Review: Jurassic World (2D)

Jurassic World is a bombastic return of the franchise fourteen years after the previous sequel. It provides much, a lot more than expected, but can never match the original.

Set over twenty years since John Hammond's theme park extravaganza Jurassic Park was utterly destroyed when the reborn dinosaur exhibits broke loose, Jurassic World follows a new organisation looking to rekindle the park's magic. From what we can see, it has been a huge success; the Jurassic World theme park has been a hit for well over a decade and has grown with multiple exhibits.
But like with all corporations, they see the task of keeping audiences and investors excited an uphill battle, and they turn to genetic modification to breed a new dinosaur.

My feelings on Jurassic World have yo-yo'ed ever since the first trailer landed, at first I was excited: the tone was right, then I was increasingly worried; genetically modified dinosaurs, really? Among other things.

But in actuality, Jurassic World is perhaps one of the truest sequels to the original you could hope for. While 1997's The Lost World and (worst of all) Jurassic Park 3 had a tendency to repeat the key scenarios of the first film (a small group of people trapped on an island of dinosaurs) this new installment actually tries to expand the idea and give us new meat to chew on.
Sure, this is Jurassic Park, there are similarities all over the shop. We are going to have peace descend into utter chaos; foreshadowing and any sense of build up are blatantly obvious except to those rare few who haven't seen a Jurassic Park movie! There are plenty of moments that will have you scratch your head, or shake it, making this film not quite living up to its colossal predecessor. Avoidable moments too; our new Park's head operator Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is seen running away from a T-Rex in high heels. Silly, but completely avoidable as they do refer to it earlier; Chris Pratt's hunter/raptor trainer Owen scowls at her footwear. It isn't something I personally care about, but I know, I know people will complain about it.

The storyline, unlike Jurassic Park 3's miserable excuse of a storyline, is a decent play off the first film. Claire has two nephew's visiting the park on this doomed day, while Chris Pratt's Owen deals with a man named Hoskins (played by Netflix/Marvel Daredevil's Vincent D'Onofrio) who wants to militarize the supposedly "trained" velociraptors. Thematically World has a lot of kinship with the original; we see perhaps what Jeff Goldblum's Malcolm character feared the most; merchandise. This film's mere existence is a play on this!

The sets are all reminiscent of the first film, as is the sound design, Chris Pratt's character is convincing and carries the burden of the "training raptors" concept really well. The CGI is a bit too abundant and can be hit or miss, more animatronics would have been great, but you get used to it. 

Perhaps the most endearing aspect is how fun it feels and how dark it can become. Dialogue is witty and very likable throughout, the two kids (while they could be described as one overly-mopey and one overly happy kid at first) they did actually grow on me. They had just enough character to make you like them.

The Park has changed, but the ideology and themes remain true. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it; it could have been much worse!

Additional Marshmallows: I just wish audiences wouldn't be so gullible as to think "Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg" means this is the same quality as Jurassic Park. Director Colin Trevorrow does a great job, but the little bits of Spielberg whimsy just aren't there.

Review: Lincoln

Steven Spielberg is probably the only man who could take a subject matter as dry as politics and as well known as Lincoln's victory over the 13^th amendment and make it worth watching for over one-hundred and fifty minutes.

Daniel Day Lewis gives a powerhouse performance as the United States sixteenth President as he deals with the political minefield and personal sacrifices to push his new amendment to abolish slavery. This times difficulty with the persistent American Civil War which has claimed too many lives. Lincoln is in a losing battle; he wants the war ended and slavery abolished in the same stroke... whereas many of the critical voters wish only for the war to end with the compromise of retaining slavery.

As you can see from the lengthy synopsis there, Lincoln is a heavy, heavy film. The Civil War itself acts merely as a backdrop and persistent danger and drive for the President's actions, the majority of the film focuses on his personal battle of words with the men responsible for ending the war and bringing about a better future. The film demands your attention constantly, but Spielberg's deft hand allows for Lincoln's mannerisms and lighthearted stories to lighten the heavy dialogue frequently.

Day-Lewis is fantastic in the role. He is both wise and solid as a worn oak tree, yet human and determined as a man truly selfless and honest. A great sense of gravity is given and allows the audience to see a powerful idol in humanity's history. All supporting roles are substantially filled, as they should be in a Spielberg picture, and no one appears weak or unnecessary. The film moves at a slow but constant pace.

It is dry, it is extremely dialogue heavy along with self-assessing scenes that make sure the audience isn't left behind by the politics, but to stick with it is to learn a personal strife and struggle at a critical time in America's history.

Perhaps not worth a cinema visit per se, but definitely worth a watch!

Additional Marshmallows: Kudos to Spielberg too for making so many of his compositions alike to oil paintings; the lighting and use of shadows makes lounges and rooms murky and deeply solemn.  

Review: Super 8

I'm finding my opinion of J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg's collaboration Super 8 a little divided.


Set in the late 1970s, Super 8 follows the perspective of Joe, a young boy who recently lost his mother in a terrible accident, and his father who is Police deputy of their small town. Joe and his friends are making a film for a school competition when they accidentally witness a massive train crash. While Joe struggles with his feelings for a local girl, something otherworldly had escaped from the train wreck and causes chaos throughout the town.


Spielberg and Abrams make a good combination here; Super 8 has a glossy and real look about it, while the entire cast are excellent in their roles. It has been a while since I've seen so many child actors on screen and not been irritated by the lack of acting skill, they worked well together.


The divide I spoke of comes in the film's second act, where we have intensity brewing within the characters, specifically between Joe and his father and between Alice and her father. All great stuff, but juxtaposed with this we have a fifteen foot tall alien tearing up cars, scaring dogs and kidnapping people. It feels a little awkward. Don't get me wrong, this is way, way better than Abrams' other alien/monster movie Cloverfield (at least I care about these characters) but even Super 8's ending might feel a little too vague and "happily-ever-after" for some people. It ties up the two jarring stories as best it can, but it can feel a little... off.


I enjoyed it well enough; acting was great, visual effects were not overused and well done, a focus on characters but kept things simple and straight forward (a nice running time of under two hours!) so I'd give it a watch.