JURASSIC WORLD - review

JURASSIC WORLD
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Cast: Christ Pratt, Bruce Dallas-Howard, Vincent D'Onofrio, Irrfan Khan, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, BD Wong, Judy Greer, Lauren Lapkus

Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nubar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitor's interest, which backfires horribly. 

welcome to JURASSIC WORLD

So, if you're anything like me and you were a MASSIVE fan of Spielberg's JURASSIC PARK, then you've probably been hanging out for this film for the last 12 months at least. I was so excited when I heard that a new film was joining the franchise and I could not wait to jump right back into the magical world of dinosaurs. I was so excited in fact, that I stayed up WAY past nana o'clock and went to the midnight screening on opening day at my local IMAX cinema. It got to about 10pm and I was seriously regretting my decision to get tickets - I hated past me for thinking it was a good idea to do that to myself.

everyone has cell phones at the ready to record a dinosaur eating a shark

Not to worry though, about 15 minutes in and I was no longer regretting my decision to stay up past nana o'clock. I was swept away in the glorious wonder that was JURASSIC WORLD. Now by no means does it live up to the original - one of my favourite films of all times - but it does come in equal second with THE LOST WORLD for me. It was much more of an action film than a sci-fi/horror film, but I still really enjoyed myself. The film gave enough links to the previous films in the franchise that people who haven't seen any of the originals (if any of those people exisit) can catch up with what's going on, and people who haven't seen the film in the last 15 years, get a refresher, but it didn't dwell too long on anything, not even the setting up of the current park. I liked that about the film, it left much more time available for the running and the screaming.

Trevorrow creates some marvelous action sequences that fulfilled all my desires for the running and the screaming and the dinosaur chasing, but he also gave us an excellent glimpse into what life is like in the land of JURASSIC WORLD. People are bored with the ordinary, even if the ordinary is bloody dinosaurs. People are always wanting more, more technology, more excitement, more, more, more. Companies are always wanting more money, so they give the people more, because more for the people means more money for them. So, hey, why don't we just create a new hybrid dinosaur with little bits of everything, let's not learn about what it's capabilities are, or figure out how to control it and worst case scenario eliminate it, because that's not what the people want.

then later there's the running and the screaming

The budding relationship between Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas-Howard) is predictable, like the rest of the storyline, but I still enjoyed it. I liked that she stayed in her heels the whole time, even if I did keep thinking, as if they are that durable, as if they haven't broken yet, as if she hasn't gone "screw this I'm taking off my shoes".  Plenty of people didn't though, there has been massive uproar and claims of sexism and blah blah blah. Here's my theory - Claire wore high heels to work that day because she works in a corporate environtment. She probably wears heels every day becausae that's who she is, that's her style. She probably doesnt even own a pair of boots. She would probably suck at running in boots because she doesn't wear them. Owen calls her out for her ridiculous shoes and you think "man, she is going to struggle in those shoes." But, she doesn't, because those shoes are part of who she is. I would have for sure kicked them off, even though common sense would tell me that running barefoot in the jungle is pretty damn dangerous, I would have broken an ankle trying to run in them! Anyway, basically who cares, she wore her shoes through all the gory chase scenes, big deal.

she's been at work you guys - leave her alone

You know what people really care about? Training velociraptors. That's what people really care about. That and Chris Pratt's muscles, I mean acting talent. Turly, I think he is a very talented actor, and I think they cast the film really well, not only with the main cast, but the supporting cast as well. The real heor of the film in my honest opinion is Jimmy Buffett, the margharita guy. He's got his priorities straight. I can't show you footage from Buffet's spectacular cameo, but here is a link to an animated version of what happened;

http://enerjax.tumblr.com/post/121434947242/its-obvious-who-stole-the-show-in-jurassicworld

training velociraptors...c'mon guys, it's not all about those guns

I'm not surprised JURASSIC WORLD is making millions of dollars and is now holds the record for making the most money on an opening weekend - grossing over 200,000,000 dollars. It was highly anticipated, and for most people I've spoken to has not disappointed. Not all the reviews out there are great, and the ending does stretch the limits of a fantasized reality quite a lot - I mean there is some serious dinosaur outrunning happening and I'm not convinced! But I really did enjoy watching this film and I will admit that I have seen it more than once already and will probably buy it on DVD and add it to my collection. I would recommend spending the 20-something dollars to go and see it at the cinema if you haven't already and I would even recommend spending the 30-something dollars to see it at IMAX, becuase who doesn't love 3 dimensional dinosaurs!


