Back again kiddies and boy do I have moving pictures magic
for you. It’s got excitement, drama
and really wild things. Actually it has
Chakotay leading an Army unit against a CGI monster but hey that could be
wild….so grab a movie machine gun, load it with infinite ammo and brush up on
your Greek mythology. This is Manticore.
THERE WILL BE SPOILERS
PEOPLE
UFO Pictures strikes again with another monster film at the ready thanks to Writer (John Werner of Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes, Witchville and Rudy Blue) confabbed with Director (Tripp Reed of Walking Tall: The Payback and Walking Tall: Lone Justice) and if you cannot trust the writing for the third installment of Pumpkinhead, well what in life can you trust?
Two thieves decide to break into an antiquities chamber
during the remnants of the Iraq War in order to plunder some treasure and make
out like bandits… you know the wealthy part.
Pretty sure these two weren’t going to drop on the sandy floor and make
out but hey I am not judging if they did. The only thing they manage to get
their mitts on is a medallion with a lion’s head carved in it. Looked like a left over from Hercules: The
Legendary Journeys. Robert Beltran (of
Star Trek: Voyager) portrays Sgt. Baxter, a hard nose Army vet tasked
with capturing looters from the National Museum, insurgents move in and Baxter
has to let the looters go including the two thieves. A substantial gunfight ensues including some
tight zoom handheld shots that really improved the overall effect. Gave you that feeling you were in the thick
of it. Not an easily accomplished task
with Sy-fy’s budget. Mind you from the
architecture you get the notion we are nowhere NEAR Iraq at all. Again for the sake of the crew and cast that
is probably best. The buildings have a
European feel on the design so a quick check on IMDB pointing out they went to
Bulgaria. I did start
chuckling when recognizing two the sarge’s squad. Heather Donahue (The Blair Witch Project, Boys and
Girls and Taken) as well as A.J. Buckley (Disturbing Behavior, Happy Feet
and CSI: NY). The mission is
SNAFU and they head back to HQ for Baxter to be read the riot act by his CO
played by (in my humble opinion)
legendary character actor Jeff Fahey (Silverado, Body Parts, The Lawnmower Man,
Planet Terror and Machete) reams Baxter’s butt for failing to meet the
primary objective of the mission, regardless of what happened and yadda, yadda
yadda.. Hey wasn’t there a creature of
untold destruction in this flick? Let’s
go find that.
Bumbling duo from
the beginning set out in the desert to find their fortune. Armed with a super secret, chocolate fudgy
medallion of impending doom, our two thieves find themselves in quite the
pickle as they unwillingly unleash the Manticore!!! Meanwhile Lois Lane archetype Ashley Pierce (Chase
Masterson of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Terminal Invasion and General Hospital)
and trusted red shirt cameraman head in the residing villages trying to dig up
proof of the whereabouts of WMDs only to find more than they bargained for. Bum bum bum!!
Baxter’s squad is assigned to find the reporter and red shirt only to
find the town has been decimated and a large flying creature with laser beams
shooting from its eyes could be the culprit.
Yes fricking Darksied Omega beams style.
Now admittedly I had
a hard time buying our heroes as trained soldiers. No rifle discipline at all, the cover fire
was laughable and I felt like I was sitting through another Lorenzo Lamas film.
Well what can we say
about this experience? The acting was
pretty good, the cinematography was impressive and hell the CGI monster had
some decent chops. It was a bit graphic
for those of less constitution but c’mon it is a monster film about one of the
nastiest creatures of Arabic and Greek mythology.
A flying lion with
the tail of a dragon or occasionally a scorpions tail, horns, claws and more
teeth than the entire Osmond family.
From a historical stand point this creature is been in Persian culture
throughout the better portion of the Caspian Sea region. Aside from the quick lesson there I had fun
watching this regardless if I found it silly in places.
