Dr. Alec Holland, hidden away in the depths of a murky swamp, is trying to create a new species - a combination of animal and plant capable of adapting and thriving in the harshest conditions. Unfortunately he becomes subject of his own creation and is transformed. Arcane, desperate for the formula, attempts to capture the Swamp Thing. An explosive chase ensues that ultimately ends with a confrontation between Holland and a changed Arcane...
[The film] wants desperately to be funny and, from time to time, it is. However, you might wish it would trust the audience to discover the humor for itself.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
30 Aug 2004
fresh:
One of those movies that fall somewhere between buried treasures and guilty pleasures.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
fresh:
Craven tries to do this 'veggie-man' horror in a suitable DC Comics style; and with Louis Jourdan as arch-villain 'Arcane', not to mention Adrienne Barbeau (Mrs John Carpenter) as the Thing's object of desire, he's definitely on the right track.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
9 Feb 2006
rotten:
The film is too lazy to provide any actual jokes with its send-up of the genre.