Jurassic World – Movie Review.

Welcome to…. (The worthy successor to) Jurassic Park.  

  
Synopsis: 22 Years since John Hammond’s dreamscape vista of birthing a theme park full of dinosaurs went awry Jurassic World is now a world-wide attraction that lives up to Hammonds vision of a fully functioning Isla Nublar populated by dinosaurs.  Funnily enough things go awry again, but this time there are 20,000 guests on the island and a lot more dinosaurs. 
Jurassic World is a bombastic piece of entertainment and a touching homage the cinematic masterpiece that lives in all our hearts.  It negates the subsequent two films which were lacklustre to say the least, and presses on fluidly and confidently from Jurassic Park to deliver some great characters, heart pounding thrills, too true social commentary and huge, roaring, fear-inducing dinosaurs. 
It’s been too long in my humble opinion that we as cinemagoers have been treated to some bloody dinosaurs.  Dinosaurs make everything better. I would watch The crap out of Twilight if they featured dinosaurs; mainly dinosaurs eating the entire cast.  My point being that in my life time (just over the time spanning Park & World) my exposure to spectacular, roaring dinosaurs has been in watching and re-watching Jurassic Park. The sequels underwhelmed like a toothless T-Rex and anything else isn’t worth mentioning.  It seems the creative team behind the new outing on Isla Nublar addressed this from the get go and had a hearty try at fixing cinemas dino-holed problem with tenacity, thought and most importantly passion.  

The helmer of our new Jurassic outing is Colin Treverrow, his feature film debut was a little sci-fi gem by the name of Safety Not Guaranteed.  Treverrow shows no sign of being overwhelmed by expectation or living in Steven Spielberg’s gargantuan shadow.  He and a team of screenwriters have wrung out a narrative that feels natural (as natural as a narrative involving dinosaurs being brought back from the dead by a mosquito can) and worthwhile.  Whilst yes, amongst the new cinema scape of franchises and movies that stand on the shoulders of many others before it; you could be forgiven for thinking this is merely a cash in on the good will and love so many of us have for the original.  You’d be wrong however.  Within the story you can see seeds being planted for future spin-offs, which I’ll come onto later; this is a beast that stands on its own two legs largely due to the strong screenplay and three dimensional characters.  Treverrow and co. bring the fantasy and the believable, the thrills and softer moments, the ‘ohhs’ and some big ‘ahhs’ in Spielbergian fashion although, through no fault of trying, it doesn’t have that palpable sense of movie magic the original had in spades.  That could be due to nostalgia and genuine love of the a Park that gripped a young boys imagination and never let go.  I’ll let you decide. 
The cast of characters on show is an eclectic and decadent mix of well-rounded, charismatic actors that bring sultry sass (Bryce Dallas Howard) and masculine mass (who else but Chris Pratt) to the screen. Howard’s Claire is all about profit margins and investor happiness but has a sweet arc that shows her truer, feistier character. Chris Pratt brings the Chris Pratt.  He’s handsome, soulful and capable badass Ex-Navy Seal turned Veloceraptor Wrangler. The guy epitomises cool and calm with sides of dashing and charm.  The aforementioned two share screen time with Howard’s onscreen nephews; Ty Simpkin’s intelligent, wonder-struck Gray and Nick Robinson’s broody, testosterone driven Zach.  Gray is awe-struck upon seeing his first dinosaur whilst Zach is the nonchalant, alternative teen who’s head is stuck in his phone when not up his ass.  Whilst a more modern take upon the sibling rivalry/love we saw in Jurassic Park with Tim and Lex, they’re never quite so charming or hearty as the original sibling double act.  With so many characters that are genuinely interesting onscreen before we even get to our dinosaurs it was inevitable that some falter.  It’s a crying shame that Vincent D’Onofrio wasn’t given the character we know he can be.  After terrifying us as Kingpin in Marvel’s recent TV run of Daredevil, D’Onofrio’s InGen shady character never lives up to what he could have been and feels just to service the unnecessary role of duplicitous bad guy with villainous plotting.  The film has dinosaurs people! All in all though a great ensemble of worthwhile characters played by more than able actors.  

 

Best. glasses. ever.

