A very large and bloodthirsty lion terrorizes the citizens of Amsterdam, striking first at a farm outside the city. United in the mission to find and destroy the beast are a zoos' veterinarian, Lizzy (Sophie van Winden), and a former lover of hers, Jack (Mark Frost), a quirky hunter. Jack is recruited by the authorities, who don't know that he's actually disabled; he lost one of his legs to a lion in the past. Rounding out the romantic triangle is Dave (Julian Looman), a scoundrel who is Lizzy's current would-be boyfriend.
Writer / director / composer Dick Maas ("The Lift", "Amsterdamned", "Sint") certainly understands this genre of the animal attack thriller. He opts to play it tongue in cheek a great deal of the time, and as a result the film is often disarmingly amusing. Cheesy dialogue and cheesy dubbing is par for the course with this generally agreeable movie, that does eventually work its way towards a pretty good finale. With a knowing wink, Maas injects plot "twists" that most people will see coming ahead of time. The lion itself is a combination of animatronics (for close-up shots) and CGI, and is a formidable antagonist. At one hilarious point, it ends up on a tram!
The characters are colorful and the performances entertaining. Lovely van Winden and handsome Looman are amiable leads, with English actor Frost tending to steal the show.
Maas is never too concerned with any of this making sense or playing out in any logical way. He's just having fun here, never pretending to take his material too, too seriously. While the digital big cat could have been better, the gory aftermath of various attacks is always effective. Standout moments: wheelchair-bound Jack chasing the lion (!!!), and an intense scene of a child on a playground structure.
Seven out of 10.
Writer / director / composer Dick Maas ("The Lift", "Amsterdamned", "Sint") certainly understands this genre of the animal attack thriller. He opts to play it tongue in cheek a great deal of the time, and as a result the film is often disarmingly amusing. Cheesy dialogue and cheesy dubbing is par for the course with this generally agreeable movie, that does eventually work its way towards a pretty good finale. With a knowing wink, Maas injects plot "twists" that most people will see coming ahead of time. The lion itself is a combination of animatronics (for close-up shots) and CGI, and is a formidable antagonist. At one hilarious point, it ends up on a tram!
The characters are colorful and the performances entertaining. Lovely van Winden and handsome Looman are amiable leads, with English actor Frost tending to steal the show.
Maas is never too concerned with any of this making sense or playing out in any logical way. He's just having fun here, never pretending to take his material too, too seriously. While the digital big cat could have been better, the gory aftermath of various attacks is always effective. Standout moments: wheelchair-bound Jack chasing the lion (!!!), and an intense scene of a child on a playground structure.
Seven out of 10.