Plot
An new subway tunnel is being built
which goes deeper underground than any other in the world and will provide
the fastest way possible to travel. However the construction work has awoken
a nest of giant prehistoric insects which proceed to break free and begin to
kill anyone who goes down there. An FBI officer and a SWAT unit is sent down
there to stop the bugs from escaping into the city.
Review
Talk about taking one for the
team. Bugs is one of those films where you can see where it is
heading without even slapping it into your DVD player - no plot, little concern
for characters and eager to splash out on some very cheap CGI creatures just
for the hell of it. So derivative and devoid of originality yet you have to
watch simply because it's a film about killer insects! Just like driving
past a car accident, you can't help but stop to see what's going on even
though you know you shouldn't because what awaits you won't be pretty at
all. Watching these films is like an unhealthy addiction. I'm not the only
one who does it. Why the hell do you think studios keep making these films?
Because schmucks like me keep watching them. No matter how awful, identical
or cheap, I know that I can't avoid the temptation. Sometimes you may
stumble upon a hidden gem - a film which does everything by the book but has
that little extra in it to make it stand out from the crowd. Does Bugs
have this extra to make it stand out? You bet it doesn't!
The film opens in the usual manner: the first victim unknowingly walking to
their deaths after hearing strange noises in a dark place. Usually it's a
hobo but sometimes it's someone more important, in this case a cop. Cue a
few minutes of the film giving us some background to the setting. Here it's
a subway tunnel which goes deeper underground than any other in the world.
Why is it the deepest? Well they wouldn't uncover secret nests of 65 million
year old insects if they built a normal tunnel would they? Cue another few
minutes of the film giving us the most basic character development for the
main characters which pretty much involves their names being introduced
(characters include the detective hunting a serial killer and, my favourite,
the slimy corporate type who tries to cover up the attack because it will
harm his business!) and you're set. At a slim running time of 82 minutes
including credits, the film has to get down to business quickly and
dispenses with most of the usual banter. We're thrown into the fire-fights
and mass-slaying of characters pretty early on until we get down to the
small bunch of survivors trying to make it out alive. Think Aliens
without pretty much any of the decent stuff in it and you're almost there
with Bugs. Compare the two: a squad of armed people being taken out
by the creatures of the title, the creatures showing their intelligence by
hunting the survivors down and probing for weaknesses and a finale in which
one of the main characters fights the queen with a big piece of machinery.
Bugs is pretty much that film without all of the non-action bits in
it.
Antonio Sabato Jr. was once a
promising TV star in one of those cheesy American soaps but has since been
relegated to scores of really crap low budget films, usually action films.
Here he has branched out into more sci-fi territory but with similarly dire
consequences. He's not exactly a big draw so I don't see the need for the
cover boxes to include his name on the front. He has about as much screen
presence as a rotten cabbage. His co-stars do no better, perhaps a little
exception being the clichéd corporate slime ball who chews the scenery up
just like any suit who wants to protect his business in these monster
flicks. That is such a clichéd character that I actually raise a little
cheer every time it pops up in a film. Jaws has a lot to be thankful
for!
Oh, I guess you're wanting to know what the bugs are like. Well you should
know by now that these low rent films employ low rent CGI to produce their
monsters. Bugs is no exception to that rule and gives us plenty of
bugs which look totally out of place with their surroundings. Some scenes
including the train massacre seem to have forgotten to include the bugs when
characters are falling down dead as if they ran out of money to put them in
there. There are a few minor make-up effects for the bugs but they are few
and far between.
Verdict
Dire. Simply dire. I can't really
sum up the film any other way. Get out the Raid because these Bugs
are going to suck the life out of you in more ways than one.
