I taped it when it aired and finally got a chance to watch it. And I have to say, I thought it was actually pretty good. It wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as the reviewer made it seem. I was expecting Catwoman.
On the plus side, it was well directed and had some nice cinematography. Compare this to most fo the "Sci-Fi Original" movies. Man-Thing actually looked like a real movie.
On the down side, the accents were pretty bad, as were the "Native Americans". Although we should give them some credit for at least trying and not just slapping a wig on William Shatner as older films have done.
The unmanned oil rig out in the middle of the swamp
was very strange.
And did anyone else think the sheriff looked kind of odd. To me, he looked like the lovechild of Billy Zane and Thomas Jane who went out and got drunk with his friends, who then dyed his hair a weird shade of blonde and then cut it with gardening shears.
But the main flaw with the film is that it just isn't Man-Thing. There was no "fear burns at his touch". He killed good and bad. He was just a monster. If they had just called it "Swamp Monster", or something like that, I don't think people would have had a problem with it.
In fact, considering they changed his origin, why didn't they do that? It's not like Man-Thing is generally know. You can't sell it like Spider-Man, The Hulk, or even Catwoman. It's possible that they were more interested in the Marvel logo. That way they can say, "From the creators or Spider-Man and X-Men" like the Blade: Trinity ads.
And I do have to add to the question of where that $30 million went? In comparison, Punisher cost $33 million, and that was shot in the US, had numerous stunts, and several name actors (Travolta, Rebecca Romijn, and Roy Scheider).
Maybe it cost $15 million to buy the Man-Thing rights from Marvel?
EDIT: And where the hell were all the alligators and snakes? Everyone is wading around waist deep in the middle of a swamp?!
