inadvertently release the creature from the ice. No one is safe as the creature, which can exist in solid, liquid, and gaseous form, is able to freeze humans in mere seconds!Ridiculous premise, variable special effects, and characters that essentially serve on the purpose of being turned into icicles, Arctic Predator is a typical Syfy creature feature. Cane is a likable hero (always has been, really), but he's been caught in B-movie hell so long, he seems doomed to stay there. He brings an energy to his performance that is worthy of appreciation, and his sacrifice for humanity is tragic but admirable. The rest of the cast is faces that don't necessarily leave you remembering much about them; few are distinctively drawn. Lucy Brown is Cane's love interest (she tells him she hopes he'll just find the ship and leave! "Ouch," Dean says.), while Steve Waddington is the genius of the staff with an idea of how to kill the creature, eventually understanding its makeup and reason for existing. There's the plus of the isolated setting and ensuing winter storm which leaves the small crew trapped, and how the creature kills is nasty business (basically freezing victims into ice). However, the creature itself isn't that impressive. I did think it was rather interesting in gaseous form, but as a walking malformed ice sculpture, not so menacing due to the CGI form provided to it. That it is actually *drawn* to heat instead of afraid of it was certainly a development I wasn't expecting.

Over the opening credits, a meteor crashes into Earth's Arctic Circle. The year is 1825 and the object is observed by a ship's crew. A glassy, humanoid insect-type creature emerges from the snow nearby and viciously begins killing off the crew. Obviously, this monster had a very bad trip… We quickly move 145 years into the present. A descendant of the ship's journalist is looking for the wreckage of "The HMS Fury". He is unshaven and adventurous Dean Cain (as James Clark "J.C." Ross). The ex-Superman TV series star finds the ship and starts to excavate. Unfortunately, the icy creature is also unearthed – and it is still really, really mad. Writer Rafael Jordan includes an interesting angle for Mr. Cain's character. Also, a "seeds of life" explanation is scientifically sound. However, there is nothing special about this story. Most of the time, you can see the cast and crew struggle to be believable on single takes and budget constraints.*** Arctic Predator/ Frost Giant (8/7/10) Victor Garcia ~ Dean Cain, Steven Waddington, Lucy Brown, Louisa Clein

Arctic Predator belongs in the not good, but also not bad category. Watching this film I couldn't help thinking of a mix of Alien, Predator and The Thing, except not as good as either of those movies. As far as SyFy movies go, it's not among the best or worst, but there's nothing exceptional about Arctic Predator at the end of the day. The photography is pretty good, the direction is efficient and the acting is decent particularly from Dean Cain. The effects aren't so good, the CGI digger looks absolutely horrible and the monster of the title is a cheap version of Jack Frost's evil twin. The story has moments of suspense, but overall it is dull and predictable, I mention was the prolonged battle with the tractor necessary. The script has a very stilted nature to it, and the characters I just didn't care for. Overall, left me cold but it wasn't a complete and utter waste of time like I was expecting it to be. 4/10 Bethany Cox