Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
A homicide detective teams up with an evolutionary biologist to hunt a giant creature that is killing people in a Chicago museum.
The Relic is a competent but formulaic creature feature that follows the well-worn monster-on-the-loose blueprint. The museum setting adds some atmosphere and the creature design is memorable, giving the cinematography a decent score for its dark, claustrophobic visuals. However, the plot hits every expected beat of the genre with little surprise, the acting is serviceable at best with most characters feeling like stock types, and the ending resolves predictably with the creature dispatched in conventional fashion. While the Amazon mythology and evolutionary biology angle provide a slight hook, the film doesn't do enough with these ideas to distinguish itself meaningfully from other late-90s creature features.