The success of a film like this depends as much on your expectations as the film. Being a monster born of the Blair Witch Project so long ago, 1999. you know it will have long stretches of nothing happening, and you will be lucky to see much of the monster, but should have realism beyond any 'fiction' film to compensate. And this one has the advantage the monsters were real, a long time ago....in a world where we live. In this film it would be inexcusable not to show the title monster. But I also had fairly high expectations, along with a willingness to go along for the ride.
The best feature was the high realism throughout of the characters and what happened, allowing for believability and actual tension, as well as the inevitable tedium.
Real tension and fear is created with sounds. So, given this documentary-type film's realism, anticipation of the dinosaurs in this was different than any Jurassic Park. It was increased, because it was more real. So I anticipated that when the first dino appeared the reality would go bye bye. And though it threatened to at first, I employed my motto I just made up now - forgiveness is its own reward - and the later encounters easily verged on utterly believable. Maybe my expectations included I really wanted to believe it. Plus the fact I kind of like Raptor Island and the recent dino movies of CGI dinos, for the fun of it, and even the mid-90's Carnosaurus trilogy. Yes, I wanted my belief to have the gravity of a real dinosaur, while my suspension of disbelief was lifted.
Even better for me was that it took me a long time to figure out how it was done. Maybe my desire to believe got the better of me. Like this sub-genre of found footage should be: The maxim of maximum potential in most limitations. Was this CGI? It looked so solid. Was this a stroke of genius?
But later, two lines lifted from Jurassic Park disappointed me and took me out of this movie. Until I realised the filmmaker was not just taking; he was adding. He knew what he doing I think, because of the new contexts, or outcomes, he put them in. So he gave a couple of nods to the original best, while looking at it - in the other direction.
Unlike the other E film, or Ex film - Exists, a FFF about BigFoot - these creatures were done largely in the day, I'm thankful for. The filmmakers mostly took care to maximise them being believable. Likewise, the peoples' realism and fear was maintained, but also increased. Right til after the end and even beyond it. I for one would like to see the sequel!
On a final note, though this film, like all the others, did not fulfil the holy grave, err grail, of a dino actually eating a person how it would be, that Jurassic Disney Park should have done first, it may have come the closest a couple of times.
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