Wonderful character development!
... View MoreAll of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
... View MoreOne of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
... View MoreOne of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
... View MoreAfter learning of her father's disappearance in a South American jungle, tasty blonde entomologist Gina Humphries (Dominika Juillet) talks fellow bug-hunter Rhonda Guiterrez (Nikolette Noel) into helping her find him. When they are stopped by American soldiers patrolling the area, the girls convince the leader, John Hammond (Corin Nemec), to enlist his toughest men (and woman) to aid them in their search. Hammond fully expects trouble from the voodoo drug runners who operate in the jungle, but he isn't prepared for an attack by oversized, genetically mutated wasps.When the script sucks, the budget is low, the cast are far from great, and the CGI is basic, the least that can be done is to inject some fun into proceedings. Joe Knee, director of Dragon Wasps, doesn't seem to understand this, his movie failing to fully embrace the absurdity of poorly rendered, six-foot-long, fire-breathing wasps attacking a group of highly trained soldiers (and two sexy scientists) in a jungle. Instead, he has his cast play it completely straight throughout, as if he were making a film to rival Arnie classic Predator. Nemec is no Schwarzenegger, Knee is no John McTiernan, and Dragon Wasps is instantly forgettable nonsense. A couple of gore effects (CGI, of course) just about prevent this turkey from getting the lowest possible score.
... View MoreThis is a b-movie. Everything about it screams b-movie, from the title over the cast to the fact that it's a movie about giant wasps that breathe fire! You should obviously not expect this to be a polished high-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Anyone with such expectations will be sorely disappointed, and perhaps even angry. Nope, this is a b-movie, and its qualities lie in its absurdity, flaws, and general charm. That's just the way it is with b-movies - that's what we watch them for.The set-up is quite simple and straightforward. A mysterious research organization called Transgen Tech have been conducting genetic experiments in the jungles of Belize, which have now gone wrong and resulted in the rise of a mutant breed of giant wasps. When one of the scientists goes missing, his daughter, the archaeologist Gina (Dominika Juillet), and her friend Rhonda (Nikolette Noel) set out to find him. They team up with a group of American soldiers under the command of John Hammond (Corin Nemec) and Willy Meyers (Benjamin Easterday). The group must not only face the giant wasps, but also fight off the voodoo-practicing drug-runner Jaguar (Gildon Roland) and his gang of cannibalistic guerrillas.With a set-up like this, the scene is set of a cliché-filled action film falling under the rubric of tropical horror. Featuring bizarre rituals, implausible science, explosions, shoot-outs, exploding heads, and wasps emerging through cavities of the human face, there is actually plenty of entertainment in this movie, which in part also owes to its fairly consistent and appealing pacing. Things never slow down too much, although there are quieter moments. Obviously, the action sequences are not all equally convincing, and the film arguably features one of the worst ever rescue missions ever in film history. The CGI-effects are, as you might expect, not very good. The depiction of wasps in flight is particularly bad, and the best CGI-rendering of a wasp is, ironically enough, encountered during the final credits.The acting is one-dimensional across the board, but nothing else should be expected from this type of movie. Corin Nemec does a pretty good job as the film's grizzled male lead, while Benjamin Easterday successfully manages to portray the character he plays as a sympathetic and loyal person. Gildon Roland's extremely one-dimensional yet very intense portrayal of Jaguar, the main antagonist, evokes a creepiness which is just perfect for the character. Dominika Juillet and Nikolette Noel, in contrast, deliver wooden and unconvincing acting, which at times is near-robotic and at times just awkward. Of course, it doesn't help that their characters are supposed to be archaeologists when they actually look like participants in a third rate reality TV show. The dialog is, of course, completely cheesy, and, not surprisingly, not all actors are equally successful at working with such silly dialog.At the end of the day, "Dragon Wasps" is flawed in several ways, and you should not expect a realistic film in any way. It is silly, cheesy, and charming. It has everything a b-movie should have, and fans of such movies are bound to have a fun time. I mean, it's fire-breathing wasps after all!
... View MoreDon't be too critical, "it is what it is" a B movie.The name say's it all "DRAGON WASPS" Were you expecting trained wasps? No wait "DRAGON" wasps! The movie was meant to be exactly what it was. A dramatic laugh at killer wasps chasing pretty scientists. Oh and yes don't forget the two hunky soldiers that were helping them.Still, as mentioned, it's difficult not to still have some fun with the flick. Comedic moments chucked in here and there really do work, Nemec is a blast to watch, and the knowing sense of ludicrousness is infectious. It's rarely (if ever) dull, and honestly, where else are you going to see characters rubbing their bodies in coca leaves (and thus experiencing the, erm... effects of it) to ward off giant bugs and using blocks of cocaine as substitution for plastic explosive? It made sense to fight the Dragon Wasps does, and the flick knows it. Now that is something I didn't see coming. There could have been more nudity also..I really enjoyed it! I thought that Benjamin Esterday was a believable partner for our star Corbin. He helped us believe the the storyline. Great job! Not every film has a 50 million dollar budget. Be thankful for that our you would be watching a lot less media. My recommendation would be to forget the hater's and enjoy the film for what it was. Good!
... View MoreThe pain begins immediately. The two lead actresses, they're equally bad, deliver wooden, flat lines that Ben Stein would raise an eyebrow to. Neither are really beauty queens, so they're pretty screwed either way they go. Corin Nemec phoned this one in, as well. That, coming from the star of "Mansquito", was really not a surprise either.The whole plot? Well, it was just badly written, let's say. Military men behave a certain way, their actions in the movie, wasn't it. The CGI wasps were ridiculous and the mere fact that they could breathe fire was almost more than I could stand. The only good thing was that Cocaine, go figure, could dissuade them from attacking you. Right. Someone did some cocaine when they wrote this garbage.The whole voodoo/drug runner subplot was laughable. Yeah...you read it right. Let that sink in...voodoo/drug runner. Starting to get the idea, aren't ya? The only reason this got a '1' was because I could not give it a zero. That's my review. Take it or leave it.
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