#136 -- "A" Challenge: Alligator X (2010)

Director: Amir Valinia
Rating: 3/5

They thought it was extinct. They were wrong. Actually, they were right; it was extinct. But thanks to Charles, a scientist/teacher/complete psycho, it is not extinct anymore. Charles was actually fired from his teaching job at a university for trying to bring back an extinct species of tiger. So, under the table of course, he decided to switch to dinosaurs (or, if you want to be technical about it, prehistoric aquatic reptiles). So, in the swamplands of Louisiana, the townsfolk are being abducted and fed to a really hungry monster in the swamp. Charles successfully re-animated the creature using fossils, and he hired two redneck brothers to capture and kill people from around the town. Alligator X is female, and Charles did manage to impregnate her. So his whole deal is to get her into a different sort of aquatic environment so that her offspring will be able to survive. The perfect environment is along a man named Pappy's property, and it is the perfect mixture of fresh and saltwater. The only problem is that he had Pappy killed. Pappy's daughter Laura, who happens to be Charles' ex-wife, is the only person who can sign over the deed to the property. She signs it over in exchange for her life, and the life of a tourist and a police officer. The bad guys continue to try to lure Alligator X over to Pappy's property, and they do succeed...but not without losing a few lives. I'm not sure why Charles wanted to do this, to bring several very dangerous predatory creatures into his hometown, but I guess psychos will be psychos. It was probably for the advancement of science. The ability to reanimate an extinct species, especially one that lived 160 million years ago, would surely get him some recognition, right? Along with his stay in the loony bin, of course. Personally, I would love to see one of these babies hop out of the lake by my house. Wouldn't it be amazing to see something that monstrously huge? I think so, and I guess Charles did too, so I kind of see his point here.

A lot of people really hate this movie because of the bad CGI, but I think it was pretty good. It wasn't hollywood standard, but who gives a shit? It definitely wasn't the worst I've ever seen. It also starred Lochlyn Munro, who I always enjoy. I believe that Alligator X was supposed to be a liopleurodon (which is actually the prehistoric ancestor of the crocodile or alligator, I can't remember which), though they refer to her as a pliosaur. First of all, I have to say that I LOVE liopleurodons (and no, not because of Charlie the unicorn, but because of watching Prehistoric Planet), so I was really excited to see something like this. The only problem I had was that she didn't seem big enough. Liopleurodons are around 10 meters long, and their jaws alone would make two of me (ten feet). They could swallow a school bus whole. They ate dinosaurs, for Pete's sake. I would have thought she would have been bigger, but maybe that's just me. I'm not saying she wasn't big; she was definitely huge. But I would have liked to have seen something really, really huge. Overall, I enjoyed it because I enjoy liopleurodons. The acting of some people could have been better, but I really don't care about things like that. So, if you're a dinosaur (or prehistoric reptile) lover like me, you should enjoy this one as well. I just wonder how in the hell something that big could live comfortably in a swamp.