Jurassic world: Movie Review

The year is 199… I mean 2015. And dinosaurs are still a huge box office draw. $520,362,305 and counting (this is only domestically).

Director: Colin Trevorrow Writer: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly Runtime: 124m, Cast and crew.

There’s a lot to like about this movie. The story is pretty layered when you look at what’s given and the type of movie it is. It’s a movie that knows what kind of film it is (summer popcorn flick) and knows how to ultilize that to its own advantage. It first glance it’s a film about another trip to the cursed park which has become a world (think Disney). Deeper than that, it’s about family, man vs nature, when man tries to control nature (which I would like to believe is a running theme), rightfully a respect of nature. And that’s still the tip of a T-Rex. Now  for those who just want to go see a cool movie, trust me when I say it’s there a lot to like it’s not like Wrath of the Titans where it’s really over-bearing. There’s a lot of fun in the story. Yes, some of it is expected, but in many ways, movie goers are much smarter than they were some 20 years ago. But the serious playfulness of the feature made it fun to watch for fans of the franchise, new younger viewers and those who are avid movie watchers.

I quickly want to say that the lack of John Williams music did draw me away from the overall enjoyment. But that’s because John Williams is just a musical god in cinema.

Spielberg (the ep on this, & original director)has been known to tell stories for/centred around children ad they have the most to discover and it’s the same here. The main kids acting isn’t oscar worthy in the slightest, but it’s not hard to believe their respective choices. I would have liked less of them as their personal stories added seemingly odd drought to the film. Ms. Howard was awesome. I loved she wasn’t a bimbo broad. she’s a head of a billion dollar company (I would hope considering what they do). She wasn’t wonder woman but she wasn’t Marggot Kiddie Lois Lane either. I did enjoy the different elements she brought to her role.  And she’s way sexier than I remember lol. Mr. Pratt was just bad ass. Hollywood’s current it actor is building a portfolio I doubt even he expected. I wouldn’t say he’s been type casted but him being a offbeat hero is exciting to root for. Again nothing crazy oscar worthy but he came off totally unique in his performance. I didn’t necessarily believe his character’s back story, given the actor; but I wouldn’t put it past him. His chemistry with Ms. Howard considerably added more than it did to distract. I personally don’t like his voice. Nothing against him just at times I feel like his voice lends to him being more comedic than serious. One rarely gets his cake to eat too, I suppose.

My nitpicks are slim. I didn’t enjoy What seemed like a repurposed Terra Nova set. That said I believe a lot of what was shown on screen was amazing. Props and sets were massive and made you feel there. Which is every set dressers goal I would imagine.  The kids didn’t seem to get hurt. I can think of many reasons why but I feel without any real harm done it took away from how fearsome these reptile replicas were/are. The made up Dino, seemed like the early years of superman where he just had all these crazy powers.. because… like why not, it’s superman, right?! The Raptor bond was kinda random. Not in the sense that it was out of the blue. Just didn’t quite gel with me. They do set it up, just not as over arching as it would of liked to have been done. The use of 3d was good but again a missed opportunity to use the pop out feature in the medium. One of the cool things about the original park film, was they used robotics to create the dinosaurs. The truest reason was because the cgi wasn’t totally there to create them like it is today. I counted, maybe, 3 times it could have been used if it indeed wasn’t. I miss the use of robotics in movies. It helped to add to the playfulness of the medium but we live in a very digital age now, I guess.  Lastly, I just hate it when movies try to lie and say women can survive a real disaster in heels. I didn’t believe it in Transformers 3 I don’t believe it at a theme park that really shouldn’t be a theme park.

The director of Photography really did a tremendous job of covering different angles and perspectives. 3d aside, I felt I got a lot of different views that were organic to the overall enjoyment of the picture. From soldier cams, to monitor screens, right down to the theme park goers. Every aspect felt necessary to it all. And there was shaky cam but it felt better in a pov than it did when you’re watching action scene like in Bourne.

Bottom line: even tho its fairly graphic, it’s not a movie to miss this year. It’s not made for adults only, but everyone. There’s something g for everyone and it’s definitely a treat to be remembered by all who see it. I would possibly suggest imax on a Tuesday however.

• Overall rating of the movie: 8 out of 10,
• Cinematography: 9 out of 10,
• Editing: 9 out of 10,
• Audio: 8 out of 10,
• Acting: 7 out of 10,
• Theatres or wait for the blu-ray? Great in Theatres, can’t wait for it to hit blu-ray.

THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace”. Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: the “LEW System”

– Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW

For your own viewing pleasure click> https://youtu.be/fGyH8KRyC3A

Mad Max: Fury Road Film Review

I will just say I have never seen the first one outside of parts here and there.

Writer: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris
Director: George Miller  Runtime: 120min
Cast

I saw the trailer and was blown away by the visuals. The high octane feel of the driving how it felt like a rock and roll video on acid but without the harmful side effects. I honestly felt like this was going to be a new form of cinema (or story telling) for the most part I was right.

The story of Mad Max has always confuzzled me. A guy hates the world due to a past trauma, gets kidnapped and tries to escape. I would always ask myself why would I care?! But then this came out and I loved the look to it.  (Can you tell I went to see this movie more because of the visuals yet?) But the oversimplification of the plot aside, the story in general still seems lost on me. Or rather the point to it all. So muh happens and it’s not that it’s unclear, it’s just.. when I left, as much as I enjoyed the picture, I was wondering just what was the point to all of it?

Visually a stunning picture all around. I think there were some shots and such that didn’t work or could have been done better with a lens adjustment like a fish eye or a wide angle lens buts that’s just me. What I thought was interesting, was the choice to have most of the film in centre of the frame. For the life of me, I can’t fathom why that was. But it is a rather interesting concept to investigate further.

Mad max as a character is interesting. Not sure if he’s as interesting to play but interesting nonetheless. I really do enjoy tom hard as an actor minus that 3rd bat film. He was directed rather well. Now Ms. Theron… she is just a talent beyond. I can’t think of too many things she’s been in that I dislike.  In this film, she embodied a rather bravity that I haven’t seen in a lot of actresses. Well, in an action film. Her role is a big spoiler so I won’t get heavy into it, but she isn’t some damsel in distress. Actually, a majority of the females aren’t. They all find a means to kick ass.

I think with that said,  this film really isn’t about mad max’s story at all. But much rather about the female’s he’s in contact with. At the end of the movie, I’m closer to the women and understanding their turmoils than even remotely caring about the films title character. Remember folks the grass may be green on the other side, but most times if you watered your own lawn, you would have just as green a lawn.

My biggest complaint about Fury Road was the absolute pointlessness to making it in 3D. I know I like the use of depth it brings but there’s so little use of it that you barely even notice it. Being this is a mammoth of a action film, with cars and such exploding every which way, you would have thought they’d capitalize on the pop out feature most are accustomed to with 3d. I know I went for that possibility.

All in all. If you want fun but with a moral at the end go see thus film… just save your money and see it in 2d.

• Overall rating of the movie: 8 out of 10,
• Cinematography: 8.9 out of 10,
• Editing: 8 out of 10,
• Audio: 10 out of 10,
• Acting: 7 out of 10,

Theatres or wait for the blu-ray? Definitely worth picking up. but just skip any 3d showings. It’s just a cash grab here.

THAT’S IT! Cheers: “To Peace”. Your eLEWsive Thought Provided by: the “LEW System”

– Xavier – @CoolyoNgeLEW