The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) Review:

Using big name actors to sell a movie isn't a bad concept. However, using them just because it supposed to sell a bad movie is another thing. It's even worse though when it goes beyond even those intentions. For director Richard Stanley, he was at a point where he was making his way up, and was getting close to the place he wanted to be. His hopes were to create a film based on H.G. Wells Island of Dr. Moreau novel and make it into something that would be totally his, while giving the story a new twist. Unfortunately for him and everyone else on board the movie, nothing worked out the way it supposed to. Stanley was fired not long after filming began, mainly because of the lead stars Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer. However that was just one of the disruptive moments in the process.

Fairuza Balk & David Thewlis

Amazingly, as bad as things were, the film crew managed to put together a film that isn't too discombobulated. Yet this doesn't mean it's a good movie either. Instead, much of the story comes off lazy, unfocused and board. With Stanley fired, John Frankenheimer was brought in to take over. This didn't help though. While partially working with Stanley's script, Ron Hutchinson (Blue Ice (1992)) was also brought in for rewrites. This furthered the confusion and it shows. While becoming stranded out in the ocean, Edward Douglas (David Thewlis) is picked up by Montgomery (Val Kilmer) and brought to the island of Dr. Moreau (Marlon Brando). What Douglas doesn't know is that Dr. Moreau has been doing twisted experiments, mixing human and animal genes to create new monstrosities.

Premise wise, it sounds uniquely horrifying, but that's where it ends. The execution of the plot is very similar to that of something like Planet of the Apes (1968). Dr. Moreau is the one who keeps the order on the island and has a device that remotely controls his creations. Though hiding behind something to control everyone else can prove to be ill advised. What really doesn't help the plot is the whole purpose behind it. Dr. Moreau explains the testing that he's doing, but he doesn't go into detail on how it'll benefit anyone outside his reach. He was outcast to that island because his actions were so controversial. As for characters, there's really very little to get behind. David Thewlis as Edward Douglas is a sympathetic character but there's not a lot of focus on him. Instead much of the attention is given to Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.

Being that Dr. Moreau is played by Brando, it could be understood as to why he would have more screen time, but Kilmer's character is just bizarre. He explains how he got in contact with Dr. Moreau but that's it. The rest of Kilmer's performance is all over the place. It's difficult to tell whether he was acting or being lazy. Brando, although a credible actor, does seem disengaged at times. He does give a sense of mystery to the doctor, but it's only for a short while. This is the unfortunate bit, being that the marketing went on about having Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando being the faces of the movie, when there was more to it. Plus, David Thewlis' role had more significance. There are other actors viewers may recognize like Fairuza Balk, Temuera Morrison, Ron Perlman and Nelson de la Rosa.

"Hmmmm what do you think Mini-me?"

The real positive things that can be said for this creature feature were the visual aspects. The makeup effects crafted by master Stan Winston was spot on. Making the combination between human and land animal type features can be tricky, but Winston made it look easy. Sort of like a 180 degree turn from his work on Leviathan (1989), which involved human and marine life mixing. The cinematography shot by William A. Fraker was decent. With filming locations coming from Queensland Australia, the jungle terrain looks legitimate. Fraker also worked on 1941 (1979), Tombstone (1993) and Waking Up in Reno (2002). Lastly, the music composed by Gary Chang was an intriguing element. The tracks heard are reminiscent to that of his score from Sniper (1993), but thankfully, he gives this film its own theme. Not to mention, it got its own release which is rare for him.

Sadly, the premise, makeup effects, cinematography and music cannot save the wildly unfocused performances by the cast. It may feature heavy hitter names, but they don't save the feature after all the trouble it went through. The plot execution isn't even that unique.

Points Earned --> 4:10