Movie Review - Jurassic World

Courtesy of Universal

There are some movies out there that have you leaving the theatre scratching you head asking "What the hell did I just watch?" - I'm looking at you Mulholland Drive.  And then there are movies that have amazing twist endings like Fight Club or to a lesser extend Identity.

Jurassic World (the fourth installment of the Steven Spielberg Jurassic Park series) is neither of these kinds of movies.  It's a straight forward action movie and if you go into it assuming anything else you're setting yourself up to be disappointed.

There aren't twists (unless you somehow assumed the rugged guy and the uptight girl weren't going to kiss) though there are interesting ways that the story diverts from the norm along the way.

The premise of the movie is that on the same island as the original Jurassic Park - Isla Nublar -the park has been realized and opened as Jurassic World.  It's not 20 years since the tragedy of Hammond's original park and the world has accepted Dinosaurs in all their majesty as nothing more exotic than African White Rhinos or some other creature they'd probably never see in person.  They have a baby dinosaur petting zoo/riding park...yeah.

Courtesy of Universal

So, even though the park has run smoothly for years - even with Raptors and a T-Rex - it's about time for that all to change.

Claire (played by the stunning Bryce Dallas Howard) is an uptight control freak genius who runs the day-to-day at the park.  A lot has been made of her "lack of feminism" as a female lead character.  I saw it more as a caricature of that kind of woman than as an advertisement for that sort of person to truly exist.  She's a damsel...but not really.  She reacts the way, I imagine, anyone who isn't insane or an idiot of some kind would if confronted by a ten-ton monster dinosaur who's trying to eat you.

Courtesy of Universal

Courtesy of Universal

Owen (played by the blue-eyed dreamboat Chris Pratt) is the prototypical Han Solo rip-off, right down to the scene with him bemoaning his failed date with Clair whilst absentmindedly working on his motorcycle (which he uses to lead a pack of Raptors, by the way).  All you needed was talk of hydro-spanners and failed hyperspace jumps and it would have been Star Wars.  He doesn't react the way a person should when confronted by a ten-ton monster dinosaur...but earlier in the movie he is clearly established as INSANE when he jumps into the Raptor paddock to save a fellow crew member.

Courtesy of Universal

The story centers around a new dinosaur which was genetically engineered from a secret concoction of other dinosaur and assorted species (secret until the plot warranted it's inclusion) escaping from it's paddock and running wild across the island killing anything it comes in contact with.

Oh, did I forget that the main characters of the movie are Claire's two nephews?  Well...they kinda forgot to include a plot point in the beginning of the movie explaining anything about why the kids were coming to the island.  And throughout the movie they keep putting the boys in peril but failed to create an appropriate bond between the boys and the audience to establish why I would care that they, instead of an extra in the background, are picked up and carried away by a Pterosaur.

Courtesy of Universal

At it's core this movie is about badass dinosaurs getting into some serious showdowns and there are plenty of great action scenes.  It had me thinking about the failed Alien vs. Predator movies or Predators where the story spent way too much time on the human characters and not enough time with the Aliens and Predators kicking ass.  Jurassic World should have been 105 minutes of dinosaurs rampaging and fighting to the death.  The human element should have been merely fodder to help the audience understand the size and scope of the dinosaurs might.

That is a movie I would have enjoyed.

Jurassic World isn't bad, it's a fun and entertaining action movie.  I think the choice to bring on an art house director showed in how they tried to add a greater level of drama to the movie but unlike the original Jurassic Park they failed to do so.  When you sat in that theatre and saw the T-Rex pushing that car further into the mud you were worried about little Timmy and when Ellie was running from the Raptors in the bunker you were FREAKING OUT.  Jurassic World had no moments like that, at least not for me.  It could be that I'm older now and more jaded to films...but, nah, it's the director's fault.

This is a movie worth seeing and worth seeing on the big screen to fully appreciate he sheer size and awesomeness of the creatures.  But go to a matinee and save yourself a few bucks.

Tb

Game of Thrones - Season 5

Courtesy of HBO

So...we've come to the end of another season if Game of Thrones.  There have been laughs and there have been tears and lots and lots of killing.

For those of us who were not book readers (which I would classify myself since I read the first book years ago and did not continue the series) we have finally reached the end of where those people whom we partake the show with can say "well that's not how it was in the books".  Now, I know there are claims that Martin will have the next book out before next season...but if what I have been told is true there are parts of these story line's in the show that take place outside or beyond where the books left those characters so...some of Martin's work has already been done for him (or hopefully with him and the showrunners).

I was asked by someone who is hasn't watched any of season 5 yet (she's catching up, slowly) what I thought of the season five finale and to summarize I said, "I'm intrigued by there Martin has put some of these characters.  There's a lot to be said for taking known characters this far into the overall story and continuing to change their direction."

It goes against everything I know and have learned as a writer but I feel confident in this thought: Martin has no idea how this is going to end and he never did.  Which, when you think about the enormity of the universe he created; even without the television show, having no true ending is pretty insane.

But maybe he had one originally and then as the story developed and characters became more entwined it got muddied and he had to change course leaving himself rudderless.