4 out of 5

xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell

TOMRROWLAND - review

TOMORROWLAND
Director: Brad Bird
Cast: George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy

Disney's latest, TOMORROWLAND, is set to lose $140 million according to The Hollywood Reporter, and I'm not surprised. If there's a studio that can take a hit like that on an original tentpole, it's Disney. However, if a director like Brad Bird comes to you with an original idea, and George Clooney is attached, you'd probably say yes too.

The film is based on the area of Disneyland - Tomorrowland - based on new technologies, and a better future. Because the film is based on an area of a themepark, rather than a story, the possibilites were endless for what could have been done with this film. Unfortuantely it didn't quite fit the endless possibilities mark, and it was a little bit predictable.

The film begins in 1964, where we meet a young Frank Walker, a boy who still believes anything is possible. Frank meets Athena (Raffey Cassidy), who sees something magical in him and gives him a pin that is a key to a new future. Sadly we don't get to see too much of this magical future, we jump to the present where Casey Newton (Britt Robertson), a teenager with a penchant for astronomy, a disregard for authority and a belief that anything is possible, gets the same pin that Frank Walker got in the 60's. This time, the pin only gives her glimpses to the new future before it loses its power.

the magical world Casy sees when she touches the pin

Determined to find out more about the magical place she sees when she touches the pin, she googles it (the only way any of us knows how to work things out anymore) and goes on the hunt to find out more about the pin. She meets robots with lasers, and is rescued by a seemingly ageless Athena, who also turns out to be a robot, and then they both get chased by robots with lasers all the way to now grown up and grumpy Frank's house.

Casey demands Frank take her to this new fancy future, and he refuses, convinced that the whole world is going to end. He sees something in her that he thinks could change the future and so off they go to, well, go and change the future.

Frank has a pretty scary set up to watch the world end

There's ancient rockets blasting out of classic monuments, some great chase scenes and fighting robots, but the script is predictable and the endeing is a bit weak. The plot jumps around quite a lot, and I don't know many kids that would be able to follow along, I certainly found my own concentration wanning, and I spent a decent amount of time clock watching. That's generally a sign for me that a movie isn't good, particularly when it's 2 hours long. If a movie goes for 2 hours and I don't notice, then it's a win for me, but I felt every one of those 120 minutes. 

TOMORROWLAND isn't as big of a flop as LONE RANGER was for Disney or JUPITER ASCENDING was for Warner, but it really didn't deliver what it could have - I mean the endless possibilities of the theme, Brad Bird at the helm, George Clooney and Hugh Laurie in the mix - and it didn't deliver what I was expecting. Save your pennies and go and see one of the other terrific films out at the moment. That's what everyone else is doing and that's why TOMORROWLAND is most likely going to run at a loss for Disney. 

2 out of 5

xoxo

The Blonde Bombshell

SPY - review

SPY
Director: Paul Feig
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law, Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart, Jason Statham, Allison Janney, Bobby Cannavale

Recently I've found Melissa McCarthy to be a little bit type cast in the stupid funny comedies, and I was thinking that SPY would be much the same - a bit of a stupid funny comedy. It was a stupid funny comedy, but it was a GOOD stupid funny comedy and McCarthy was wonderful in it.

In their last movie together Feig took a mostly male dominated genre (buddy cop) and put a female spin on it. THE HEAT was a bit of a flop for me, a stupid funny comedy that didn't hit the mark. This time round Feig has put a female spin on the spy movie genre that is again a mostly male dmoniated genre, and this time round it worked.

