Sunday, June 24, 2018

Current Film Reviews- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

         When I was an early adolescent, I picked up a book at an airport called Z-Raptor.  Apparently, a sequel to another book called Z-Rex  (which I hadn't heard of until I read this book), it centered around this kid learning his father's research as a video game designer (somehow) has been used to create dinosaurs. The first book was about them creating an advanced T-Rex, now it was apparently a raptor. I never read this book beyond the first few chapters, but based on my limited experience with it, these two are very similar in terms of plot. Not making accusations or anything, but that was the immediate thing running through my mind as I watched this picture

      Based on the film franchise in turn based on the novel by Michael Crichton, the film is set three years after the original (apparently, since it says that the first Jurassic World was set in 2015), and it turns out that Isla Nublar, the island that Jurassic Park and later Jurassic World is situated on, is on a hitherto unmentioned dormant volcano, which has become active, and threatens the remaining dinosaurs (the fact that there is another island of dinosaurs, Isla Sorna from the other sequels, seems not to factor in at any point). Claire Dearings (Bryce Dallas Howard), the executive in the first one (note: the first one in this case will refer to the first Jurassic World in all other mentions), is now an activist trying to evacuate Dinosaurs from the volcanic eruption. After government intervention is prohibited thanks to the testimony of Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum, on screen for about the amount of time you can read this entire paragraph), she is approached by Eli Mills (Rafe Spalls, doing his best Charlie Day impression) , who works for Sir Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), John Hammond's hitherto unmentioned business associate, who hopes to evacuate the dinosaurs using his own resources. She is brought in to recruit Owen Grady (Chris Pratt, looking incredibly bored and disinterested throughout the film), who is reluctant, until Claire reveals that Blue, the velociraptor that he had a strong connection to in the first film, is still alive on the island. They set out with Dr. Zia Rodriguez (Danielle Pineda) and Franklin Webb (Justice Smith), to retrieve the Dinosaurs. However, as they proceed with the mission, they find that there is a far more sinister agenda at play here, as found by Lockwood's granddaughter Isabella Sermon.

      I'll give the film this: this is actually a good idea for a sequel. Especially since it has gotten into a formula, and it does shake things up. Honestly, this could've worked as a sequel to the original Jurassic Park. I do appreciate that they commit to continuing the combination of real effects and CGI, and it doesn't look that bad honestly. Michael Giacchino's score is also entertaining, and fitting any scenario. Some of the actors are trying. There are couple good scenes towards the third act, which utilize great set piece, and have a bit of a horror edge to them.

       I hated the nostalgia pandering the first one did, and this ramps it up. From the inclusion of Jeff Goldblum, to Cromwell's inclusion as a fake John Hammond to the constant evocation of the original. It gets tedious, and makes me really want to see the original. Whilst it has a good idea, it squanders it by basically rehashing both The Lost World and the first Jurassic World. As a result of that, and scenes that feel less enticing and more boredom inducing, I just wasn't that interested, especially with it being as long as it is at 2 hours. I found myself confused as to what was happening, since stuff is barely explained or so heavily drenched in foreshadowing for future films, it forgets to forshadow for this one, (with twists that either are obvious or barely register as such) and staring in bafflement at the more absurd stuff. Oh, trust me, there is insane moments, especially from Chris Pratt, who has apparently gotten superpowers, and while they do show him compromised, manages to survive any ordeal given to him. It also botches its moral quandaries, when, instead of focusing on the endangered species angle, instead continues with the "dinosaurs as weapons" idea from the first. Apparently, guns and bombs don't exist in this world, and if they did, dinosaurs are completely impervious to them (except when they aren't). Oh, yeah, and the big bad at the end (I won't spoil it), was a complete let-down and boring as hell.

     It is somewhat refreshing to know that something seemed bad, turned out to be bad. A nice little bit of consistency in a very chaotic universe. Anyway, if you liked the first Jurassic World, I'm not sure you'll even like this, since it basically does the same thing. Hell, I was basically fine with the first one, and I disliked this one. If you liked the Jurassic Park movies, and want to see this for completion sake, fine, but, as someone who has seen all the films, it is the worst entry of this series. If you've never seen a Jurassic Park film, don't bother.  

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Current Film Reviews: American Animals

           There are two reasons I haven't done any reviews in the past two months. One is simply I was busy with finals and the like at school, and immediately after, I went on vacation. So, with all that, I couldn't really write anything. Another major factor is that I couldn't really find anything to say about certain films. I considered Deadpool as a potential candidate, but I realized that detailing the plot would involve big spoilers. I considered Upgrade, but I couldn't quite muster much material for a full review, nor did Hotel Artemis. So, given it's been two months, I'll just do a review of a film I saw a couple days ago, that I don't have much material for, and might be out of theaters at this point.

           This film is based on the real life 2004 robbery of rare books at Transylvania University in Kentucky, done in a docudrama style, with the real participants interviewed along with a dramatization of the events.  Spencer Reinhard (Barry Keoghan) and Warren Lipka (Evan Peters) decide to abandon their hum-drum lives and commit a robbery of the rare books collection at their university in Kentucky, which includes the original folios of John James Audubon's Birds of America (estimated at $12 million) as well as other rare books. After Warren secures a buyer in the Netherlands, they recruit acquaintances Chas Allen (Blake Jenner) and Eric Borsuk to help, planning an elaborate heist to extract the books and gain the money. However, they find that committing a robbery is far easier in the movies, than it is in real life.

          I thought of two films watching this: Richard Linklater's Bernie and I, Tonya. The former because of its docudrama style (though this, unlike Bernie, uses mostly the real participants in interviews), and dark themes, and I, Tonya due to its focus on unreliable narrators and uncertain events. Both work to make a very fractured narrative, and not in a bad way. It helps builds to the unstable nature of the robbery itself, and how people tend to recall minor events differently, when compared to more intense one. The film is concise, with everything inside building to some sort of theme or contributing to the plot. Everything always builds the plot, or deals with the theme. The interviews help give more insight into the minds of the characters, and helps make this event more real. Going off that, it also deconstructs heist movies, as their plans for the heist slowly go awry thanks to different factors, and their overestimation of their capacity. Thus, it goes horribly wrong during their final heist. It gets hard to watch.

     The first half drags a little. I understand that it builds up, but it sort of drops us into the action, with no real exposition, other than the interviews. It never really establishes itself in a satisfactory manner, and thus, the build-up feels off constantly. It manages to re-adjust itself once they begin to actually plan the heist, but it should probably have been a bit longer. The interview/dramatization ratio decreases towards the second half. Whilst this allows us to absorb the magnitude of their failure, I honestly would've liked some commentary on what actually happened during it.

     Like I said, not much material I could gain from this. Overall, though, this is a recommendation. It's probably out of theaters, but if it's still playing or coming on DVD or home video, I'd say seek this out for fans of Indie films or heist films or true crime. 

    Next time, I will delve into Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and something a little different.