Courtesy of HBO

Ok, now...from this point forward there are going to be overall season five spoilers so if you're not caught up yet you've been warned.

One thing became clear throughout season five - people should give up on any non-main characters showing up at this point, even ones they expected to.  So much of the story has been altered to maintain the core group of still-living characters.

Things like: Sansa being at Winterfell when in fact it was her childhood friend, propped up by the Lanisters and Boltons to pretend to be Arya.  Jorah Mormont getting grey scale...how's that going to play out.  Plus, he touched the damn queen!  Stannis, that wretch of a human, I was so happy to see him die; especially after he allowed his own daughter to be set aflame...all in the name of his pointless and impossible to win rebellion.

Courtesy of HBO

As we now wait the long darkness until March 2016 when presumably season six will premiere on HBO we are left wanting; but we are left wondering what will really happen and those people waiting for the sixth book; will what you read shape or have been shaped by the upcoming shows?

It's an interesting idea to wonder if Martin; who has already allowed large swathes of his original story to be altered, omitted or otherwise ignored for the sake of shaping 1100+ pages or backstabbing, murder, war, rape and pillaging into ten hours of television, will be influenced with his ongoing story by where the characters have been driven in the show.  It seems like it would be confusing trying to mash it all together.  Especially when characters are in places they've never been in the book (Sansa, Jorah) or are dead when they aren't in the book (Myrcella).

And whereas this bothered me but not the book reader I watch the show with, where the fuck was Brandon this season?  His story completely does not exist - never once does he appear on screen.  The kid is going to be twenty years old by the time he appears on screen again.  Additionally, and having not read the books I am unfamiliar with how often the White Walkers and their movement towards humanity is noted/discussed, but the fact that since season one we've had this thrust at us, the fact that they haven't even reached the wall by the end of season five is like...get those fucking guys some GPS already!

I leave you with this...sorry ladies; he dead.

Now we all sit, twiddling our thumbs waiting to see what next will happen in the lands of Essos and Westeros...but at least it's worth it!

Tb

FIFA: An Organization Out of Control

Courtesy of FIFA

With the recent presidential vote victory of incumbent Sepp Blatter amongst indictments and arrests of several high-ranking officials within the organization FIFA proved itself to be the worst sporting organization in the world.  Many people would compare FIFA to the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and though bribery and unfair practices have been part and parcel with the IOC for years, nothing to the magnitude of what has happened recently within the ranks of FIFA.

Today brought a new bombshell: Sepp Blatter (just four days after "fighting" his way to a presidential victory) has announced he is stepping down as president; walking away from what would have been his fifth term as the world's Football organizational leader.

This is great and terrible news.

Sepp Blatter

I'll start with the great.  This is a huge win, mostly due to the FBI oddly enough (considering this countries striking indifference to the sport but our government agencies due love to investigate stuff) because it means that a man who has been at the center of significant controversy including but not limited to the three most recent World Cup announcements (Brazil, Russa, Qatar) will no longer be in control or part of these decisions going forward.

FIFA as an organization is meant to help regulate and oversee the game of Football throughout the world; to inspire and grow the sport for the betterment of the sport.  If any of you are MLS fans, you have FIFA to thank for that.  During the bid process for the 1994 World Cup (the last to be held in the US; a country with the third largest population in the world) a requirement was put in that the US had to create a sustainable Soccer league; and in the 20+ years that followed there have certainly been some ups and downs but recent years have shown expansion and growth in the sport.  Sure we get great players way past their prime (Beckam, Kaka) but some of our own homegrown players are choosing to play here rather than abroad to help foster the sport here.

Courtesy of Major League Soccer

Now the terrible; at this time there is no plans to eliminate and replace all members of the governing body's congress (made up of representatives from the included nations).  These are the same people whom just four days ago elected a man who; within the next few years if he doesn't completely disappear off the face of the earth, will be in US Government custody being brought up on any number of major criminal charges.  These people, who felt that a man whom was so obviously corrupt was their best option as a leader will be selecting the next president.

Anyone else immediately seeing a HUGE problem with this?

Now I realize that not everyone within FIFA is corrupt and it may seem unfair to summarily eliminate every member but it seems like the right decision.  At least eliminate everyone who voted for Blatter in the last election.  That would be a start.

In the end FIFA is one of those things that CAN cause trouble, and does, but outside the World Cup events they are mostly seen and not heard.  Each region has it's own governing body and major leagues oversee their own rules.  Europe - clearly the most powerful region of football organizations, is mostly controlled by EUFA (those people who run that Champions League everyone loves to watch - June 6th final...ahem) where the US is part of CONCACAF (don't even ask, it's insane).

My hope is that this new age without Blatter running things will create an opportunity for those FIFA agents in charge to right the ship and display a greater level of transparency in regards to selection processes and how funds are managed.  Perhaps the new people in charge will even manage to limit the insane amount of power FIFA tends to exert over World Cup host nations...though I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

I realize this is not what this blog is usually about, but as a HUGE Football fan this was something I was compelled to write about.  I promise to return to my normal nerd talk in the near future.

For now; go watch some Football (soccer to my Yank readers) and enjoy the beauty of the game.

Tb