Disc Reviews

Big Ass Spider Review

bas

To sit down in front of a film called Big Ass Spider means you can only really expect the kind of B-movie creature-feature currently in favour thanks to entities such as Sharknado and Giantsnakepiranha Vs King Kong (might have made that one up). This is precisely what you get. The film features a massive spider, genetically engineered in a military lab and now free to roam downtown LA thanks to one of those pesky clerical errors that always seem to happen to giant monsters created by some shady scientist or other.

What sets BAS slightly apart from many of its compatriots is that Director Mike Mendez (and writer Gregory Gieras) has managed to inject, and more importantly maintain, a good dose of humour into what turns out to be an extremely recognisable plot. This humour is almost exclusively embodied in Greg Grunberg’s rather clown like exterminator Alex. Skint, clueless and yet quite adorable, Alex happens to be at the hospital where the eponymous spider makes its first appearance. Urged by the hospital staff, he attempts to catch the over-sized arachnid – to no avail of course. When the military turn up, in the form of Ray Wise’s commanding officer and his perky lieutenant Karly (Clare Kramer – Buffy’s Glory) Alex decides that he will catch the spider, save the day and win the girl. Unfortunately, you kind of wish he has kept that to himself, since he basically just outlined the plot.

This is one of BAS’s biggest faults: the simplicity of plot and lack of surprises. Everything happens exactly as expected. If only Ms Giant Spider actually won the day and populated the planet with her eight-legged beastie, at least it would be a bit of a surprise.

The effects are a little hit and miss. There are some nice exploding heads, melted faces and messy dismemberments, all of which are effective. But, as can only be expected with a film of this calibre, the CGI spider bits are not all that successful. Not laughable, but just not that good.

It really falls to Grunberg’s genial bumbler to make BAS fun, which, thankfully, he manages in the most part. Some of the dialogue is very funny as well as quick and well delivered. Alex is also joined in his quest by a Mexican security guard, Jose, a self-styled sidekick with his own Mariachi theme song; the character is a notable misstep and jars as somewhat racist. It does give Alex the excuse to slip in a bit of exposition, although this could have been achieved without the Spanglish jokes. Poor Ray Wise has the rather unenviable task of spending most of the film staring into the camera and attempting to keep a straight face. Remarkably, he manages it with impressive composure.

BAS is hardly a ground-breaking and it has plenty of faults, but it is surprisingly funny and has enough charm to make it more than watchable.

 

 Hannah Turner

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