Jurassic Park/World Mash Up Yields Only Average Results In World Dominion

 

Early on in Jurassic World Dominion, Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), returning to the team from the earlier generation of JP Universe characters, engages a baby dinosaur, gives it a rub on its horn, and exclaims with nostalgia “it never gets old”—well Dr. Sattler… it kind of does. It’s clear that World Dominion’s creators spent a lot of money and generated a large amount of CGI code to make the union of the Jurassic Park and the Jurassic World characters special and fresh. And I’ll give them credit for combining the old and new crews without invoking the multi-verse—bless them for this. But very little of the end product is fresh and the few pieces that are new and different are kind of silly. 

Dinosaurs of all shapes and number of teeth now run amok across the planet thanks to the disasters that occurred in the previous Jurassic films. And although these invasive species are now laying waste to the world’s ecosystems (including the human one), the story is the same—nasty humans in big corporations are still trying to exploit the animals for gain in numerous nefarious ways--shocking!  It is within these dire, yet usual, circumstances that our old and new Jurassic Park/World friends gather, like aged and dismissed superheroes, to, once again, rise up and try to save the planet. 

I’ll admit, it was fun to see the old crew—Dern’s Sattler, Sam Neil’s Dr. Alan Grant, and the always slightly askew Dr. Ian Malcolm played by Jeff Goldblum. They’ve gone their separate ways all these years but now unite to uncover a plot by the evil Biosyn Corporation that includes the release of giant prehistoric locusts (of all things) into the global ecosphere. Meanwhile the younger generation from Jurassic World (Chris Pratt’s Raptor training Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing) have hooked up and are attempting to preserve all dinosaurs one animal at a time in the most dangerous and inefficient fashions. Their dinosaur rescue efforts are kind of a side gig for them however, as they have a larger calling--keeping the clone of Charlotte Lockwood (daughter of Dr. Benjamin Lockwood, Dr. Hammonds former partner, see previous films) under cover as the evil corporations are after her too for convoluted reasons. 

Yes, there is a lot going on in World Dominion leading to some truly weak intrigue with our old heroes cloak and daggering their way into Biosyn while the more youthful heroes attempt to stifle the kidnapping of their ward, the young Lockwood. The result is a mash up that seems to aim toward a Mission Impossible and Indiana Jones vibe. Alas, the intrigue and ensuing action is not as clever or as tense as any of Tom Cruise’s MI cappers and Pratt is certainly not Harrison Ford. Soooo, we are left with the dinosaurs. And they are magnificently rendered… again. But how many times have we seen Velociraptors skid arounds turns and bump into walls as they chase elusive humans on slick surfaces. And how many times do we need to experience the “Apex Predator” throw down…? Six times is my guess, as there are six Jurassic Universe films. Steel yourself again for the same close calls. And prepare yourselves again to be relieved when the same escape maneuver is invoked… the magic extended hand. You know the trick, reach your hand out toward the dinosaur who is about to eat you and whisper “eeeeaaaasy Blue (or whatever name you’ve given your dinosaur)”—think Eleven from Stranger Things without the strained face and the nosebleed. It works every time. 

OK, OK… I know, I’m beating a dead T-Rex here, you got my drift long ago—I think World Dominion is significantly silly, in an average and reparative sort of way. It’s still a great looking ride even though you’ve seen most of the props before. Maybe a bigger view of the film’s prettiness would better counterbalance its mild staleness. Take in the film in on the IMAX, I didn’t but it might help. 5 out 10 for World Damion, and happy 4th. 

Older "Maverick" Soars in New Top Gun

How does the saying go… “some things get better with age”? Please add Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and whatever airplane he is riding to the list of those things. It’s taken nearly 40 years, but Cruise’s “Maverick” is back in the big-screen cockpit, flying just as fast and just as hard as ever, but now carrying decades-more baggage. It is undeniable that TG:M’s action is faster and smarter than the first film; but what pushes this film from fun to fantastic is its depth, which its parent film had very little of. Director Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion… another Cruise film) and Cruise have injected the new Top Gun with a surprising amount of heart. Sure, there’s still some cheese ball in it, but the film’s creators have allowed an older, wiser, sadder Maverick to bring a new soul to the action, and the combo makes for the blockbuster of the summer and maybe next summer too; it’s really that good. 

The opening scene of the movie signals us that some things have not changed with “Maverick” in those 40 years as he pushes an experimental jet beyond its mach-10 speed limit to prove a point to the unimpressed brass. The less than glorious result of his stunt puts him in trouble with his commanding officers, a position, we discover, that Maverick has found himself in often since his Top Gun days. Maverick is still the super-skilled stick jockey, but his career seems to have run out of do-overs. In what might be his last chance, Maverick is assigned to return to Top Gun to train (and train only) a crack group of pilots (Top Gun winners themselves) for a near impossible mission to disarm a nuclear threat. 

