Arguably the king of former “A”-list actors who now do anything for a buck, Nicolas Cage appeared in a whopping six movies across 2019. Primal caps that run with a direct-to-video effort that hit the shelves on New Year’s Eve.

Exotic game hunter Frank Walsh (Cage) travels to Brazil. There he captures a rare white jaguar and plans to bring it to Spain, where it will live in a zoo.

Also on board: captured political assassin Richard Loffler (Kevin Durand). When Loffler escapes custody, he releases the jaguar and other predators on the vessel, an action that forces Frank to struggle to survive.

Despite my cynical opening paragraph, I don’t automatically assume that Cage solely takes projects for the money. He likely picks some that actually intrigue him from time to time.

Does Primal exist as a member of that club? I would guess no, though the basic story comes with potential.

On the surface, a movie about humans stalked by predator animals in a confined space sounds pretty exciting. Primal comes with some “Die Hard on a Boat with Killer Cats appeal at its core.

Unfortunately, Primal never lives up to its possibilities, though it tries. Oh Lord, does it try!

We get the usual assortment of cinematic tricks here. Primal comes with a pounding score, quick cuts and various stabs at action.

None of these add up to doodly squat, however. As much as Primal thinks it brings thrills, instead it just bores.

Which remains nearly unfathomable given the material at hand. We get people trapped on a ship with wild animals and a seemingly insane assassin – how could that possibly wind up with a dull end product?

I don’t know, but it does. Though Primal nods in the general direction of excitement, it never achieves even the most minor fun or visceral impact.

I suspect some of this stems from the movie’s presumably low budget. It features a lot of computer-generated animals, and the lack of funds restricts their screentime. As such, a film in which we expect to see a jaguar stalk humans barely shows the big cat at all.

Honestly, the notion of the wild critters on the ship almost becomes a MacGuffin, as Primal concentrates much more on the havoc Loffler wreaks. At its heart, the movie contrives to provide a battle between the psycho and the hunter.

These moments don’t work, as Primal fails to portray any of the roles in a compelling manner. Loffler comes across as a weird mix of Hannibal Lecter and Hans Gruber, while Walsh tends to feel like a seedier Indiana Jones.

Of course, that means the movie tosses out odd and perfunctory stabs at romantic tension between our “hero” Walsh and the requisite female, Navy neurologist Dr. Ellen Taylor (Famke Janssen). They flirt in a hostile manner at times but those moments feel contrive and add nothing.

At least Cage seems to enjoy himself, which is more than I can say for his time on many of his direct-to-video efforts. While he often sleepwalks through these roles, Cage appears more “alive” here, even if he doesn’t really bring much to the part.

Durand feels ill-cast as the assassin, and he can’t find the role’s dark heart. As for Janssen, I couldn’t judge her performance because I felt too distracted by her face.

Clearly the subject of massive amounts of cosmetic surgery, Janssen looks like she wears a plastic mask through the film, and she can’t exhibit any facial expressiveness at all. Heck, it seems difficult for her to simply move her mouth at times.

Janssen’s appearance didn’t shock me, as I’d already seen the damage done during 2019’s Poison Rose. However, there I became more focused on how awful Brendan Fraser looked to give Janssen too much thought.

I honestly don’t like to go down the catty road that the criticism of cosmetic surgery follows. However, when this work makes it impossible to view the actor as a normal human being, it becomes noteworthy, and the fact that Janssen now looks like an anime character creates a disconnect from reality.

Even without these issues, Primal would falter. Despite a story with ample room for excitement, the movie seems flat and lifeless.

Primal appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not great, the movie came with a largely positive presentation.

Sharpness usually seemed fine. Some interiors showed a bit of softness, but the majority of the flick displayed pretty solid delineation. No issues with shimmering or jaggies materialized, and I saw no edge haloes or print flaws. LP> In terms of palette, Primal occasionally opted for the usual teal and orange, but it mainly emphasized yellows. For the most part, the Blu-ray reproduced the tones fine.

Blacks appeared fairly dark and dense, while low-light shots displayed mostly nice clarity. All in all, the image worked pretty well.

When I examined the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack of Primal, I thought it was moderately active and involving, as the mix used music and atmosphere to nice advantage.

These elements created a good sense of place and movement that brought us an engaging soundscape, with the best material found in the smattering of action sequences.

Audio quality was fine. Speech was reasonably crisp and natural, and effects showed good punch.

Music was also clear and full. The soundtrack didn’t excel but it connected with the story in an appropriate manner.

Only one extra appears here: The Making of Primal, a nine-minute, 13-second featurette. It involves comments from producer Luillo Ruiz, and actors Famke Janssen and Kevin Durand.

“Making” covers story/characters, the work of director Nick Powell, stunts and action, sets, cast and performances. Though we get a few decent shots of the production, the remarks tend to feel puffy and superficial, so we learn little from this program.

How can a movie about predators stuck on a ship deliver a dull time? I don’t know, but Primal offers a lifeless affair. The Blu-ray brings generally positive picture and audio, but it lacks notable bonus materials. Nothing much about the movie entertains.