Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Technically the fifth in the Jurassic series, albeit the second of the revamped World editions... here we go.

Indulge me whilst I recap...

The year 1993 gave us the movie Jurassic Park, now while many people didn't think it was amazing, I thought it was a very clever adaptation of the book, which was fabulous in its own right. That being said, the advancement in CGI that was brought about by the crew at Industrial Light and Magic was absolutely spectacular - it revolutionized the movie industry and changed so much about how we view special effects today.  Loved this movie.

1997: The Lost World: Jurassic Park, also adapted from the book.  A book that I absolutely LOVED. It was so much fun to read! It was so frightening and so exciting - I remember thinking there is so much amazing material here, when they make this movie it is going to be stupendous... yeah not even close.  This is personally my biggest disappointment in movie history, nothing else has been this big of a let down... maybe the Star Wars Prequels (but I will give those a slight pass as they weren't based on books that had previously told me the story that then imploded on screen. They botched those on their own, the only preconceived story was that of my imagination.) The book The Lost World was so well written, SO well written - the story was there all they had to do was adapt it to the screen, but no. And as such it is my go-to all time comparison of being let down by a movie - particularly a sequel. "Was it bad?" "Yes, but not Lost World bad" are common references in Dibbdom movie banter. Despised this movie.

2001: Jurassic Park III - only saw this once and if memory serves it was not amazing but compared to its immediate predecessor it was a fun time at the theatre that made far more sense. Forgettable but it didn't offend me.

2015: Jurassic World - It was a remake of the first movie, plain and simple. Two children visit a relative that is in charge of the Dinosaur theme park. Due to the greed and inept folks at InGen, the park suffers a break down and the dinosaurs wreak havoc on the park visitors...sounds familiar right? So I said it before and I will say it again, (believe me I get the irony) it is the best of all the sequels even if it is a shiny remake. It pays just enough homage to the original film that you can almost overlook that there are actual scene by scene reproductions - again just slightly more technically enhanced. Bigger, scarier and more teeth. It wasn't the original but it was good summer fun.

Which brings us to 2018: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Well kids it was aptly named. This movie has fallen so far from the theme of the original books...it was horrid. So shameful. There are so many plot holes let alone the lack of logic. So many things just didn't make sense - dinosaurs in basements, risking lives for make shift blood transfusions, the human race residing to live in a "jurassic world" etc, etc.  ... its just so dumb, so disappointing and so bad...

But not Lost World bad.

*5/8 (maybe **) Rentable

Rated PG-13 (for gore, violence and language) 

Incredibles 2

The Incredibles are back - but the world isn't ready for superheroes again, in fact they are illegal. In order to booster up some public support Elastigirl is selected as the new poster child for supers. This leaves Mr. Incredible to be Mr. Mom.

What can I say?  It's Pixar and it's cute, predictable but cute.  It's not as creative as the original but it is fun.

*** Must See

Rated PG (for mild language and violence) 

Ocean's 8

Debbie Ocean has been plotting a grandiose heist for five years, eight months, and twelve days. Now all she needs are the players.

This was actually a really fun reboot of the Oceans' movies. It's not quite on par with Steven Soderberghs' 2001 version of Ocean's Eleven, it is pretty close however and far superior to any of the sequels it spawned.

Very clever and not just a simple remake, it actually has its' own plot. That being said, be prepared that it's not quite as funny as Soderberghs' Ocean's Eleven and that has to do with the fact that the female characters in 8 are sadly not as well developed as the guys are in Eleven, nor does it have the edgy pacing.  Nevertheless, it does have a lot of fabulous fashion, spectacular jewelry and is overall very well done and well worth the watch.

*** Must See

Rated PG-13 (for language, drug use, and some suggestive material) 

Action Point

The land occupied by a makeshift theme park is sought after by a local real estate agent. In order to try and keep the park running the owner keeps adding more and more extreme "attractions."

This was pretty weak. Not only did it not live up to its predecessor "Bad Grandpa" it also wasn't up to par with the "Jackass" movies if that is even possible?

* Not-a-Chance

Rated R (for language, graphic sexual content, nudity, and sheer stupidity)