Jurassic World (2015)

The good news is that it's definitely the best Jurassic Park sequel. It's also, unfortunately, a recycled version of the original. How can you surpass the original Jurassic Park though? You can only hope to copy it well enough.

Jurassic World felt like more of a logical sequel to the vision of the original. There's a lot of direct references to the original, some very clever, in fact. It's basically fast forward 20 years, and despite their previous disasters, they went ahead and built a dinosaur resort on the original island anyway. I loved the design of the new park, too. Let's be honest, if they somehow did create a real Jurassic Park, I'd be saving every penny for my vacation there.

The effects were pretty good as you'd expect. A few times it had that too much CG look, especially on some of the night scenes. I was happy to see some of the new additions, but I was kind of hoping the look would be updated to account for the more current research and theories. This is kind of explained away with a few lines of dialog though, so that didn't bother me too much.

I enjoyed the cast. I was worried that Chris Pratt might have been miscast (I thought the role need a more serious, action type), but I thought he was okay in the role and I thought he had good chemistry with Bryce Dallas Howard. It's more of an issue with the character(s) being really poorly written. It's not just the main characters either, like there's the older brother character that mopes around, not caring at all that he's on an island full of dinosaurs, ran by her aunt, at that. I couldn't buy that as realistic at all.

I think the biggest problem for me was that I wasn't invested in anything that was going on. I never was scared for any of the characters or concerned for their well being. You see enough of these types of movies and know that none of main characters are going to bite it, so that eliminates a lot of the tension. A few things bugged me here and there, like Bryce Dallas Howard running from a T-Rex in heels. Those must of been some super sturdy shoes in the first place considering they never broke despite all the running and falling around. There's a character death that's both unnecessarily brutal and unearned under normal movie rules. When I hear that Colin Trevorrow wanted to rewrite the script, you can really tell. It's very sloppy, and it's either due to scenes being cut out of the film or the script simply not developing things enough. Finally, there's a part at the end that really bugged me, but I can't really say why without spoiling it. Let's just say there's a huge safety concern considering the proximity of something that seems massively overlooked.

I have to say I was a little disappointed, but my expectations were super high. It's entertaining enough though, and I'd say it's still worth seeing in the theater.

3 (out of 5) Death Stars

Escape Plan (2013)

In Escape Plan one man enters, but two men leave.  How is this possible?  His name is Schwarzenegger.

Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) is a security consultant that specializes in testing the security of maximum security prisons by escaping from them.  Shortly after completing a job, he's contacted by the CIA to test out a new, experimental prison.  The conditions of the job aren't under his normal guidelines, but the money's good, so he agrees to the job.  As part of his cover he's to be captured and brought into the facility, but things quickly go wrong when he's drugged and his tracking device is removed.

Once Breslin awakens in "The Tomb", he meets Warden Hobbs (Jim Caviezel), who's not the warden the CIA said would be his contact.  Clear that there's been a double-cross, Breslin knows he's on his own and is going to have to escape for real.  Another inmate, Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), takes an interest in Breslin and the two agree to work together in order to escape.

It's a relatively simple "escape from prison" premise, but what hurts Escape Plan is that it gets a little too cute for it's own good.  There are several Oceans Eleven-type moments where they have to go back and explain how things happened after the fact.  It also did a poor job of introducing certain aspects.  Warden Hobbs is interrogating Rottmayer over the location of someone called "Mannheim", but I don't remember any explanation why Hobbs wants Mannheim so bad.  The reason for Breslin's double-cross was difficult to understand, not because it was confusing, but the motivation didn't make sense in the context of the story.

Miles Chapman and Jason Keller's screenplay could have used some tidying up, as well as some punch up on the dialog.  I was actually disappointed in the lack of good one liners or banter between Stallone and Schwarzenegger.  Escape Plan is also needlessly long at almost two hours and it's actually kind of boring in a few parts.  Director Mikael Hafstrom needed to quicken the pace, and there were several parts that could have been edited out.

There's not as much action as you'd expect or would like to see from a duo of action veterans.  There's a fun climax, but you have to sit through nearly 100 minutes until it happens.  For the length of the film, the lack of action is really noticeable.  The visual effects were a little rough in a few parts, too.  With a budget of around $70 million, it doesn't seem like much went towards that aspect.

Arnold is the highlight of the film.  It's not that Stallone is bad, but whenever the film focuses on him the tone is way too serious.  Anytime he's joined by Arnold, the pace quickens and overall feels livelier.  Arnie seemed to be having a great time and had all the best lines.  There's a great scene where he's acting crazy while in solitary and he's totally eating it up.  Not only is it the first time I can recall him speaking in his native German for any length of time, it's the best I've ever seen him act, period.  His physicality may have diminished, but I can get into scenery-chewing performances if this is what we have to look forward to.

