Big-Budget Dino Flick and Colorful But Honest Family Film Both Out to Grip Viewers
In 1993, Steven Spielberg’s
Steven Spielberg is only on board Jurassic World as a producer, but the first direct sequel to the
1993 dino hit contains more of the T-Rex roaring/velociraptor snarling/people
running-and-screaming action we enjoyed, this happening in a glossy, fully
functional dinosaur theme park of the type the original film’s rich
entrepreneur John Hammond (the late Richard Attenborough) imagined. Inside Out is not a sequel to Toy Story (there have already been two
of those, with a rumored third on the way), but it continues in very much the
same vein—fully-computer animated, bursting with brightg colors and bright ideas,
meant to move adults while entertaining kids.
Kids. I think
that’s the key word. I was merely a five-year-old tyke when I saw the first Jurassic Park
JURASSIC WORLD Grade: B
Directed by Colin Trevorrow
Now a fully functioning dinosaur theme park straight out of
the vision of the late John Hammond (Attenborough), Jurassic World is a
thriving, billion-dollar establishment on Isla Nublar, a neighboring island to
Costa Rica, which, in the words of current park-runner Claire (Bryce Dallas
Howard, typically game), has captured “the eyes of the world”. Indeed, in one
day, Claire has to deal with a visit from her estranged nephews (Ty Simpkins
and Nick Robinson), a lurking military contractor (Vincent D’Onofrio) with a
crude vision for how to use possibly-trainable velociraptors, a snarky dino
trainer (Chris Pratt) who doesn’t think the park’s nearly as great as everyone
else thinks it is, and her boss, super-rich Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), who
wants to make sure everything is running smoothly and everyone is happy. Everything
is running smoothly and everyone is happy—they
spared no expense, after all—until the park’s new up-and-coming attraction, a
genetically-modified predator called Indominus Rex, breaks out of its cage and
begins killing people and dinos alike. Its rampage wrecks the exhibits of
several other prize creatures, leaving Jurassic World awash with swarms of
terrifying, carnivorous creatures that aren’t exactly meant to co-exist with
people. With her nephews lost on the grounds—among other disasters—Claire must
turn to Owen (Pratt), the dino expert, to find her nephews and maybe figure
out a solution to the ultimate survival and PR nightmare.
World is intended
as a first sequel to Jurassic Park,
even though it chronologically takes place 22 years after the 1993 film. It’s
thrilling to see a fully-functioning park (complete with water exhibit and dino
petting zoo) like the one Hammond
envisioned, and computer graphics have, of course, made leaps and bounds in
terms of being able to create glossy, lively-looking creatures. And, of course,
once something bad happens, the bad things keep snowballing, and disaster and
chases ensue. World is packing one
heck of a popcorn factor, and its record-breaking grosses have already proven
it’s imminently-watchable. There are a few genuine scares, some thrilling
chases, a Hitchockian scene of winged terrors wreaking havoc on swarms of
screaming people, and those spine-chilling, high-pitched T-Rex roars that
marked your and my childhood. Speaking of your and my childhood, World comes complete with plenty of
strains from John Williams’ now-classic score, an appearance from the same
smarmy scientist (B.D. Wong) who was into creating genetically-enhanced
dinosaurs the first time around, and use of some of the vehicles and equipment
from the old park, which has fallen into disrepair. World is perhaps never better than when paying homage to the
classic blockbuster that inspired it.
The problem with World,
more often than not, is that it focuses too often on too many different groups
of people, when, in most moveigoers’ minds, the people are a distant second to
dinosaurs in terms of the movie’s main attraction. I mean, it’s nice that the
movie tries to make sure its human characters are more than just dino-bait, but
do we really care about the kids’ parents’ divorce when they’re going to be
running for their lives in five minutes? The kids, at least, have some sense of arc to their story—and
there are a couple amusing moments with a pair of nerdy techies who help run
the park (Jake Johnson and Lauren Lapkus)—but Vincent D’Onofrio is saddled with a clichéd, over-the-top villain who has no real purpose except to generate some audience ire and to get
eaten by a dino in a Villain Death Scene that is almost embarrassingly written.
The likeable Chris Pratt holds serve, getting to do hero things and toss out a
few one-liners here and there, but the most effective and developed performance
in the film is given by Bryce Dallas Howard. Sure, her character may
be a series of sexist tropes (she goes into the jungle in heels, her outfit,
like her personally, is super buttoned-up, etc…), but Howard, per usual, gives
it her all, and manages to make a line like “your parents will never let me see you again” effectively
funny and sad at the same time.
It’s all a build-up to a wild, CGI-splashed climax that, in
my book, is surely over-the-top, but it does feature a pivotal appearance by a
lead character from the earlier films who is only too welcome. Plus,the
movie gives a direct and obvious lifeline to a likely sequel, which is at least
more legitimate than something like Transformers,
in which the world is saved, everyone is safe…until they’re not, randomly, in
the next movie, because dollars. World has
already devoured the box office and certainly delivers some epic spectacle,
but, for me, is a little over-plotted and a little too crazy at the end. Cut
some unnecessary characters and tamp it down a bit. Still, this is the kind of
movie you should see on the big screen. Now excuse me while I go hum the John
Williams theme for the rest of my life.
