Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return for another adventure in the latest (planned) Jurassic World trilogy. Fallen Kingdom picks up a few years after the last film, the Island threatened by an extinction level event that will kill off the last of the dinosaurs. It's up to Howard and Pratt to track down "Blue" (The last film's surviving Raptor) and rescue her from the island along with several other species. Working under the auspices of the benevolent Lockwood and his company, the pair quickly find themselves pawns in a larger game of corporate espionage.
Fallen Kingdom is a fun and somewhat frivolous ride with plenty of eye-popping visuals. The dinosaurs own the film (as they should) and we get plenty of huge action sequences. The trailer spoils much of the early portion of the film and we quickly move from the island and, oddly, condense the film's primary narrative to fairly enclosed spaces. The movie loses much of it's charm when it exits the jungle and we're left shut in for a majority of the films run time.
7 out of 10, and a mild recommend. Great big budget Hollywood fun.
INCREDIBLES 2
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return for another adventure in the latest (planned) Jurassic World trilogy. Fallen Kingdom picks up a few years after the last film, the Island threatened by an extinction level event that will kill off the last of the dinosaurs. It's up to Howard and Pratt to track down "Blue" (The last film's surviving Raptor) and rescue her from the island along with several other species. Working under the auspices of the benevolent Lockwood and his company, the pair quickly find themselves pawns in a larger game of corporate espionage.
Fallen Kingdom is a fun and somewhat frivolous ride with plenty of eye-popping visuals. The dinosaurs own the film (as they should) and we get plenty of huge action sequences. The trailer spoils much of the early portion of the film and we quickly move from the island and, oddly, condense the film's primary narrative to fairly enclosed spaces. The movie loses much of it's charm when it exits the jungle and we're left shut in for a majority of the films run time.
7 out of 10, and a mild recommend. Great big budget Hollywood fun.
INCREDIBLES 2
A movie fourteen years in the making...
And, of course, Pixar manages to re-capture much of the magic that made the first film work as well as it did.
Unfortunately, the film also walked back some of the previous film's progress and character arcs in order to fulfill some familiar themes. Whereas we left the family about to do battle with the Underminer, the film opens at that point and we see that things do not go very well in the battle that follows. In fact, it goes downright awful and the massive damage to public property reinforces the public's outcry against super heroics. The family, once working like a team, are now back to squabbling and uncertainty with their lives.
Luckily, multi-billionaire and pro-super advocate Winston Deavor has a plan to bring heroes back into the public's good graces. His entire plan revolves around the less "destructive" Elasti-Girl, and the Parr Family must now make due with Mom leaving the nest and letting Dad be the home-maker. Cue the shenanigans!
While much of the film feels like a familiar retread, there are some great sequences and the characters are faced with some new challenges. New Heroes step into the mix and a new villain, the nefarious "Screenslaver"!
8 out of 10 and a recommend.
And, of course, Pixar manages to re-capture much of the magic that made the first film work as well as it did.
Unfortunately, the film also walked back some of the previous film's progress and character arcs in order to fulfill some familiar themes. Whereas we left the family about to do battle with the Underminer, the film opens at that point and we see that things do not go very well in the battle that follows. In fact, it goes downright awful and the massive damage to public property reinforces the public's outcry against super heroics. The family, once working like a team, are now back to squabbling and uncertainty with their lives.
Luckily, multi-billionaire and pro-super advocate Winston Deavor has a plan to bring heroes back into the public's good graces. His entire plan revolves around the less "destructive" Elasti-Girl, and the Parr Family must now make due with Mom leaving the nest and letting Dad be the home-maker. Cue the shenanigans!
While much of the film feels like a familiar retread, there are some great sequences and the characters are faced with some new challenges. New Heroes step into the mix and a new villain, the nefarious "Screenslaver"!
8 out of 10 and a recommend.
