Like many people, I didn't expect much from Primitive War, a film easily described as part Vietnam war movie, part Jurassic Park. And like many people, I was very impressed as the wonderful end credit sequence started to roll. It's overlong, not all of the characters stand out as individuals, and the screenplay, co-written by Ethan Pettus and director Luke Sparke, is full of lines you have heard in every other war movie, but it's more fun than Jurassic World: Rebirth, on a budget of less than 5% of that franchise instalment.
Ryan Kwanten is the biggest name here (well, Jeremy Piven is also in the cast, but he's used sparingly in a few scenes that bookend the main action). Kwanten plays Baker, a man leading his platoon through a jungle valley that turns out to have a number of unexpected dinosaurs roaming around. It's all down to a military plan, and those dinosaurs may end up wanted by those in power seeking every advantage in the ongoing war.
While I don't know if this was put together in exactly the same way, Primitive War feels as if it is to dinosaur movies what Monsters was to alien movies. Although, and it's important to note this, Primitive War has an approach that is far less coy, with those involved having the confidence in the FX to pack more fun into the whole thing than expected. It takes a bit of time to ease viewers into the premise, after an attention-grabbing opener (much like the main films it is emulating), but it doesn't take any steps backward once everyone becomes aware that there are dinos on the loose.
Kwanten is decent enough in his role, he acts and looks suitably like a typically tired and dogged war-time soldier. Others acting just as tired and determined to escape the warzone include Nick Wechsler, Anthony Ingruber, Aaron Glenane, Carlos Sanson Jr., and a handful of others. While none of them really stand out, they work together well enough to feel like the unit they are. Tricia Helfer plays a woman named Sofia , someone who knows more than the soldiers about what is going on, and she does the job of delivering the exposition and reminding everyone of the stakes.
I've not seen anything else from Sparke, and I don't know if he's done anything else that comes close to being as entertaining as this, but I look forward to what he lines up next. Considering how well this has gone down with those who have given it a chance, Primitive War may prove to be the breakthrough title in his filmography. The pacing isn't perfect, and some failings make it obvious that this is the first feature produced from something written by first-timer Pettus, but the good easily outweighs the bad. You even get some pleasantly surprising soundtrack choices that help it to sit alongside numerous other Vietnam movies with the same tunes accompanying the visuals.
7/10
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