 
Jurassic World – the theme park itself is superbly envisioned and seemingly meticulously realised.  Seeing a park that goes beyond the ubiquitous John Hammond and his initial plans is stunning.  From the SeaWorld- esque(screw you SeaWorld) water section and the development centers full of hologram dinosaurs and screens with the returning Mr DNA spreading the teachings of bringing dinosaurs back from a 65 million year slumber; it all seems so real and so very tantalising!  I’ve been to Universal Studios which blew me away but Jurassic World looks like another kettle of prehistoric fish.  It is Jurassic Park for the Internet age and not just because of the eye-popping technology.  We are now a society where everything is paid for by a sponsor and videos can be no longer than 7 seconds or that something isn’t worth reading if it’s over a 140 characters.  A great social commentary  runs through the film with dinosaurs not being enough to wow people or keep investors happy and phone screens being more interesting than (and I’ll say it again and again) DINOSAURS! Therein lies the the reason there’s a new Rex in town. The Indominous Rex is a spliced up T-Rex with camouflage skills to rival metal Gear Solid’s Snake and wait for it… Long arms. Any dino-geek knows the Achilles heel of the T-Rex are its teeny arms so knows the monumental revelation this could hold of the Indominous being able to grab an easy snack.  And so begins the running, screaming and converting of humans to dino poop.
World wouldn’t be fit for the Jurassic mantle if it didn’t have some truly frightening and breathtaking set pieces.  Park has hindered my ability to look at a cup of water on a wobbly table, World delivers its own phobias which I’ll let you discover but for anyone who has seen the trailer showing Chris Pratt’s Owen straddling a motorbike with a pack of raptors in tow, it gets even better! I found myself, quite literally on the edge of my seat more than once and gasps and deep breaths were audible for all cinemagoers. This has arguably the most pageantry on offer out of the Jurassic films and some inspired tender moments amongst the racing raptors and explosive engines.  
Jurassic World is an event of, well…jurassic proportions. It’s had a lengthy marketing campaign and many merchandise tie-ins but like the original it’s all the better for the mammoth undertaking it’s meant to be.  It’s sharp, witty, fun… And that’s just Chris Pratt (sorry is my man-crush showing?).  If you believed in Hammond’s vision and want to see its progression then this is a must. Whether your busy dusting down fossils or brushing up on your chaos theory this isn’t to be missed. To paraphrase Jurassic Park’s Dr Ian Malcolm ” You were so preoccupied with whether you could you didn’t stop to think whether you should”.  This seems to be the ethos of the cynic of modern movie culture with its decadent franchise building and spin offs of spin offs. Take it from a cynic and lover of DINOSAURS and all things geeky. You should. 
Growls and roars supplied by Aaron Farrell. 
Thanks for reading.  

Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

“There are no strings on me”

There is a scene in Avengers Assemble where the camera pans around said Avengers with each character giving a trademark signature before taking on a horde of Chituari. This is the climactic final battle for New York. Within the opening moments within Age Of Ultron we see a similar money shot where the Avengers vault in unison toward a battalion of bad guys. This is a perfect analogy of the pace, structure and character development that has Hulk-leapt toward an even better film than it’s awe-inspiring predecessor.

Synopsis: Upon a raid at a secret HYDRA base The Avengers reclaim Loki’s sceptre. The powerful device that caused a lot of trouble first time round. In using the Mind Gem which gives the sceptre its power, Tony Stark with the reluctant help of Dr Bruce Banner creates Artificial Intelligence that will ideally  “put a suit of armour around the world”. Ultron is created with the sole mission being to protect Earth, which he sees in danger from the threat that is humanity.

Joss Whedon is the king of geeks. Even way before he created a team of superheroes that come together to fight off gods and aliens he gave us Buffy, Angel, Firefly on the TV. A great run on X-Men in within comics,  Serenity in film and Dr Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog on the net.  Whedon revels in writing ensembles, creating interwoven lives in the way of mismatched surrogate families and everything that creates. Arguments, conflict, tenderness, team work, humour always feature by the bucket load. Age Of Ultron whilst being a similar beast to what came before is gargantuan in scale and vision(not yet, he comes later).  Age Of Ultron is a juggling act of epic proportions. How this many colourful, well drawn and heartfelt balls are in the air at any one time is a testament to Whedon’s genius execution and some razor-sharp witticisms amongst the needed expository dialogue.