SPY starts off with a little nod to the traditional nature of spy movies, the woman is desk bound and the strapping young lad is off in the field doing all the dirty work. McCarthy plays the desk bound woman Susan Cooper who is the desk jockey partner, guiding her strapping partner Bradley Fine through his very exciting field missions. She has spent her entire career in his shadow, and when he goes MIA, she gets the opportunity to step up and take her place in the field. She's trained for it, she went through the academy, was quite successful, and then ended up plonked behind the desk of her mentor.

Cooper and Fine at a celebratory dinner 

The film has some amusing parodies about the very unglamours nature of the CIA office, where Cooper is located in the building's basement, and other reviewers are claiming it's a little metaphor for the way Hollywood treats actresses. Now I didn't get that at all, and I did plenty of film analysis and theme studies as an English major, and I did not pick up on that at all, and I don't know that the majority of other people would either.

Cooper is very obviously in love with her partner, Fine, and when he goes MIA, and the rest of the film follows the basic premise of FACE/OFF, in fact they make a little joke about it in the script. There's a super nuke hidden somewhere, and the only person who knows where it's hidden is the daughter of a now dead international arms dealer Rayna (Rose Byrne). Somewhow she has all the identities of the top CIA agents, and the only person left to go after her and save the world is our lovely little desk jockey Susan Cooper.

Crocker giving Cooper her first mission

Cooper's boss, Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney) gives her a 'track and report' mission, but somehow Cooper cannot help but get far more involved, leady to a serious of comedic hijinks and spy escapades. She assumes a new identity and infiltrates Rayna's circle and does her best to get to the bottom os the missing and very dangerous nuke. Cooper is surrounded by naysayers who keep telling her she can't do it and biggest of all the naysayers is Agent Rick Ford (Jason Satham) who surprisingly is a comedic genius - who knew?!

the moment of infiltration and an acid martini 

The hilarious hijinks carry on throughout the movie and McCarthy and Statham play off each other beautifully. I didn't think he had it in him to be the funny guy, but he even steals some scenes from McCarthy throughout the film. It was quite a glorious thing to watch. I'd pick a favourite bit, but I can't, it really was an all round funny movie, a little spoofy at times, but I think that was the point.

The film was wonderfully directed, Feig has done an excellent job, and the rest of the casting is great. Byrne, Law, Hart and Cannavale make for a super supporting cast, and the script is full of excellent one liners. There are some super fight and chase scenes, a few SFX, but nothing too OTT. Oh, except maybe the helicopter thing, that might have been a little OTT, but I enjoyed it anyway.

I won't go much further into it, because I want you to enjoy the film for yourself. Don't get me wrong, I don't know that this film is going to be an award winning film, but it's certainly one of the more enjoyable comedies I've seen this year and I would recommend that you go and see it if you get the chance. It's got at least 20-something dollars worth of laughs in it, if not more.

3.5 out of 5

xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell

WOMAN IN GOLD - review

WOMAN IN GOLD

Director: Simon Curtis

Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Katie Holmes

Synopsis: Maria Altman, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, takes on the Austrian government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family

Well, wasn't this a charming little film. If you don't know the story that this film is based on then my review might have a few spoilers, so just beware. I don't want to ruin it for you, but I might give a few little tidbits away as I'm talking about it. Not on purpose,, but it might just happen, so beware. Now that you've been duly warned, it's time for me to get right into it. 

Helen Mirren plays Maria Altman, a Viennese-born resident of Los Angeles, who fled the Nazi invasion, and lost everything that she held dear. Her family, her home, her family heirlooms, and some very lovely artwork, including a wonderful Klimt painting of her aunt, better known as Woman in Gold. The painting along with numerous others was stolen by the Nazis during the invasion. In 1998, she seeks the assistance of a young lawyer, the son of a long-time family friend and believe it or not, the grandson of composer Arnold Schoenberg. They take on the Austrian government to get back the property that is rightfully hers, a painting that she holds dear not for it's monetary value, but for what it means to her, when she sees the painting, she sees her beloved aunt and all the things she's lost.

