Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

First Hit: For something as overly done and complicated as this, it was a drag to watch.

This is another example of a franchise pushing it too far and getting minimal results.

The first opening scenes, when two guys are underwater sawing off a bone of a dead dinosaur and a guy on land, guiding them, was cartoonish although it wanted to be something else. They are sawing off this bone so that the DNA can be used to create more dinosaurs.

The island where the dinosaurs are currently living, Jurassic Park, has been over run (see last episode) by these very same dinosaurs. No people live on the island and it is no longer an amusement park. However, all of the dinosaurs are in danger of dying because a volcano on the island is starting to erupt.

Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) has come up with a plan to transport several of the current species from this erupting island and put them on another island he owns. They identify something like 13 dinosaurs to move. I couldn’t help but notice that they only wanted 1 of each, so my mind went to; how are they going to propagate on this new island without a mate?

Unbeknownst to Lockwood, his company manager, Eli Mills (Rafe Spall), has other ideas. Mills is planning to use Lockwood's money to move the dinosaurs but to a place where he can sell them to the highest bidder. He’s also working with Dr. Wu (BD Wong) to genetically engineer some new species from the DNA of the captured dinosaurs and the bone that was captured in the first scene.

Under the belief that they are supporting Lockwood’s plan, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) help Mills capture the dinosaurs. The were recruited because they know the Jurassic Park Island and Owen raised "Blue" (a Velociraptor) and may be the only one to get the raptor into a cage for capture.

To add some comic relief and younger actors, Franklin Webb (Justice Smith) and Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda) are brought on the expedition because Webb is an IT wiz and Rodriguez is an accomplished physician for dinosaurs. Webb’s fear of everything resulted in lots of screaming by him which got old after his second scream.

Meanwhile, the original director of Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), spends his time arguing in front of Senate committees. He doesn't want to save the dinosaurs and is in favor of letting them die from the volcanic eruption. He suspects that there will be trouble if they are saved.

This is enough of the story line setup to say that things go bad for everyone’s plan and that is where the action takes over. Unfortunately, the only thing good about the action is that CG dinosaurs look awfully cool. The detail in their skin and movement is outstanding. However, some of the actions, like a dinosaur tapping its long-clawed toe on the bedroom floor, is too human of a movement and came off as silly.

Pratt does action, quirkiness and smart-alecky remarks very well. He’s well controlled in his body and always has enough wherewithal to make his character believable. Even in a boring dumb film such as this, he makes his character work. Howard is mediocre at best. She never looks the part of scientist or activist and she doesn’t come off as intelligent. Spall was OK as the guy who was out to make money for himself. Cromwell had a very subdued role and his performance reflected this. Goldblum plays the wiseacre know it all and although it is his signature type of performance, it would be nice to see him really act sometime. Pineda was strong as the young woman whose intent was to save the dinosaurs. Smith’s role was silly, and it made him look silly. Isabella Sermon did an excellent job playing Lockwood’s granddaughter Maisie, however there is something behind the curtain. Ted Levine played Ken Wheatly the tough guy carrying out Mills’ orders and always wanting to be paid. It is actually a good thing that he got his just deserts. Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow wrote this overly complicated moving into boredom script. J.A. Bayona did what he was told, action at all costs, and also throw in some tongue in cheek funny moments and quips.

Overall: This film is a disgrace to the franchise and isn’t worth the money spent on it or the price of admission.

The Book of Henry

First Hit: The story and acting was wonderful and deeply touching.

Susan Carpenter (Naomi Watts) is a single mother of two boys Henry (Jaden Lieberher) and Peter (Jacob Tremblay). Susan is a waitress at a small café and her co-worker and best friend is Shelia (Sarah Silverman). Together they are tackling life as it comes to them with an occasional glass of wine.

Early on we learn that Henry is an extraordinary boy. Smart, way beyond his years, he’s about things being fair. When his brother gets picked on by a bully at school, Henry is there. When he figures out that his neighbor and classmate Christina (Maddie Ziegler) is being sexually abused by her step-father Glenn Sickleman (Dean Norris) who happens to be the Police Commissioner in their town, he wants to do something about it.

Henry calls help lines and speaks to the school principal but she says that there isn’t anything to do because of Glenn’s connections and that Glenn is looked up to in the community. Henry is focused and incensed that nobody is helping his sweet neighbor.

Henry is the adult in this family and shows this because he's invested their money wisely and his mom has a growing nest egg. Also, while in a grocery store one day, the family sees a man mistreating a young woman and Henry wants to help her out, but Susan tells him it isn’t their business. He protests by saying apathy is the enemy of society.

Although Henry is a genius, he suffers from headaches and one day falls into a seizure. In the hospital, they learn he’s got a brain tumor and will soon die. He makes Peter promise to give their mom a red book and instructs his mom to quit her job, pay attention to their stocks and she and Peter will be financially okay.

The book contains detailed step by step instructions on how to save Christina from her step-father. At first Susan is reluctant, but after she witnesses Christina’s plight one night while looking out the window, she commits to making a difference.

I liked how this film developed the characters. It gave them each a way to express and represent their part in this touching story.

Watts was amazing as the mother of these two boys. Her ability to be smart, dependent and trusting was amazing. Lieberher was fantastic as Henry. He embodied the role of brilliance and his thoughtfulness even while passing on early in life. I was transfixed watching him. Tremblay was outstanding as the younger brother. Although not with Henry’s brilliance, he was extremely smart in a tenacious way. He was amazingly loveable. Silverman was perfect as the off the wall friend whose has a heart of gold. Ziegler was very good as the girl next door who had a horrible secret she was keeping. Norris was very strong in the unenviable role as the step-father. Gregg Hurwitz wrote a strong and insightful screenplay. Colin Trevorrow did a masterful job of creating a wonderful film to watch.

Overall:  This is a well thought out sensitive film.

Jurassic World (3-D)

First Hit:  Although the CGI is great, the whole film felt staged like it was a sequence of scenes strung together to make a story.

I liked Jurassic Park enough to want to see this leap forward film. This story has us, the visitors to the park (world), always wanting something new and different or else we won’t spend the enormous amount of money required to visit the amusement park and make it profitable.

This is the “why” they genetically created this new dinosaur (Indominus – Rex) as an attraction. To bring more people to fund more generic engineering. Then there is the story about the Aunt Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) who works at the park but is being neglectful of her nephews Zack and Gray (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins respectively) who come to visit her at the park.

Then there is Own (Chris Pratt) who works at the park and is “training” the Velociraptors to respond to his commands. We’ve got Claire running through the jungle and the film in high heels (although there is a scene where she has flats on). There are a number of misrepresentations during the film, but the fun factor makes it rise above mediocrity, but not by a whole lot.

Pratt is fun in his best interpretation of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. He’s good in this rough and tumble role. Howard is good as the female interest of Pratt’s as well as the key female character in the story – she’s the one from which the story binds. Vincent D’Onofrio as Hoskins the quasi-military oriented guy who wants to use the dinosaurs as a weapon was very formula driven. Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver wrote this overly ambitious script. Colin Trevorrow directed this film. Unfortunately, the bigness of the task at hand was beyond his ability to rein in the ideas into a single cohesive story.

Overall:  The ambitiousness of the concept and the multitude of stories ran further than the abilities to make this film work.