Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

One more in the line of Marvel comics adaptations, but this time, instead of superhero action comedy, we got horror "thriller". New sheriff comes to the town on the edge of the swamp, where people disappear in an unusually large number. Bodies are disfigured in a way that the alligator attack can not explain. Local Indians know something, and it's on the sheriff and the young teacher to find out what, while Man-Thing in depths of swamp waits for new victim. Characters are everyday ordinary, story is realistic as much as it is possible for a monster movie, directing is solid and swamp is eerily beautiful. For its budget movie is very well done, special effects are credible and acting is all right. There is not much action, characterization is satisfactory and the horror scenes are well measured, without exaggeration typical for this type of movie. My main objection is insufficient tension in the atmosphere, and what I liked the most is that monster is not a real villain, but represents an ecosystem that is defending itself from human destructiveness. True villain is revealed in in the second half of the film, but unfortunately it is obvious from the very beginning. Although technically this movie is thriller, because of the predictability and lack of tension, I put quotes on the word.6,5/10P.S. At the very beginning of the movie, there's a scene, in which a monster attacks a couple in the middle of sex, that looks as if it turned out from a horror of the eighties, and it's a real treat for gore B movies fans.

Marvel Comics' Man-Thing is a mindless, empathic swamp creature that lives in the Everglades. This 2005 film is loosely based on the story "Cry of the Native" from the 1973 comic Adventure Into Fear #16, which featured the Man-Thing, by writer Steve Gerber and Howland, Ohio's Val Mayerik (artist).WHAT WORKS: The plot's great: The Seminoles and environmentalists are upset over a developer taking over their precious swamp. A new police chief comes into town and has to deal with the situation, as well as investigate an increasing number of horrifying deaths in the swamp and reports of a "man-thing" creature living there.The swamp sets, cinematography, music, locations (Sydney, Australia -- of all places) and cast are all quite good. This is not a Grade-Z movie. As a matter of fact, it was originally intended for theatrical release.The film has a good mysterious feel to it, in particular the first 30 minutes and final 20 minutes. The vibe, to be expected, is very comic booky, but the material is respected and generally taken seriously, avoiding the rut of camp.What works best is the "Man-Thing" itself; imagine Val Mayerik's rendition of the creature with a bunch of creepy branches & roots sticking out of its back & head and you'd have a pretty good idea of what ol' Manny looks like in this film -- he's an 8-foot tall, hulking, and utterly horrifying piece of man-like swamp mass.WHAT DOESN'T WORK: Although the Man-Thing looks great, which is a cinematic triumph in and of itself, he doesn't appear fully until the last 20 minutes. This would be fine if the story were captivating, like say "Jaws," but it's not. Although the plot's great, the story itself barely holds your attention after the first half hour and is unnecessarily convoluted with pointless characters. The middle-hour is wasted on various characters hanging out in the swamp for one reason or another, half of them getting picked off by the creature. I'm sure they did this to show-off the cool swamp sets and lighting, etc., but they forgot the most important part -- an interesting story and characters. This makes no sense since Gerber's run on the comic contains a wealth of great material for compelling scripts.Unfortunately, the film deviates too far from Man-Thing's original concept. Some new ideas introduced are great -- like the way the creature looks and horrifically attacks people -- but where's Manny's empathic nature? Where's the "whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch" element? And why does Manny kill people indistinguishably? For instance, the creature kills a noble native at one point and later threatens the two protagonists of the story. The Man-Thing never did this in the comics even though he was a mindless creature.Also, the Man-thing in the film is not Ted Salis (although Salis fits into the storyline another way); in the film the swamp monster is the spirit-guardian of the "Dark Water" area of the swamp, which is a nexus to another dimension, apparently birthed because of Salis' murder. At least the nexus aspect is faithful to the comic.COMPARISON: The first comic featuring the Man-thing beat out DC's Swamp Thing by two months in 1971, but Theodore Sturgeon's similar swamp creature "It" appeared in one of his short stories 31 years earlier! The first comic book bog beast, The Heap, appeared two years later in 1942, obviously inspired by Sturgeon's creature.Let's compare the films "Man-Thing" and the similar "Swamp-Thing" from 1982. To be expected, the creature from "Man-Thing" absolutely blows away the guy-in-a-rubber-suit in "Swamp-Thing." The sets, atmosphere and cinematography of "Man-Thing" are also better than "Swamp-Thing," not to mention the vibe's not as goofy. As for the story, I would say they're about equal.I suggest watching "Swamp-Thing" and "Man-Thing" back-to-back, like I just did. Then, if you really want to get wild & crazy, catch "Frogs" and "Pumpkinhead." You'll be swamped out after this.FINAL ANALYSIS: The midsection of "Man-Thing" is lethargic and meandering, filled with uninteresting or undeveloped characters, but the film's attributes noted above make it worth checking out if you're into creature-on-the-loose flicks, particularly swamp monster films. On that level it's a decent movie. The greatest part is the creature itself, which is a cinematic triumph, especially if you're a fan of the comic books. But these same fans will be disappointed because the film's a very loose interpretation. It's too bad because the potential for greatness was there.GRADE: C+

Now, guys, this ain't a great movie. But it is a fun monster-flick that has all the clichés you can imagine and plays it dead-serious by the book. That's all. The Man-Thing itself is a good creation, composed of old-school creature-FX's and some CGI. And in the tradition of the best monster-movies it is first shown in glimpses, only to reveal itself in full glory near the end. Some great mutilated corpses in there too. It's not as much campy fun or tongue-in-cheek as, for example, "Frankenfish" (2004), but still a fun movie with decent effects and a nice style. Just don't expect to be baffled by great story-telling. Try to be not too demanding, because this flick actually can be enjoyed.

An Oil Company whose owner is an ambitious villain(Jack Thompson)is polluting the Bywater lands and the villagers are up in arms and a swamp thing is committing horrible murders. A new sheriff named Kyle(Matthew Le Nevez) arrives the little town. He is sent to the Bayou to investigate , helped by a deputy (Alex O'Loughlin) . There finds a beast, a plant with an animal's aggression power for survival and fury. Meanwhile the sheriff falls in love with a gorgeous elementary school teacher named Teri ( Rachael Taylor).This exciting picture is packed by thrills, chills, gory killings and brief nudism in charge of Imogen Bailey. It's an unusual mix of monster movie and intrigue but definitely an enjoyable movie. From the producers- Avi Arad and Stan Lee- of Spiderman, Daredevil, X men, Blade and several others. Director Brett Leonard made this campy swamp romp adapted from the Marvel comic books of the same name. Director deliberately use comic-book style to keep us from taking anything too seriously. It's a co-production USA-Australia filmed in Sydney , New South Wales with good cinematography by Steve Arnold. Fans horror will love this movie about a monster part vegetable, part man . In similar style adapted from D.C. Comics were made in 1982 ¨The Swamp Thing¨ by Wes Craven with Louis Jourdan, Adrienne Barbeau and Ray Wise in which a chemical installation turns into walking vegetation monster. And its following : ¨Return of Swamp Thing¨(1989) by Jim Wynorski with Heather Lockleaar, Lous Jourdan and Sarah Douglas.