There could be an official role call for the sheer scale of the cast within this movie. The original Avengers are back and more fully-formed than ever before. The biggest new additions other than Ultron are Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the Maximoff twins.  HYDRA experiments gone right. Pietro has accelerated metabolism and everything that goes with it. He’s really fast.   Wanda has reality altering powers along with telekinesis. She’s weird. Wanda is the real trouble maker for the Avengers giving each of them a vision into their own darkest fears and setting in motion the series of events preluding to Ultron’s lunacy.
So the titular antagonist Ultron. A Frankenstienian machine created to save us which poetically is why he tries to wipe us out.  James Spader brings Ultron to life with real menace, empathy and omnipotence.  Spader’s wispy drawl brings Ultron’s thoughts and plans to the fore with witty, condescending speeches. Since seeing the genius use of the Pinnochio – “There are no strings on me” line used in the trailer I’ve been very excited to see a new big bad for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  He’s does not disappoint. His view on destroying humanity is a fair one for we are destroying earth. His quips always sting which is fitting for anyone who’s father is Tony Stark. His menace is frightening within our modern times.  Ultron lives within the Internet.  So do piano playing cats and Twilight fan fiction but Ultron is even scarier than both those combined.  A megalomaniac you can relate to, appreciate and fear is a rare and beautiful thing.  Spader must feel no intimidation as he delectably cuts down this team of actors and heroes that have come together over the past decade.
Back to the Avengers and the sheer number of them it’s heartening to see Whedon has concentrated on the ones who haven’t had at least 2 solo films.  That’s not to say Cap, Iron Man and Thor are forgotten or underwritten but Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye are given the time and care they so deserve.  There’s a budding romance between the big green monster and the smaller but no less deadly black monster (Johansen has a superb flashback to her Russian spy training showing an even darker shade to the Black Widow).  Renner who has been criminally underused up until now is the cohesive glue that binds the bickering team together.  He may not be Super or made of Iron but his power lies in his heart of being a good Man.  Within the trailers we’ve seen shots of Vision.  This would of better been a surprise in being kept for the film for he is a lesser known hero but one that has a great impact.  Vision is a certified bad-ass. Excellently brought to life by Paul Bettany who has voiced J.A.R.V.I.S since the very first Iron Man film.  He may also feature in what is, out of limitless amounts of awe-inspiringly cool moments, the biggest laugh/cheer in the film.

This being a Marvel movie that ties into a bigger universe obviously features a ton of cameos and plenty of universe-expansion.  With many nods and winks towards to the bigger picture and some tantalising set up for the next few films Marvel have on their gamma-radiated roster it had the prospect of being just another set up movie but no.  Whedon balances the what’s gone before, what matters now and what’s yet to pass with an uncanny magic that would have me struggling to think of a better director in the galaxy to have given us 2 great Avengers movies.  Age of Ultron is the first summer blockbuster movie. The last one is the 3rd highest grossing Box Office film of all time.  This has monumentally big boots to fill and fill it does.  In such a mainstream movie it also rewards you for paying attention and even more-so for being a geek.  Many times I smirked at the mention of another element from the comics.
Age Of Ultron is a spectacle to behold.  A bigger, darker and more important film than Assemble but it still delivers the giddy fanboy moments of Thor hammering Cap’s shield toward bad guys or Stark double suiting in the Hulkbuster armour to tackle a maddened green rage monster.  With a charismatic ensemble this big and to leave feeling wholly satisfied is a dream for fans and an achievement to be noted.  Age Of Ultron is an event movie and say what you will about the franchising of movies with the cinema industry but Marvel are the forefathers of that movement and boy do they do it the best.  Inspired casting, fan-pleasing storylines, visually-arresting scenes, heartfelt characters, contemporary themes and so much more. Like with this film there is so much more to delve into before I even hit spoiler territory.  But for the sake of pacing and patience, something Age again gets top marks for I’ll shut up.

I saw a young boy in the screening I went to dressed as Iron Man.  A blissful feeling of happiness coursed through me in being able to share this spectacular event with mini Iron Man.  In having flashback of my own costume wearing days (those days are not entirely over) it encapsulates what these movies do. They unify a diverse community in sitting together and taking in a visual feast.  Whilst Avengers:Age Of Ultron may not be art house cinema it is nonetheless art in cinema. A tantalisingly fun, rewarding and perfectly paced piece of art which is the absolute sum of its many parts.  This is what a sequel should be. This is what a summer blockbuster should be. This is what a superhero movie should be. This is what cinema is.  A boy in an Iron Man suit collecting memories.

READERS ASSEMBLE!

Words and fanboyism by Aaron Farrell.

Ex Machina – Movie Review.

Arigato Ms Roboto.

Ex Machina delivers a tense, taut and terrifying film about testing our nature to create and assess artificial intelligence through whilst never undermining the viewers intelligence. It opens up philosophical questions of the meanings of our views on life via some terrific acting and an excellent directorial debut.

Synopsis: Young IT whizz kid Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) wins a competition to spend a week with the founder of the company he works for,  Blue Book – the world’s most used search engine. Arriving at the reclusive retreat of his boss Nathan (Oscar Isaac) Caleb finds that he’s wanted as mediator in an experiment to test the limits of the world’s first seemingly sentient robot AI in Ava (Alicia Vikander).

