Why So Blu?

Hungry (DVD Review)

Sistine (Madison Davenport) is in New Orleans with her friend Hannah (Olivia Bernstone) when she gets fired over the phone. She’s broke, angry and not much fun to be around, so Hannah buys them tickets for a swamp tour. Rodrigo (Michel Curiel) runs the boat, and the other passengers include nurse Sally (Samantha Coughlan), her son Mikey (River Codack), her father Tim (Jim Meskimen) and Dionne (Tracey Bonner), a rich woman who seemingly has never heard the word no. Dionne pays Rodrigo to leave his regular route and search for a giant alligator called Big Ben. They find him. That is, pieces of him. Before they know it, the boat is upside down, Rodrigo is badly hurt and a hippo is circling everyone in the water.

Film ★★☆☆☆

The characters are pretty thin. Sistine is the survivor, given whatever physical ability a scene needs. Davenport injects the character with a worn-down quality early on that works. Tim is probably the most believable person in the group, quietly played by Meskimen. Dionne is written to make you hate her. Bonner commits to it, but the character is pushed so hard that waiting for her punishment becomes half the joke. 

Joaquim de Almeida also turns up as Walker, a local who knows the truth about the hippos. Hungry is more interesting whenever he’s around, but he’s not around enough.

There’s some strange American history behind the Louisiana setting, where back in 1910, Congressman Robert Broussard proposed bringing hippos into the Southern wetlands to eat invasive plants and, eventually, become a new source of meat. The plan went nowhere. In Hungry, it more or less happened.

The swamp looks better than expected, especially since much of it was built in Malta. Director James Nunn gets some mileage out of ripples, sudden splashes and shapes moving behind the actors. 

You’re here for the hippo, though. When its impressive practical head comes crashing into the frame, it has size, pushing water around and allowing the actors to actually be looking at something instead of guessing where an effect will be added later. 

That’s not to say there aren’t computer generated effects, many looking rough, but they go by quickly enough.

Hippo stalls periodically. People climb trees, look for supplies, argue, dive under the boat and wait for the hippo to come back. Holding back the monster can work, but only if the people left on screen are worth spending time with. Mostly, these characters aren’t. 

When the attacks finally happen, Nunn keeps them short and oddly cautious. For a movie about a giant animal tearing through tourists, Hungry could stand to be nastier and a lot more reckless.