646f9e108c Commandos in Iraq looking for terrorists find a man-eating monster instead. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, a US Army Squad is sent to a small Iraqi town to locate a missing news crew, only to find the residents of the town dead and a living weapon of mass destruction, a Manticore, awakened from its long slumber by a terrorist leader wanting to rid his land of the American invaders at any price. After ten o&#39;clock, I like nothing better than making a cup of tea and watching a horror / horror thriller I save The Straight Story etc. for the afternoon or early evening. This film filled the spot well, and despite obviously not having the budget of Independence Day (most evident in the look of the town streets, and the CGI of the Manticore running and jumping), the film looked good, and the Manticore in close-up was detailed, and would scare me if it walked round the sofa. The acting was good, although the reporter jumped a little too quickly from scared out of her wits in a little room, to chasing off after the beast to follow the story (a film cliché,somebody has mentioned), and her facing a soldier&#39;s gun and agreeing to sit down was the low point of the acting and script.<br/><br/>I have to say, I have enough trouble making out anything on those little screens on video cameras, so the final effort at destruction relied heavily on the Manticore both looking at the tiny screen and not Chakotay&#39;s finely chiselled head, and having superb eyesight to &quot;recognize&quot; its twin. Would the Manticore turn to stone if it drank from a lake (if it drinks), and is this why, like vampires, there were no mirrors in its lair? In the how good it is / budget ratio, this film is ten times better than, say, Godzilla. I thought the plot had potential, but the special effects were very poorly done. It would have been better if we had never seen the &quot;manticore&quot; – just shadows or a claw here and there. And I won&#39;t even comment on the helicopter crash.<br/><br/>The acting, though, was a pleasant surprise. Robert Beltran and Jeff Fahey (whose performance in &quot;Silverado&quot; is one of my all-time favorites) turned in good, solid performances. The real surprises came from A.J. Buckley, Faran Tahir and even some of the more minor roles, like Jeff M. Lewis and Richard Gnolfo. I&#39;m looking forward to seeing them again.
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