Alex Garland has written some of the most original Sci-Fi scripts in recent years. 28 Days Later re-imagined the zombie and horror genre. Sunshine gave an original space mission movie with exploratory themes and some serious thrills. Ex Machina tops all as the best British Sci-Fi film of the past few years. First and foremost we have a script that challenges the viewer to both ask and answer questions poised to them through the three main characters and their unique viewpoint whilst narrowly dodging some would-be melodrama via a left-field Ghostbusters reference or a satirical slap to the senses (of humour). Garland has then created a claustrophobic atmosphere akin to The Shining’s Overlook Hotel in this reclusive, aesthetically neutral but tech heavy home. With scenes of the two male leads (who will share a screen again this year in a Galaxy Far, Far Away) having a battle of wits and morals like some of the best Hitchcockian thrillers. There’s also a good measure of Mary Shelley’s theme of creator and created that runs through Frankenstein. All of which are no bad influences to adapt and utilise.

Oscar Isaac’s Nate is the kind of unpredictable, self-righteous and manipulative bastard we’ve come to expect from a Bond villain. But not quite. Nate always seems to be three steps ahead in his foresight of Caleb’s actions with his oft patronising manner and air of arrogance. Isaac has enough dominance and charisma to bring the untrustworthy and scary but then sides it with the clink of a beer and a funny remark to disarm Caleb and the viewer.  Gleeson brings the nerdy intellect along with a certain self-awareness to give him a genuine feel whilst not being played off as just a dumb instrument in the Turing Test of Ava. He can certainly hold his own in the battles of wits with Isaac’s Nate which gives us some electrifying conversations between two great characters from two equally great actors. The whole movie’s concept and the audiences ability to buy into this being a thought-provoking study of plausible AI rests steadily on Vikander’s meshed but quaint shoulders. Her performance encapsulates the viewers interest a 100% from the moment you see her tender gaze. Whether admiring the outstanding look of the robotic skeletal structure with a human face, hands and feet tacked on. Or you’re trying to assess her ability of sentience through her sessions with Caleb. You’re thoroughly gripped by her beauty, her innocence and her intrigue into her own life.

The way Garland has written for the three characters is beautiful. Each has a history, a sense of self-awareness and a soul. It’s in the way though that Ex Machina is shot that we feel a part of this test/study into Ava and her capabilities. I found myself inside the character of Caleb during his time with Ava. I was sucked into his mind in his observation of this machine who’s growth of intelligence is exponential and ultimately believable.

I’ve tried to only discuss the first act of the story for Ex Machina is full of surprises and continually sucks you further down the rabbit hole with every minute that passes. Avoid the trailers if possible as again, like in modern movie marketing it gives too much away. As much as I loved Ex Machina I know I would have enjoyed it that little bit more having not seen any footage. Major points are given away flimsily just to garner a prospective audience.  Please Hollywood stop with the damn expository trailers and let us enjoy a film without any precursor to its points!

This is a Sci-Fi film that doesn’t just feel but is, important. So, so many films nowadays are not even questioning your intelligence and understanding but are insulting it. Ex Machina (which derives from the ancient Greek phrase “Deus Ex Machina” – “God from the machine”) is presenting questions and giving enough answers to be a superb film but also leaving enough of these questions directed at the viewer to take away and digest. This is a film that doesn’t leave you as soon as the credits roll. It stays bouncing around in your head begging to be discussed with your cinema buddy. Artifical Intelligence is something that is very possible within this lifetime and the questions of creating this gives us not only a god complex but a possible problem of machine vs man. Although a leather clad Arnie straddled to a motorcycle is no where to be seen Machina still offers that provocation of thought involved in the beginnings of machines that can think.

Ex Machina could be the best and most original British Sci-Fi movie since Moon. It raises the bar of engagement for the audience and challenges us with questions of “What is it to be alive” and “Why should we be able play God”. Big questions that leave you pondering far into the night. Alex Garland shows that he had the prowess to not just write but direct in a smart and understated form with an eye for the post-modern gleam of computing, technology and circuitry and the question of circumstance.  Our future Jedi/Sith/Stormtroopers/Hutts (!?) In Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson make for intriguing sides to an intelligent coin and Alicia Vikander will surely be chased by all who want a beautiful actress who can channel poignancy, intrigue, heart, soul and mind into a character. Ex Machina looks, sounds and feels equal parts stunning, eerie, chilling and captivating. It’s what Sci-Fi is all about. It challenges and guides through a spectrum of philosophy and wonder. There’s nothing artificial about the intelligence on offer here.

Thanks as ever for reading.

Aaron Farrell.