The supporting cast is pretty good.  It also stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Sam Neill, Vinnie Jones, Faran Tahir, Amy Ryan, and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.  None are given much to do, but I can't imagine turning down an opportunity to be in a Stallone/Schwarzenegger film even if they are past their prime.

While far from a good movie, Escape Plan has just enough for fans of Stallone and Schwarzenegger to get their fix.  If you've been looking forward to this, then I think you'll get enough entertainment out of a single viewing, but it's not something you'll go back to watch over and over.  It's right on that border of a matinee or save it for rental.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Sinister (2012) - Movie Review

Has anything good ever come from watching old home movies?

I don't know if you've watched the trailers for Sinister, but I advise against it.  The less you know about it, the more effective it will be.  I'll try to keep this short.

Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) is a true-crime novelist that has moved his family to a old house to investigate another unsolved crime for his next book.  His writing hasn't made him very popular with certain law enforcement types, which is something the local sheriff (former U.S. Senator Fred Dalton Thompson) makes very clear as he's moving in.  It's not so much a welcome to the neighborhood as it is a "Hey, I don't like you and I'd wish you'd leave."

As he's unpacking Ellison finds a mysterious box in the attic filled with old Super 8 reels.  I know what you're thinking, "Great, another found footage film."  The twist is that this is a film about the guy that actually finds the footage.  He watches the films and they all depict grisly murders of several families, and one happens to be the very family murder he came to write about.

The more he watches these videos, the more weird things happen in the house.  He starts seeing things and hearing sounds in the attic.  Is Ellison's mind playing tricks on him?  It's not just him though, as it appears to be having an effect on his kids (Clare Foley and Michael Hall D'Addario) as well.  You wonder why he doesn't just get his family out of there, and that's one of the flaws of Sinister.  It has a lot of the same conventions and bad decision making that plagues other films in the genre.  It bugged me a little less here than in other films though.  However, there are many times where he's investigating a sound late at night, and I'm wondering why doesn't he just turn the frigging lights on.

Ellison enlists the aid of a local deputy (James Ransone) and a college professor (Vincent D'Onofrio) to find out more about symbols involved in these murders and how they are all related.  When they first introduce the deputy, actually referred to as "Deputy So and So", he starts as a bumbling fan-boy of Ellison's, but develops into a bigger part of Ellison's investigation as the movie goes on and doesn't feel like a throwaway character.

The middle third of the film is where movie really shines as far scares.  Normally, I am not fan of jump scares in horror films, as I think they're cheap.  Lesser horror films don't do a good job of building tension or setting up its story, so it has to rely on bang moments to scare you. Sinister does a good job of creating a creepy atmosphere and a sense of mystery, which makes those scares more effective.  Even when I knew a scare was coming, I still jumped a little in my seat and laughed that the movie was able to get me.  There are lots of lingering images that gave me the chills, and sometimes the scariest stuff is when your imagination gets the better of you.

However, whether it was that the movie lost steam or you get desensitized to all the scares after a bit, I found myself less scared as we built towards the conclusion. The pacing could have been tightened up a little bit, which would have helped.  I liked how it ended, but was still kind of disappointed that it didn't quite have the impact it should have.

Another strength of Sinister is that the performances are strong and the dialog and characters are well-written.  Ethan Hawke does a good job as Ellison, and you understand his motivation, even once it's clear his family is at risk.  He thinks this book will be a big hit that will allow his family to live comfortably, but his wife (Juliet Rylance) just wishes he'd drop all this so they could live normal lives.  It's a character that normally you wouldn't like, but you still manage to root for him.

It also has some unexpected moments of humor that were a welcome break in the tension.  I gotta give it to writer C. Robert Cargill.  Some of you may know Cargill as "Carlyle" from Spill.com.  I was really interested to see what kind of movie a film critic would create.  Would he stay away from convention, and the types of things he would normally be critical of?  While there are some typical horror elements here and the third act was a little weak, overall I still think it's a strong effort and definitely better than most horror films I've seen recently.

Director Scott Derrickson (who also wrote the screenplay) hasn't had the best track record so far with movies, the recent The Day the Earth Stood Still remake and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but this is a much better effort this time around.  He keeps the tension up for most of the film, and even the soundtrack adds to the ominous and eerie tone.

Sinister is the first genuinely scary movie I've seen in while, and this is coming from someone that watches a lot of horror movies.  It's has it's flaws, but if you're someone that likes getting the shit scared out of you, there's definitely some fun to be had here.  It's worth a matinee if you like horror.

3.5 (out of 5) Death Stars