By Rick Bentley

FILM: Jurassic World
CAST: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard. Vincent D’Onofrio, BD Wong
DIRECTION: Colin Trevorrow

Steven Spielberg had the advantage of dazzling new computer technology to make his 1993 release, Jurassic Park, a cinematic joyride. The creation of the dinosaurs onscreen was almost as amazing as the technology suggested in the movie to bring back the giant beasts through found DNA.
Since then, audiences have been fed a steady diet of computer-generated creatures and characters to the point that they have become somewhat passe. That didn’t bode well for Jurassic World, the fourth film in the series based on the Michael Crichton books.
Jurassic World serves as a reminder that it wasn’t just the dazzling CGI work in Jurassic Park that made it such a masterpiece. It was also the combination of that imagery with a solid story, interesting characters and a pacing that bounces between terror and humour with ease.
All of those elements come together again to make Jurassic World such pure entertainment fun.
The film starts on shaky ground. The plot of having patrons of a dinosaur theme park put in peril is a direct lift from the original film. It’s given a shinier look because this time the park is open and 20,000 guests get to see the dinosaur wonders on a daily basis.
Even a theme park full of dinosaurs has to keep evolving or guests will get bored. Unlike a regular theme park where a new ride is used to lure more ticket buyers, Jurassic World has bred a new hybrid dinosaur as its next great attraction.
This is where corporate greed and military involvement turn the theme park into a killing zone. The new dinosaur — one that’s smarter and has some killer extra traits — escapes. It becomes a mad dash to stop the creature before Jurassic World becomes a Jurassic buffet.
Much of the Jurassic World plot has been cloned from the DNA of the original film. Chris Pratt — the Harrison Ford of the 21st century — plays the local dinosaur wrangler who sees the creatures not as park exhibits but as living beings to be respected.
Bryce Dallas Howard plays the expert who understands her job but has trouble dealing with people, similar to the character played by Sam Neill in the first movie. Howard’s character is running the park and she’s more about attendance numbers than personal connections, especially with her two visiting nephews (Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson).
The nephews serve the same purpose as the children in Jurassic Park — they are a great way for young moviegoers to connect to the film and give older audience members someone to care about.
Where Jurassic World takes a giant step forward is in the increase in the number of dinosaurs; the jungles and skies are filled with creatures great and small. The new hybrid dinosaur is terrifying. She not only has the brute force of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but the special skills bred into her make her a formidable foe.
Director Colin Trevorrow shows a steady hand at building up the tension and then releasing it with great force. The action was more suspenseful in Jurassic Park. But once Trevorrow commits to the fast tempo of man vs beast, he never pulls back.
Pratt again shows he’s got the kind of natural charm that can allow him to go from action hero to comic relief without hurting either one. -The Fresno Bee/TNS

Formulaic disaster film

By Troy Ribeiro 

FILM: San Andreas
CAST: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario
DIRECTOR: Brad Peyton

Layered with a family drama, San Andreas is a fictional, formulaic disaster film which showcases the largest earthquake recorded in history. The catastrophe occurs on the San Andreas fault line. This fault line runs through California, and is the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American plate, which moves horizontally.
The film literally begins with a cliffhanger, where a young teenager, busy with her phone, drives off the road and lands on the side of the cliff, hanging for dear life. A rescue helicopter from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), with a journalist on board interviewing its team leader Ray Gaines (Dwayne Johnson) lands up for the rescue operation, giving us an insight into the leader’s tough exterior.
But all is not hunky-dory in Ray’s personal life. He has been served a divorce notice by his wife Emma (Carla Gugino) and work keeps him away from his daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario).
While he is in mid-air, away on one of his rescue missions, he calls Emma to apologise for his rude behaviour of the previous day. And while he is in conversation with her, the earthquake occurs. He diverts his plane and goes to rescue her in Los Angeles. Soon the duo learn that their daughter too is stranded in San Francisco. Together, they journey to rescue her.
Amidst the tremors that are destroying the landscape from Los Angeles to San Francisco, we witness romance brewing between Blake and Ben, a British engineer who she has just met.
There is an innocence in their bonding and you feel for Ollie, Ben’s younger brother, who charms you with his British accent and innocuous insinuations.
Dwayne, as the emotionally soft person with a hard disposition is charming. And Alexandra Daddario as his know-all, intelligent daughter, steals your heart. Kylie Minogue who appears in just one scene is wasted.
What keeps you glued to the screen, apart from the performance, is Steve Yedlin’s brilliant camera work. Each frame is picture perfect and the shot that captures the Hoover Dam in Nevada, is one of the many good ones. The overall visual impact is spectacular.
What does not work for the film is the slightly off-balance script. While the family drama is interesting and gripping, it pales before the magnitude of the disaster. Also, the mayhem and rioting scenes during a natural disaster just do not appeal to a logical mind. You cannot connect the characters with the destruction unfolding around them.
Nevertheless, San Andreas is an ideal blockbuster, which reminds you about the strong quakes that devastated parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan last week and the one that struck Nepal in the
recent past.- IANS

Spooktacular carnival

FILM: Monsterville: Cabinet Of Souls
CAST: Dove Cameron, Katherine McNamara, Ryan McCartan
DIRECTION: Peter DeLuise

RL Stine’s Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls is a spooktacular carnival of fun and a movie for kids of all ages to enjoy.
A teenage mind is full of hopes and dreams and when children are offered a chance to fulfil their wildest desires, they can be easily manipulated.
In the film, viewers are taken on a ride through a mysterious carnival called the Hall of Horrors. The haunted house rolls into a small town just in time for Halloween, and it uses the area as a hunting ground for its next set of victims. It is up to Beth (Descendants Dove Cameron) to outsmart the enigmatic sorcerers and save her friends — and the town — before it’s too late!
The film walks the perfect line of humour and frights.

DVDs courtesy:
Saqr Entertainment Stores, Doha