Jurassic World (2015) Review

Jurassic World was a movie engineered to make money at the box office. Its a film about running away from dinosaurs, starring one of the most popular leading men right now and it was based on a beloved franchise from the 90's. The plot is also easy to follow and there is no real thinking necessary on the part of the audience while watching it. Jurassic World was destined to be summer gold but how does it stand up as a movie?

To me watching this film was like watching a 1950's Universal Studios monster movie. the plot is simple, the characters are cliché, and the dialogue sometimes unintentionally funny but the overall effect the film has is that it is fun. Fun is what I would describe Jurassic World as. It's not great, but it isn't trying to be. It was fun and I was never bored. This may seem like faint praise but with what I've seen from blockbusters this summer the fact that I was not bored is praise indeed.

Chris Pratt continues to cement himself as a movie star and in terms of acting he's the best thing here. That's not to say the other actors aren't good it's just that there isn't much written for their characters. As stated above the plot is simple and I think that works in this film's favor.

Overall, this was a fun summer movie experience that wasn't anything earth-shattering but that was a lot of fun. If you haven't already, go to your local theater, put on the ridiculous 3D glasses and enjoy a fun dinosaur spectacle for 2 hrs. 3.5/5

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) review

I wasn't a huge fan of the first Avengers film. It lacked a really menacing villain and it fell apart in the third act. Despite those criticisms, it did have some brilliant moments, particularly in its first half, when we just got to see the characters act like real people who just happen to have super abilities. The thrill of the first film was that we got to see the characters on screen in a way that felt so natural and was so entertaining that it was nearly irresistible. It was in those quieter moments that Whedon, the director, took what could have been an overblown Transformers movie and turned it into something enjoyable. I wish there had been more of this brilliance in the first film but the film managed the rest of the less alluring parts well enough that the thing flowed together. The same cannot really be said for the second film. While Age of Ultron has a better villain and some of the best individual moments in all of the Marvel film universe it fails to fit all of its moving parts together.

Age of Ultron feels like a brilliant superhero film squashed under the weight of bad editing. This doesn't mean that the individual cuts of the film are bad but rather that what we have in terms of a story feels like its missing something. While the story is missing some beats, it seems as though every bit of every action scene that was shot was left in the film. What results is a frustrating film with moments of Whedon brilliance marred by an even more action-heavy third act. Apparently the first cut of the film was 4 hours. I don't want to see four hours of this film, but I do wonder whether the disjointed nature of the plot comes from leaving some stuff out. It feels as though, for whatever reason, too much of the action was left in. It's not as drawn-out as the third Hobbit but it really hurts a film that's already seemingly missing some plot points. It feels as though in the last two acts the film never really had a good rhythm.

On the positive side, Ultron is a great villain and better than Loki. Spader's performance is menacing in a way Loki wasn't. Ultron poses a real threat, it's just a shame that the plot's disjointedness dulls his impact. As mentioned above, there are several sequences of character that could easily rank amongst the best stuff to come out of the Marvel studio. Whedon can write incredible dialog between these characters and that dialog is delivered by actors who embody their characters. Robert Downey Jr. is the stand-out. Never before has an actor and a superhero been more perfectly meshed.

Apparently this is Whedon's last stint in the directors chair for Marvel. This seems a shame since I feel we didn't ever see him sustain his brilliance for a whole film. Whether it be the moments when he shows us human carnage or the snappy and natural dialog found in the film, Whedon brings brilliance to the table but it is weighed down by the repetitive action. Age of Ultron is a frustrating film, but I believe that just enough brilliance shines through to make it worth watching. 3.5/5

Countdown to Into Darkness: Star Trek 2: the Wrath of Khan Review

Often considered the best of the original Star Trek Movies, Wrath of Khan pretty much wrote the textbook about how to write a film that is pretty much a retrospective. Other examples of this type of film would include Live Free or Die Hard and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. For most fans and critics Star Trek 1 was no good. It was too high budget and destroyed much of what fans had loved about the tv show. When one watches Star Trek 2 there is no sign that there was ever a first one. The film picks up like a continuation of the tv show except fifteen years later. What makes Trek 2 work is the fact that in many ways it feels more like an episode of star trek. It brings back the major characters and even a major villain. This really works in its favor. It also knows that it’s a movie and it makes sure to let the bigger canvas work to its benefit instead of hurting its story. The story of dealing with old age was virtually ripped off in Indiana Jones 4. No joke there are way too many similarities for this to be a coincidence. But don’t worry Trek 2 is better than indy 4 mainly because it has much stronger scripting anda way better villain. Khan is menacing and although he doesn’t get too much screen time he makes the most of it. The acting here is pretty good all around and the philosophical quality of the script makes it smarter than your normal space opera. Unfortunately one thing really hurts Star Trek 2, it hasn’t aged well. When watching this film you know you’re watching an ‘80’s scifi flick from the hair to the costumes and the sets. The technology looks old and the effects are definitely showing their age. The script too is sometimes way over the top but in the end this is a fun ride that really continues the original show well and with good taste 3.5/5