Coming off the revitalization can be tricky for any filmmaker. Working off another's script can be even more difficult. Yet the task assigned to J.A. Bayona appeared to be a strong match on paper. During my initial viewings, I quickly soured on the film. In the name of fairness, I revisited Bayona's dino adventure, scripted by Colin … Continue reading Franchise Rewind: A Second Look at Style Over Substance of ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’
Review: ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Brings Back Visual Wonder, While Struggling with Story
The Jurassic Park franchise deserves most of the credit for making me love the movies. Steven Spielberg's masterful sci-fi monster movie is my favorite film and remains a technical marvel. It works as an all-around masterpiece of action, adventure, sci-fi, and drama. For everything it gave to the world, it also opened Pandora's Box when it came … Continue reading Review: ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Brings Back Visual Wonder, While Struggling with Story
Franchise Rewind: ‘Jurassic World’ Thrives as a B-Movie But Stumbles When Reaches For a Point
Seven years after Jurassic World revived the franchise, we are approaching the end of Colin Trevorrow's trilogy. With that in mind, we're rewinding the tape to look back over the franchise. The new trilogy has introduced dozens of new characters of questionable quality, but the undeniable success of Jurassic World brought audiences back to Isla Nublar. The action-adventure … Continue reading Franchise Rewind: ‘Jurassic World’ Thrives as a B-Movie But Stumbles When Reaches For a Point
Showdown: Westworld vs. Jurassic World
It's rare that you have two intellectual properties dominate the cultural discussion at any time. It's even rarer that each comes from the mind of one man. Michael Crichton, the man responsible for both "Westworld" and "Jurassic Park" (and many other things) carries that distinction after this weekend. "Westworld" just concluded it's 2nd season, with many … Continue reading Showdown: Westworld vs. Jurassic World