I watched both of these films last week, so I have them in the “ring” together for a head-to-head match up!

A crazy cop vs ravenous alligators! An Uber driver determined to get a 5 star rating vs a young woman determined to save her father from a perilous situation! Who comes out as the victor? I screened Stuber last Wednesday and hit the matinee last Friday to watch Crawl. I liked both films, but if I had to recommend one….well we will get to that, so keep reading! Stuber is highly stupid, but the silliness makes it fun. It’s a straightforward buddy buddy action comedy with all the familiar tropes, but Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani have a chemisty that works well on screen. Bautista plays a LA cop named Vic, who is on the hunt for a drug dealer that he has been trying to bust for 2 years. Vic crashes his car, so he enlists Uber driver Stu (Nanjiani) to take him on his pursuit. Stu doesn’t want to be involved, but Vic is quite imposing and promises Stu a 5 star rating if he takes him where he needs to be. From there, the slapstick style antics start. I didn’t laugh much, but there were some funny moments that made the screening audience laugh together. I did chuckle at a couple of the jokes, and the car chase scene was amusing. I really enjoyed seeing Iko Uwais play the villain, and being able to showcase his martial arts skills. If you’ve seen the Raid films, then you know what I mean. Crawl is straightforward as well. Kaya Scoddelario plays Haley, a competitive swimmer who gets stranded in the town she grew up in during a massive hurricane, while searching for her father, who hasn’t been answering his phone. She finds her dad (portrayed by Barry Pepper) in the basement of her old house, and also runs into an extremely large alligator, who is blocking the only exit. At this point Haley and her dad have to figure out how to get past this alligator before the hurricane waters flood the basement and drown them. The movie shifts into the fast lane once the gator arrives on screen. I enjoyed the claustrophobic atmosphere of the setting,  and Scoddelario was great as the lead. The daughter-father dynamic between her and Pepper was believable, and you could feel the terror of their situation. There was one part of the movie that made me laugh because I thought it was a silly scene, but I liked Crawl. The runtime was only 90 minutes, and the special effects were on point.
So who wins the face-off? I wouldn’t put either movie in the “profound” section, but I did enjoy Crawl more than Stuber. If I had to pick seeing one film over the other, then Crawl gets my vote. It was thrilling, and it managed to make me jump twice. TWICE!!!!! I even cringed at one point. Stuber….just watch that on Netflix. I don’t see it staying in the theater too long anyway. Crawl probably won’t be in the theater for a long time either, but I do recommend checking that out on the big screen. A visit on discount day is perfect!

WINNER BY KO: Crawl

Cheers!
Migs Rodriguez