Mega Python Vs Gatoroid (2011)

Plot
A nest of pythons is freed into the Florida Everglades by a group of animal rights activist. But these snakes soon grow larger than normal and begin killing off the local alligator population. Determined to stop the threat of the snakes and maintain the natural balance of the everglades, local park ranger Terry O'Hara hands out permits to allow hunters to shoot the pythons and keep their number down. When the ranger's fiancé is killed by the snakes, she obtains an experimental serum, injects it into a dead chickens and then starts feeding the gators to increase their size. But with the pythons happy to eat gator eggs, the serum finds its way into their system too. Soon both the pythons and the gators are growing to gigantic size, threatening everyone.

Review
It's a ridiculous plot but barrel scraping springs to mind when I think of the two giant monsters that do battle in this one. Fresh from their antics with mega sharks, giant octopi and a crocosaurus, The Asylum are back for another contrived, unashamedly awful and ultimately pointless 'versus' film. In fact the title should be pluralised as there's not just one mega python and gatoroid but a whole score of them on either side. It's a clash between two genetically-enhanced reptilian armies and only two washed up 80s pop stars can save the day!

There's little to differentiate Mega Python Vs Gatoroid from any other CGI-monster fest of late. The CGI gets worse as each new film is made and you'd get more bang for your buck out of a PC game. Not only do the snakes and gators look really fake, they recycle the same animations time after time. CGI blood is used. Human actors tangle with themselves as they wait for the computer guys to do their thing in post production. You know the score. CGI overkill has gone to the extreme in these low budget efforts and most of the time, effects seem to be implanted into the film simply for kicks when physical practical effects would have made more sense (such as the scene in which a guy is trapped underneath the dead body of a snake - watch as his hand glides through some poorly-rendered CGI when a rubber prop would have been much more believable). A slew of minor characters are fed to the monsters and the repetitive nature of each death only adds to the tedium. Remember when the shark in Jaws only killed a handful of people? Or Michael Myers killed four people on-screen in Halloween? Less was more and you always felt more threatened. Now it's just a race to get as many people eaten in as little time possible. Surprisingly enough, I was going to comment on the DVD cover which shows a city being destroyed by giant monsters. Unlike the other CGI monster versus films of late, Mega Python Vs Gatoroid actually does contain footage of a city being attacked by the monsters. It's literally only a minutes worth of screen time but at least it shows them doing a little bit of damage to Miami. There is also a in-joke thrown here somewhere as one of the monsters takes out a blimp with The Asylum written on the side. Probably the highlight of the film in an amusing way.

Hold up though! Giant monsters beware because on hand to save humanity is a pair of 80s pop stars. Deborah Gibson and Tiffany, both teen idols in the 80s, each takes the side of one of the monsters and thus the film turns into some sort of bizarre tag team match with Gibson protective of her snakes and Tiffany desperately trying to help the gators. They both try and one-up each other which leads to the eventual catfight between the two and then realise that they need to stop their bickering and join forces to stop both sets of monsters from running wild. Dialogue throughout the film references both of their singing careers which will either leave you cringing if you know the words or completely in the dark if you've never heard of them before. But in a film where the actors should be winking at the camera at the silliness of it all, they play it straight. The tongue-in-cheek catfight between the two is arguably the highlight of the film, rather pitiful when you consider it's supposed to be some giant monsters duking it out. But the scene resembles everything that the movie should have been - silly, daft and with a knowing sense of humour. Instead, it feels like an isolated scene. When all is said and done, it's nice to see two older women playing the lead roles in a film like this instead of your typical twenty-somethings. And in a film that is scattered with moments of oversized CGI monsters, it's sad that the biggest things on display are Tiffany's silicone-enhanced breasts which attempt to escape her top at every opportunity. Just when things couldn't get any more bizarre, there's a really random cameo from Mickey Dolenz, formerly of The Monkees. See, the film doesn't just cater for the 80s market but the 60s market too!

Verdict
Mega Python Vs Gatoroid is yet another awful CGI monster mash-up which scrapes the bottom of the barrel for scraps left behind after the recent onslaught of rubbish 'versus' films. The sight of former pop stars Tiffany and Deborah Gibson (who apparently had a real life rivalry back when they were in the limelight) taking each other on and then teaming up may have some appeal to former fans of their music but for any lovers of monster movies, stay well clear of this mess.