I've been AWOL for a few weeks due to doing the extremely grown-up thing of buying and moving into a house, so I hope you'll forgive my absence. It's also been a few quiet weeks in the world of film, with only the two films I bring you reviews of today being any releases of note. As such, I return to you with another of my review round-ups - two shorter than usual reviews of these two big films releases: first up we return to the world of the blockbuster with Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom, and after that we'll check out the newest addition to the Ocean's series with Ocean's 8, now featuring an all-female cast. Let's go . . .
You're my boy, Blue!
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (12A)
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ted Levine
Director: J.A. Bayona
The Plot: Three years after the events of Jurassic World, the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar are facing extinction once again when the island's volcano begins erupting. As the world debates on whether to take action, Claire (Howard) is approached by Ken Wheatley (Levine) with an offer - he represents John Hammond's old business partner Benjamin Lockwood, who wants to save the animals and is funding a rescue operation to the island. They need Claire's help, but they also need someone who can handle the elusive raptor Blue. Claire recruits Owen (Pratt) to the mission, but on arriving at the island they quickly find themselves double-crossed by Wheatley, who intends to sell the animals and use the funds to genetically engineer a weaponised dinosaur. As Owen and Claire race to stop him and save the animals, they discover a "prototype" has already been made - a deadly hybrid called the Indoraptor . . .
Check out the trailer for the film here.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The original Jurassic Park remains arguably one of the best films of all time (it's in my top ten) and the series has endured for twenty-five years (!) now, with 2015's Jurassic World a fine return to form after the dip in quality that was Jurassic Park 3. Sadly, in rushing to capitalise on the success of World, this new addition Fallen Kingdom has resulted in a poor film and the lowest point in the series to date. The main culprit? Unsurprisingly, the script. For reasons unknown to anyone not involved in its production, the decision was made to shift the majority of the film's action away from the island itself. Yes, you heard that right - in a film that's two hours long, the whole sequence of Claire being recruited, then recruiting Owen, then getting to the island, then being forced off by the volcano erupting/the double-cross is dealt with in about forty minutes. The rest of the film takes place within the sprawling Lockwood mansion and the laboratory beneath it (big enough, the film will have you believe, to hold all of the largest dinosaurs), and turns into a horror-lite as the Indoraptor breaks free and stalks them. This was a mistake - had it been the other way around, with most of the action taking place on the island and then a shorter sequence off it at the end, it would have worked much better. The film also relies too heavily on callbacks to the original, and while the first noticeable one works very well (Owen encounters Blue at the wrecked remains of Tim and Lex's Explorer from the first film) they quickly become tiresome as yet another sequence with the new Indoraptor is lifted from the original Velociraptor sequences. There's also an entirely pointless subplot revolving around Lockwood's young granddaughter, who is revealed to actually be a clone of her mother - a revelation that absolutely nothing is done with whatsoever.
It's not all bad, though. The mighty Jeff Goldblum returns for a small cameo as Dr Ian Malcolm, giving a performance that only the Goldblum could. As you would expect, the visual effects and score are top-notch throughout, there's some moments of humour, and the film's opening scene even proves that the T-Rex is still capable of being frightening. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard have good chemistry together and, with their characters having been in a relationship and broken up in between the films, have some good barbs/banter while still obviously caring for each other. As I've said before though, even the best actors can only work with what they've been given, and what Pratt and Howard have been given here isn't good. The ending sets up the next World film, which both actors have signed on for, and I honestly don't know how to feel about it. Given how big a fan of Jurassic Park I've been ever since I sat in a sold-out cinema in 1993 at the age of eleven and was equally thrilled and scared shitless, that makes me sad.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
A poor script that unwisely shifts the majority of the film's action away from the island results in a film that even the great effects, the good pairing of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard and fans enduring love for the series can't save. A disappointing addition to the series after the return to form that was Jurassic World - here's hoping the next one can be another redeemer.
The con is on . . .
Ocean's 8 (12A)
Director: Gary Ross
The Plot: After spending five years in prison, Debbie Ocean (Bullock) is released and immediately tracks down her old partner Lou (Blanchett) with the proposition of a big heist: they're going to steal a Cartier necklace valued at $150million from an unwitting mark, the film actress Daphne Kluger (Hathaway), as she attends the MET's prestigious annual Gala. Debbie and Lou assemble a crew of talented women and set to work, but the security at the MET is the best in the world. Will the team be able to pull off the heist, especially when Debbie decides to use it as a means to get revenge on the ex-boyfriend who had her sent to prison in the first place?
Check out the trailer for the film here.
Review: I really enjoyed the George Clooney-led Ocean's trilogy, the first of which was itself a remake of the 1960 original starring the Brat Pack of Frank Sinatra and friends. It's been over ten years since that concluded with Ocean's Thirteen, and now the series returns with this continuation (it's not a remake, it's the next chapter). I was a bit concerned about it, not because of the all-female cast, but because I was worried it would it would end up being a straight copy of the other films. Sadly, this has turned out to be true - the film doesn't do anything original other than switch out the genders of the cast, borrowing the same tropes from the other films (Cate Blanchett's character Lou, for example, is a virtual carbon copy of Brad Pitt's character Rusty, minus the constant eating) but giving us a heist that's far less complicated or exciting than anything Danny pulled off. The film doesn't start well when, within the very first minute, the character of Danny Ocean is unceremoniously killed off - how cool would it have been with a cameo from Clooney, even if it was in the form of a phone call to Debbie congratulating her on the heist, in a passing the torch moment? No chance of that now. Had the actual heist been more exciting the film would have worked much better, but as it stands you have an extremely talented group of ladies that are wasted on this story. It doesn't help that Sandra Bullock appears to be phoning her performance in, the film's lead character showing very little emotion throughout, even in her triumphant moment of revenge. The story also suffers from numerous very noticeable plot holes, and while there are some laughs, most of them rely too heavily on stereotypically female tropes, something that my friend Sarah noticed and commented on during the film.
The best thing in the film by far is Anne Hathaway, whose performance as the vapid Daphne Kluger outshines everyone else and is very funny - it's just a shame that the twist to her character (spoiler - she's the 8th member of the heist, and very smart) can be seen coming a mile away when you count the numbers in the crew that Debbie assembles and come up with seven. To its credit the film is very well shot, and fans of the previous trilogy will be pleased to see Elliot Gould and Shaobo Qin appear in small cameos (Matt Damon apparently also shot a cameo which didn't end up being used). Unfortunately, the film's problems far outweigh these plus points. The film has apparently made a respectable profit (nothing ground-breaking), and I can certainly imagine the studio is already thinking Ocean's 9 and Ocean's 10 to round out a new trilogy, but if those do happen, they really need to step up their game.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
A disappointing new addition to the series that had the opportunity to shake up the formula and give us something new and interesting, but unfortunately plays out as a poor copy of Ocean's Eleven. The talented cast is wasted on an uninteresting story, and a uncharacteristically flat performance from its lead Sandra Bullock doesn't do it any favours. A great performance from Anne Hathaway isn't enough to save what could have been a fun, interesting take on the genre - a real shame.
