Plot: In a tropical rain forest, a DNA expert (Mark Dacascos) and a CIA agent (Robin McKee) try to stop a scientist (Jürgen Prochnow) and the monster he created.
Mark Dacascos stars in this Predator knock off from 1997 where he is a Doctor trying to battle an alien creature in the jungle. Jurgen Prochnow is our villain (shocker) who unleashed the beast and like very good antagonist he doesn’t want to kill the beast but he wants to sell it as a weapon to various countries around the world.
Prochnow classes up every film never phoning in a performance, and he is suitably hateful here although I think his comeuppance happened a little too quickly. I would have preferred a final fight between he and Mark but this isn’t that kind of movie.
The first half of the film feels more like Alien meets Jurassic Park but the final half is so similar to Predator that I’m surprised there wasn’t a plagiarism lawsuit. It still makes for a fun B-movie and there are some incredible explosions in the final half hour.
It is a little plodding in terms of pacing at times and the kid shouting “DOCTOR ASH!” every two seconds got annoying very quickly but the creature surprisingly put an end to that…
Although he doesn’t get any real fight scenes Mark Dacascos is still as appealing a lead as always and does the best he can with the material.
The alien itself is mostly done practically and it looks more like the original design for The Predator however, when it moves around it looks very dated so the visual effects don’t really hold up so well.
The music is loud exciting and is one of the film’s highlights even if it sounds like it belongs in something better.
Overall, D.N.A. is too similar to Predator to really stand out but the final half hour is packed with some impressive action and Mark Dacascos is always an added bonus to any film. If you enjoy B movies with monsters killing people regularly (and who doesn’t?) then you may find plenty to enjoy.
