A big-game hunter for zoos has booked passage on a Latin American shipping freighter with a fresh haul of exotic and deadly animals from the Amazon, including a rare white Jaguar - along with a political assassin being extradited to the U.S in secret. Two days into the journey, the assassin escapes and releases the captive animals, throwing the ship into chaos.... (Full plot summary below)
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A big-game hunter for zoos has booked passage on a Latin American shipping freighter with a fresh haul of exotic and deadly animals from the Amazon, including a rare white Jaguar - along with a political assassin being extradited to the U.S in secret. Two days into the journey, the assassin escapes and releases the captive animals, throwing the ship into chaos.
Leave your thoughts about Primal.
| ObserverRex ReedRecent complaints about action flicks with no action can be ameliorated by Primal, a white-knuckle thriller with a thrill a minute. Nicolas Cage delivers his best performance in years. |
| The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeNo film involving Nicholas Cage and a blowgun with curare-tipped darts can be all bad, and Primal gives us at least a little of everything we'd want in this kind of yarn. |
| UproxxVince ManciniAt times, watching Nic Cage over emote every single line and bad guys get iced by killer monkeys is as sublime as it sounds. |
| Slant MagazineChuck BowenThe film too often suggests an Under Siege that’s been pointlessly larded with critters from Jumanji. |
| RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsGranted, the movie does feature a few endearingly goofy scenes where Cage acts like Humphrey Bogart, with sweat on his brow, a stogie in his mouth, and a haughty putdown for anybody who makes eye contact with him. But he basically already did that in Paul Schrader’s underwhelming 2016 Ed Bunker adaptation “Dog Eat Dog.” |
| The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloOne hires Cage for a generic timewaster like this in the hope that he’ll make it at least a little more interesting on screen than it was on paper, by virtue of some crazed facial expressions and off-the-wall line readings, but he evidently wasn’t in the experimenting mood. |
| VarietyDennis HarveyThat this mashup of too many familiar action-thriller elements doesn’t emerge a generic mess is a credit to all involved. That it’s passably entertaining but also instantly forgettable comes as less of a surprise. |
| Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayPrimal ends up being more exhausting than awesome. |
| New York PostSara StewartThere is a limit to the redemption Nicolas Cage can grant a terrible movie, and Primal is it. |
| The PlaylistKevin JagernauthFor all of the delightfully deranged places Primal could’ve gone, it stays drearily buttoned up. |
