Swamp Thing

Based on the long-running comic book series, Swamp Thing follows mild-mannered scientist Alec Holland (Ray Wise) as he’s transformed into the title creature after a violent altercation with his nemesis (Louis Jourdan’s Anton Arcane) – with the film subsequently detailing the character’s efforts at both protecting the object of his affection (Adrienne Barbeau’s Alice Cable) and avoiding the advances of Arcane’s soldiers. Filmmaker Wes Craven has infused Swamp Thing with a surprisingly deliberate sensibility that ultimately dampens the movie’s overall impact, as there’s simply never a point at which the viewer is able to wholeheartedly work up any real interest in the protagonist’s exploits. The distressingly sluggish pace is compounded by the film’s lack of engaging supporting figures, with writer/director Craven’s decision to emphasize Barbeau’s character certainly proving somewhat disastrous (ie she’s just not compelling in the slightest) – although it’s worth noting that Jourdan’s bland turn as the villain plays just as key a role in the movie’s downfall. And while the inclusion of a few effective action-oriented sequences, ie the Swamp Thing attacks jeep full of armed commandos, sporadically buoys the viewer’s waning interest, Swamp Thing, for the most part, comes off as a disappointingly thin endeavor that seems to have been designed to appeal solely to young boys – with this feeling undoubtedly cemented by the monumentally silly climax in which two men in chintzy rubber suits fight to the death.

*1/2 out of ****