Maria and Randy in front of Woman in Gold

There is a vaguely educational feel to the film, and there are some extraordinary flashbacks to Vienna in times pre and post invasion, and some flashbacks to a young Maria and her husband fleeing the invasion, which are not quite as heart-wrenching a I thought they might be, they are more heart-warming.

This film is impeccably directed by Simon Curtis, and the events are well narrated and do take you on the emotional journey of both Maria and Randy (Ryan Reynolds). Randy, who doesn't want to take on the project and then refuses to let go, and Maria, who gives up hope when the obstacles become too big.

A young Maria and her husband Fritz, fleeing Vienna

Mirren and Reynolds really shine in this film, there wouldn't have been many surprises for them, or many liberties they could have taken with their characters, given that this is a true story, but they both do a marvelous job.

The film was nice, and it was well executed and I'm not going to tell you anything else because if you don't know the outcome of this story, then I want you to discover it and enjoy it for yourself. You can do without spending 20-something dollars on it if there's something else you'd rather see, but it's definitely worth a watch.

Maria's aunt posing for Klimt

3 out of 5 for WOMAN IN GOLD

xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD - review

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Director: George Miller

Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne

OK, so I'm going to just come right out and say it. I didn't love MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. *pause for gasps of shock and disapproval*  That's right, I said it. Controversial isn't it? Someone even called me un-Australian. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person out there who didn't love it. The first time I saw it, I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was about it that I didn't love. So, I wanted a week and saw it again, but I still felt the same. So I waited another week, read some reviews, spoke to some people and waited for my feelings about it to change. They didn't and I'm still not 100% sure why that is. 

In a start desert landscape where hunamity is broken, two rebels just might be able to restore order: Max, a man of action and of few words, and Furiosa, a woman of action who is looking to make it back to her childhood homeland. 

the chase to bring Furiosa home begins

IMDB makes it sound good right? The trailer looks awesome right? The review are incredible right? Right. All of those things are right. I grew up knowing Mad Max, I loved MAD MAX and back thn I even loved Mel Gibson, I was so excited that George Miller was back with another installment of the franchise. I, like most other people, could not wait until FURY ROAD hit the big screen. Everyone was raving about it, I was buzzing with anticipation. It was clear the rest of western Melbourne was too, because it took me three goes to get into a session at my local cinema. I was so ready, so imagine my surprise when at the end of two hours, I wasn't really sure how I felt or why I couldn't just be like everyone else around me, raving like a lunatic about how awesome it was. 

I saw how great everything was - the casting, the directing, the narrative, the character arcs, the set, the costuming, the special effects. I saw all of that and I loved it. Miller has done an amazing job. Within about 3 minutes, we're in the middle of an intense high speed chase, there's dust storms, explosions and flashbacks to help cast our minds back to why Max is mad. It's glorious, it really is. I have no doubt in my mind that this films is going to bring about some major nominations buzz when the time comes. 

look at that - it's marvellous

So why? Why didn't I like it? Nay, why didn't I love it. I should have loved it. Everything was so on point, I just should have loved it. Upon reflection here's a four things I can come up with that have maybe impacted how I feel about MAD MAX: FURY ROAD; 

1) the hype - there was so much hype, maybe part of me couldn't help but wonder if it lived up to it

2) the goodness - maybe I wanted it to be a little bit less Hollywood blockbuster, and more grungy Australian film

3) the length - some of the chase scenes, although amazing to look out were drawn out - I would have left a bit more on the cutting room floor I think

4) Furiosa - raved about as an incredible feminist heroine, which she was, but in the end men did a bunch of the dirty grunt work, and made the final decision about where to go and what to do next. 

I wouldn't recomend running right out to see it, although because I've taken so long to write my review, you proably already have. I am probably glad that I didn't spend the 20-something dollars on it, although, I would say that it's almost worth it just for the SFX which are bloody phenomenal. Watch it, see what all the fuss is about. I'm not sorry I saw it, I maybe am sorry that I saw it twice though, I should have trusted my gut the first time round. 

2.5 out of 5

xoxo

The Blonde Bombshell