**JURASSIC WORLD is
rated PG-13 for constant intense action and scenes of peril, some blood, scary
moments, and some language
INSIDE OUT Grade:
A
Directed by Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen
In the beginning, a baby named Riley was born. Shortly
thereafter, her first emotion came into existence. Joy (voiced by a perfectly-cast
Amy Poehler) is perky and happy and wants Riley to just enjoy the heck out of
herself. Unfortunately, she’s almost immediately counter-balanced by the appearance
of Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith, of The
Office fame), a more morose individual who tends to bring the mood down. In
short order, it’s not just Joy and Sadness, but also Fear (Bill Hader), Anger
(Lewis Black) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling) all vying for control of little Riley
(voiced as a preteen by Kaitlyn Dias), and guiding her through the process of
life. Early on, all is well, as Riley is loved by her parents (voiced by Diane Lane and Kyle
MacLachlan), has a few great friends, is a stellar young hockey player, and has
a chipper growing-up in rural Minnesota .
Joy—running the show—has a relatively easy go of it. But then, the little
family unexpectedly moves, and things get harder than Joy ever thought they
could. Soon Riley’s way more accustomed to fear and sadness and uncertainty,
even anger, and the hope she drew from her core memories of love and
happiness seems to be dimming. When all the new anxiety of moving hits home,
little Riley’s emotional state is thrown completely out of whack, sending Joy tumbling
back into the recesses of the little girl’s brain, threatening to send her into
a truly damaging downward spiral. Joy struggles to get back to save Riley from
endless fear and sadness, but Joy has to be brave, she has to be strong, and
she has to be willing to cede some control in order to leave Riley a healthy,
realistically-happy girl.
I suppose you could have gleaned that much from the trailers
or other online material—that’s fine, I don’t want to give away more, because Inside Out is a Treat. We all know Pixar is a home-run hitting machine that has
given us one brilliant, unique, instant-classic for-all-ages
entertainment after another (Toy Story,
Monsters, Inc., Cars, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Wall-E, Up, Ratatouille,
etc…), but Inside Out is—pardon the
pun—a true joy, a delightful, imaginative film that isn’t above asking some
hard questions and bringing viewers deep into their own nostalgic
consciousness. This one of those movies in which you will literally laugh and
cry. This is probably the ultimate and most appropriate movie to use the
description “hit you in the feels”. The movie’s got a Grade-A imaginative streak
even by Pixar standards, with brilliant, clever depictions of fantasies,
trains of thought, imaginary friends, the make-up of dreams and nightmares, and
increasing maturity. Most touchingly, it shows the importance of sadness (a
more apt word might be sentimentality)
in keeping people grounded and honest and relatable to others, in addition to
mere happiness. I wouldn’t say there’s anything here that has quite the searing emotional pop of the
most dramatic moments of Up, but it’s
kind of like the emotional climax of Toy
Story 3 for 90 minutes. Like I said, I laughed, I was delighted, and I
eagerly looked forward to the next ingenious creation, but, watching it, I felt
a little like I did while I watched the TV drama Breaking Bad—I had to see how it turned out because I was invested, but I was super stressed as well, because I knew there
would be dramatic obstacles to tangle things up even further, to keep our happy
ending even further away (this is also true of the cute short film Lava, which plays before the beginning
of Inside Out).
I suppose the writers (Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley and director
Pete Docter) deserve a lion’s share of the credit for this cleverness, along with the peerless
animators and art directors, but, as stated, this movie arguably the perfect
vehicle for Amy Poehler. Her relentless personality is needed here, effectively
displaying Joy’s tenacity and zeal in her quest to make Riley a happy and
well-rounded person. The energetic comedienne can be a lot to take in her
live-action roles (such as in her recently-completed TV comedy Parks & Recreation), but her vivid
personality is well-suited to the likes of this material. Her chief supporter,
Phyllis Smith as Sadness, is nearly as effective, though admittedly with much
different material, and, as a sidekick named Bing Bong (a figment of Riley’s
colorful imagination), Richard Kind immediately lands on the top-shelf of Pixar’s
best sidekicks/supporting characters in a nostalgic turn that relentlessly tugs
the heartstrings.
Is Inside Out Pixar’s
best? I suppose at this point that’s a bit like asking which of Shakespeare’s
plays is the best, or which of Dr. Seuss’s kids’ books is the best. But I will
say Inside Out, though delightfully
creative in its visual images at times, strikes me as the most
obviously for-older-viewers of Pixar’s films. Oh, kids will probably get
a kick out of it, because it’s a splash of bright colors and
excitement, but older viewers (if my friends and I are any indication) will be
on the edges of their seats, and may have to fight back, or succumb to, the
tears this movie can bring. Like most of Pixar’s output, Inside Out is a treasure.
**INSIDE OUT is rated
PG. It contains some intense moments, a few scary images, and some intense
emotional content.
Jurassic World (2015)
Directed by Colin Trevorrow
Screenplay by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Colin Trevorrow,
and Derek Connolly
Based on an idea by Michael Crichton (author of the novel ‘Jurassic Park
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins,
Nick Robinson, Vincent D’Onofrio, B.D. Wong, Irrfan Khan, Jake Johnson, Judy Greer and
Katie McGrath
Rated: PG-13
Length: 124 minutes
Inside Out (2015)
Directed by Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen
Screenplay by Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley and Pete Docter
Featuring the Voices Of: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard
Kind, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Lewis Black, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan
Rated PG
Length: 94 minutes