Thus, the stage is set for our weathered but remarkably young-looking hero. He now must solve the puzzle of the mission; convince his commanding officers that his plan can work; and unify his trainees and select the best of them to execute the mission. Maverick’s solution to the combat Rubik’s Cube seems impossible and the training for and final execution of it yields the most incredible and tense flight combat scenes on film. Mingled with this joy ride are several surprisingly warmhearted and intense moments between Maverick and his team, including his old partner “Goose’s” orphaned son “Rooster”; and a genuinely touching dialog between Cruise’s “Maverick” and his old rival turned protector Val Kilmer’s “Iceman” 

Although certainly fresh, TG:M is not without flaw. Early scenes introducing us to the Top Gun trainees harken back to the silliness and sophmorism of the first film with the incredibly good-looking trainees posturing and strutting about like rutting bucks, calling each other by their very-cool flight names and snickering at each other through pretty faces with strong jaws and cleft chins. Worse, maybe, is a mid-movie, just-skins-no-shirts (except the one female Top Gun pilot) beach football game staged by Maverick to build teamwork, raising the question whether all top Navy pilots spend 40-hours a week in the weight room with their personal trainers, and several more hours in the tanning salons—none of them, by the way, looked like they really knew what to do with a football. These minor missteps are easily outweighed, however, by the rest of the film and the strength of the rest of the film is all about Tom Cruise. When Cruise is on the Top Gun screen the film cooks, when he is not, it doesn’t. Fortunately for us all, he is on the screen a lot. 

It’s a guarantee that the incredibly well-crafted combat acrobatics will thrill… but, in the end, it is this new, old Maverick and his time-informed perspective that gives TG:M the more powerful story that the first film lacked. Maverick once was the cocky daredevil that sacrificed the whole for the one—him. Now real-combat experience, pain, and loss have colored his view and his aim. Along with the thrills and spills, the film reaches to capture that new struggle and those emotions of the old warrior, the pain of leaving people behind to do a dangerous thing, the heartache of responsibility for others and the fear of making a mistake… the same mistake. And the result is good, very good.  It is rare that a sequel so clearly out does its predecessor. Top Gun: Maverick does it in spades. 8.5 out of 10. 

Postscript: Having been raised by a fighter pilot and combat veteran of two wars makes Top Gun and other such films especially intriguing to me… emotional for me. Although my father did not fly the generation fighters that we see in Top Gun, I still get some feeling of what he and others like him experienced (just a super small glimpse) in dangerous times. I also thought that maybe Col. Joe Lambert might look more like a Top Gun pilot than Tom Cruise… you be the judge… who’s the real Maverick? 

The latest shot at Death on the Nile

 

Pleasantly surprised, I believe, is a good description of my feeling after watching Kenneth Branagh’s (Henry V) latest take on Agatha Christie’s 1937 whodunit. The new Death on the Nile is a sequel to his 2017 Murder on the Orient Express with Branagh returning to both direct and again portray Christie’s supreme detective Hercule Poirot: this time he’s sleuthing on a boat instead of a train. Branagh’s Orient Express (2017) was a true yawner. Google “disappointingly dull” and you’ll get a link to a trailer for Murder on the Orient Express—go ahead, try it… it’ll be right at the top. So, maybe Branagh just got better with practice, or maybe it was the presence of Ridley Scott as a producer of this film, but Death on the Nile is much better, more attractive, better paced, sharper, snappier, crisper than its prequel; and the surprising result was a satisfying Tuesday afternoon at the theater. 

For all settings… including sailing vessels, the Agatha Christie murder-mystery formula is constant—assemble a diverse group with members connected by at least one of the seven cardinal sins, then kill somebody and let the fun begin. This time our potential murderers and victims are gathered to celebrate the marriage of the wealthy and beautiful Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot, aka Wonder Woman) to the handsome but jobless Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer). Riches and beauty are usually surrounded by jealousy and greed and the Nile wedding party is chuck full of both—it’s not long after the group embarks on their river cruise that folks start to drop dead. Fortunately for all, Hercule Poirot is on board. Branagh sparkles in his portrayal of the eccentric Belgian super sleuth and his subtle deductions and ruthless examinations of those he suspects… which is everyone. The other pieces in this cloak-and-dagger are also well played with standout performances by a nigh-unrecognizable Annette Benning as a wealthy artist and family friend of the bride, and from newer-comer Emma Mackey (Netflix’ Sex Education) as the obligatory women scorned. Motives mount and suspicions shift and turn, but it’s never clear to you, until the bitter end, who is killing whom… unless you’ve read the book or have seen one the myriad previous screen depictions, or you overhear some yahoo in the seat in front of you who has done one or the other give the killer away to his wife while noshing popcorn… come on!

Poirot is possibly Christie's most famous character. He is certainly the longest running, appearing in more than 30 of her novels. But the fictitious detective himself has always been a bit of mystery—Christie did not spend much time on his origin. Gratefully, and with great benefit to the film, Michael Green’s screenplay gives a bit of a back story—a glimpse at a pivot point in Poirot’s life that has, in part, shaped him into the genius but emotionally dethatched crime solver that he is. The reveal is effectively leveraged throughout the film providing heart to Poirot’s cold path to solving the mystery of Death on the Nile and to Poirot himself. Such value add-on’s do not make Death on the Nile any sort of award winner—and I doubt that was what the film’s creators were shooting for here. But the film is nicely put together and entertaining. You may forget the experience quickly, but you’ll enjoy the few hours of mystery while you’re in it. Death on the Nile gets 6.5 out of 10.