PRIMITIVE WAR Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Luke Sparke
Stars: Ryan Kwanten, Tricia Helfer, Jeremy Piven, Nick Wechsler, Anthony Ingruber, Carlos Sanson, Aaron Glenane, Albert Mwangi, Adolphus Waylee, Ana Thu Nguyen, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Marcus Johnson.
Imagine what the result would have been if Oliver Stone injected dinosaurs into his Oscar winning Vietnam war drama Platoon. That’s largely what you get here in this high concept genre mash-up from B-movie genre specialist Luke Sparke (Occupation Rainfall, etc). Primitive War is based on the 2017 novel written by Ethan Pettus which combined science-fiction with the horror and chaos of war and raised questions about the ethics of scientists pushing boundaries.
Set in Vietnam in 1968, the film follows a US platoon of reconnaissance specialists known as the Vulture Squad, under the command of Sergeant Ryan Baker (former Home And Away and True Blood star Ryan Kwanten). They are sent on a mission deep into the jungle to rescue a Green Beret squad that has gone missing after being attacked by mysterious unidentified predators. The Vulture squad find strange footprints and feathers near the site of the missing unit’s last reported position. While exploring a nearby cave site they are attacked by aa family of Deinonychus. Ryan and his demolitions expert Leon (Carlos Sanson) become separated from the rest of their squad.
Meanwhile the rest of the Vulture squad are being tracked by a group of Russian soldiers known as “the dogs of war”.
Leon and Ryan are attacked by a family of tyrannosaurus rex and are rescued by Sofia Wagner (Canadian actor Tricia Helfer, from tv series Lucifer, etc), a Russian scientist who has been working with a team of Russian scientists at a secret facility hidden deep in the jungle. The scientists, under the command of General Borodin, have been conducting experiments with a particle collider. But, as a result of an accident, that experiment opened a wormhole in the time/space continuum and they have brought dinosaurs into the Vietnamese jungle. Ryan and his squad are reunited at the facility and have to work with Sofia to destroy the laboratory.
Sparke has in the past always managed to produce high concept special effects driven entertainment, and Primitive War is no exception. The special effects and visual effects are quite extraordinary as he and his production team have brought to life a raft of prehistoric apex predators, the most terrifying of which are the Utahraptors. These creatures deliver plenty of mayhem and carnage and the screen is filled with blood and gore and dismembered bodies. The visual effects belie the modest budget Sparke had at his disposal. During the end credits Sparke has incorporated some black and white mockumentary archival Vietnam war footage that includes dinosaurs walking amidst the jungles and alongside US troops.
Cinematographer Wade Muller (Occupation Rainfall, etc) has shot the film in a dark palette and his use of shadows and gloomy lighting enhances the claustrophobia and the dangerous environment of the jungle. Shot on location in Queensland with the rainforests doubling for Vietnam, the location looks realistic. Primitive War pays homage to other genre films with Platoon, Apocalypse Now and Jurassic Park being the main reference points, but filmgoers will also see references to films like Alien and Predator. And in keeping with the cliches of other Vietnam War set films, the soundtrack features some Creedence Clearwater Revival.
The characters are largely one-dimensional cliches, and audiences don’t get too emotionally involved with them. Nonetheless that game cast deliver solid enough performances. Kwanten brings a physicality to his role. Jeremy Piven, best known for his role as the aggressive agent in Entourage delivers another intense and profanity laden performance here as Colonel Jericho, who seems to know a bit more about what is happening than he is prepared to admit.
Primitive War may seem like a rather bizarre idea for a film, but it is far more successful and exciting than the recent and bloated Jurassic World Rebirth.
★★★☆
