This animal-attack horror plugs a gap with beasties – hippopotamuses – that may be deadly in real life but are hard to take seriously as a threat on screen. As someone says here, they have cute ears. Even the film’s title, evoking the kids’ game Hungry Hungry Hippos, diminishes the menace. That’s perhaps not the tone to set if you’re trying to persuade audiences that fatal consequences are in the offing. And as the script often reminds us, hippos are vegetarian, so hunger isn’t driving these multi-ton mammals to murder. Turns out they’re massively territorial, and especially dangerous when protecting their young. That, or they do just think killing people is fun.
The film naturally spends less time worrying about the hippos’ motives and dwells more on the victims, who look pretty doomed given their thin characterisations. This lot certainly weren’t expecting to be attacked by a hippo when they woke up because they are on a bayou tour in Louisiana, where the biggest threats are normally alligators.
