It is difficult to expect one thing out of a movie and receive something entirely different.
In both of the recent Godzilla movies, I went in expecting each to be an action-packed, two-hour monster mash movie but instead watched people talking about how threatening the monsters are for roughly 120 minutes.
Just about every trailer for “Crawl” leads the viewer to believe the same thing: it will be a film lasting 90 minutes featuring plenty of alligator attacks.
Instead, “Crawl” makes the same mistake “Godzilla” did: it did not provide what it should have.
There are two types of horror movies: fun, slasher/monster movies that are piled on with jump scares, and slow-burn films featuring character development, hidden messages and not as many scenes causing the viewer to jump in fear. This second type represents an artsier form of creepiness.
“Crawl” struggled to fit into either category. The movie seemed like it wanted to be a monster survival film but fell short with scenes that tried to provide character development to the only main characters in the movie. While character arcs may be important, this aspect does not make sense in an alligator thriller.
People wanting to see “Crawl” do so to turn off their brain while watching characters get attacked by alligators. However, the movie strived to make viewers care about the people in it, which made it drag in some parts. Movie-goers never really felt like the characters were in danger, even though both were trying to escape killer alligators the whole movie; this took away the suspense aspect. The backstory within “Crawl” places a safety bubble around the two main characters while the side roles were fair game.
Similar to the shark survival 2016 movie, “The Shallows,” that featured alligators instead of sharks. Horror movie expert Sam Raimi, producer of the film, should have had more input regarding the horror element of “Crawl” because it was definitely lacking in this area.
The action within “Crawl” was incredible, the jump scares were fun and the visuals were simultaneously stunning and terrifying. There were absolutely brutal scenes people will love, but there were just not enough.
If viewers go into this film thinking it will be a horrifying monster movie filled with scenes that make them jump and filled with violence, they may not get their money’s worth.
However, if survival movies with some good action here and there and a cookie-cutter, father-daughter relationship arc something someone wants, then they will love this movie.
Overall, this is a fun summer film people should definitely see in a movie theater to fully appreciate the visuals; it is extremely fun to view.
“Crawl” could have come in a lot hotter if it focused more heavily on what viewers originally thought it would be. In total, “Crawl” gets 6/10.