Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the fifth in the franchise, is a profoundly stupid movie. But I’ll say this - it has a terrific marketing campaign. That’s why I went to see it. But this is a perfect example of not delivering on promises made.
The set up is simple. Isla Nublar, the island off Costa Rica, is being threatened by a newly active volcano, which means that the various forms of dinosaurs living there - created via DNA experimentation - also are threatened. The owners of the park enlist Owen Grady and Claire Dearing (played once again by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard) to help mount a rescue operation.
Except that it isn’t exactly a rescue operation, at least not in the traditional, altruistic sense … and that’s when things start to go downhill.
The problem is that we’ve been down this road before, and it seems if almost nobody in the movie has learned the lessons of the first four films - messing around with nature, and especially with dinosaurs, is a really bad idea. It never works out. (Jeff Goldblum makes a welcome, if brief, return to the series to remind us of this.) While there are some impressive set pieces, they all feel redundant, almost a best-of homage to what Steven Spielberg did before, and better. And the whole thing seems like a prelude to an inevitable sequel, when the movie studio will be back for more cash, no doubt armed with a great ad campaign and a mediocre movie.
Now, if you want to see a good movie, I’d recommend a little indie flick called Hearts Beat Loud, which stars Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons in a lovely little coming of age story.
Offerman plays Frank, an aging baby boomer who owns a rundown vinyl record shop in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. He’s frustrated and unhappy, and the only real pleasure he has in his life is the music he makes with his daughter, Sam. When they jam together, it makes them both come alive, and they seem to escape the sadness the feel from the death of his wife and her mother. And then, they actually do a song that begins to score on Spotify, which doesn’t fit into Sam’s plans to go to LA and study medicine.
While Hearts Beat Loud isn’t especially profound, it has a That Thing You Do vibe that makes it work, driven by outstanding performances by Offerman and Clemons, who are completely convincing as father and daughter - and the thing to remember is that this isn’t just a coming of age story for her. It also is for him. And it all ends up being enormously moving.
There are even two bonuses. Toni Collette is touching in a small part as Frank’s landlady, and Ted Danson plays a very non-“Cheers” style of bartender - an aging stoner who nonetheless if a font of common sense.
I was charmed by Hearts Beat Loud - an intelligent movie by adults for adults, without superheroes or special effects. My kind of music.
The set up is simple. Isla Nublar, the island off Costa Rica, is being threatened by a newly active volcano, which means that the various forms of dinosaurs living there - created via DNA experimentation - also are threatened. The owners of the park enlist Owen Grady and Claire Dearing (played once again by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard) to help mount a rescue operation.
Except that it isn’t exactly a rescue operation, at least not in the traditional, altruistic sense … and that’s when things start to go downhill.
The problem is that we’ve been down this road before, and it seems if almost nobody in the movie has learned the lessons of the first four films - messing around with nature, and especially with dinosaurs, is a really bad idea. It never works out. (Jeff Goldblum makes a welcome, if brief, return to the series to remind us of this.) While there are some impressive set pieces, they all feel redundant, almost a best-of homage to what Steven Spielberg did before, and better. And the whole thing seems like a prelude to an inevitable sequel, when the movie studio will be back for more cash, no doubt armed with a great ad campaign and a mediocre movie.
Now, if you want to see a good movie, I’d recommend a little indie flick called Hearts Beat Loud, which stars Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons in a lovely little coming of age story.
Offerman plays Frank, an aging baby boomer who owns a rundown vinyl record shop in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. He’s frustrated and unhappy, and the only real pleasure he has in his life is the music he makes with his daughter, Sam. When they jam together, it makes them both come alive, and they seem to escape the sadness the feel from the death of his wife and her mother. And then, they actually do a song that begins to score on Spotify, which doesn’t fit into Sam’s plans to go to LA and study medicine.
While Hearts Beat Loud isn’t especially profound, it has a That Thing You Do vibe that makes it work, driven by outstanding performances by Offerman and Clemons, who are completely convincing as father and daughter - and the thing to remember is that this isn’t just a coming of age story for her. It also is for him. And it all ends up being enormously moving.
There are even two bonuses. Toni Collette is touching in a small part as Frank’s landlady, and Ted Danson plays a very non-“Cheers” style of bartender - an aging stoner who nonetheless if a font of common sense.
I was charmed by Hearts Beat Loud - an intelligent movie by adults for adults, without superheroes or special effects. My kind of music.
- KC's View:
