Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Entertainment Rating: ★
Rating: PG: Lots of slam bang super hero stuff
Possible Oscar Nominations: None
Michael Chrichton was a prolific author; his books have sold over 200 million copies. Arguably one of his best was Jurassic Park, published in 1990, an instant best seller, a book I could not put down, and if you read it you probably couldnât either. It was exciting, suspenseful and full of unexpected events. It was made into a movie in 1993 and the film was every bit as good, maybe better than the book. One sequel after another followed, none of them up to the original, after all how many ways can dinosaurs sneak up on you?
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the fourth sequel, and this once proud franchise has reached the bottom of the barrel. Chrichton is spinning in his grave at the release of this film. The story revolves around removing all of the living creatures from their island as it is being destroyed by volcanic activity.
A âsave the dinosaursâ movement begins, and well, you can take it from there. The story goes from the ridiculous to the sublime as we watch the great creatures being captured, caged, and loaded on a great barge, if you can imagine, which you probably canât. I saw it and still canât deal with it. Needless to say, the animals are not happy, and the stupidity gets more creative as evil folks take possession of the poor creatures and begin auctioning them off for untold amounts of money.
There are countless scenes of the great beasts chasing people, eating a few, and bellowing at the top of their lungs; unfortunately I left my earplugs at home. It’s pretty much carnage from beginning to end, and if thatâs your cup of tea, be my guest.
Incredibles 2
Entertainment Rating: ★★★★
Rating: PG-13: Lots of dinosaur havoc
Possible Oscar Nominations: Best animated feature
Itâs not often that I have as much fun at the movies as I did with this one. It helped to be in a theater with at least 1,000 youngsters who were primed for this sequel. You may be wondering where I saw it with that many in attendance. The Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge, over 2,000 seats, a beautiful facility built in 1928, great architecture and comfortable leather seats. It is now my favorite movie venue ever. In any event my Grandson invited me to be his guest for Fatherâs Day, so how do you say no to that, you of course donât.
There was more electricity in that building than I can recall since a Stanley Cup final. The audience cheered throughout as our heroes went through their paces, and at the end they were all on their feet applauding. To be honest, I got caught up with the crowd, but the story was fun to watch, and proved that a fourteen-year gap between the original and the sequel was far too long. And $180 million in ticket sales the opening weekend says something.
I have talked to a number of folks who have seen this, and have yet to hear one negative comment, everybody enjoyed it. It helps to have some young ones along, the largest percentage of those in attendance when we saw it were âtween agers.â Regardless, with or without the grandkids, youâll find this a fun experience. Let me know what you think.
In closing, for a variety of reasons I will not publish a column for the next two issues of the Sun Day News, but will return for the August 9 edition.
