JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM

 

Publicity poster for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the second movie in the Jurassic World film trilogy (© J.A. Bayona/Steven Spielberg/Amblin  Entertainment/Legendary Pictures/The Kennedy-Marshall Company/Perfect World Pictures/Universal Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis  for educational/review purposes only)

I launched this present blog of mine, Shuker In MovieLand, on 27 July 2020, but for quite some time prior to then I'd been posting on my Facebook home page various accounts that I'd written about movies watched by me lately. Some of these accounts were only very short, little more than micro-reviews, but certain others were longer and more detailed. I was reading through all of these recently, and it occurred to me that although I'd written them some years ago, before my blog existed, there was no reason why I couldn't, or shouldn't, post them here now, with the longer accounts reworked into full reviews, and selections of the shorter ones presented together as single multi-movie posts. So here is one of the longer ones, presenting in expanded form my original take on what subsequently proved to be the second installment from the second film trilogy within the blockbuster Jurassic Park/World movie franchise.

On 7 June 2018, I went to what was then my local cinema (now closed) and watched Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the second movie in the Jurassic World film trilogy – the latter cinematic trio serving as a sequel to the original Jurassic Park film trilogy inspired by American sci fi author Michael Crichton's eponymous 1990 novel. I'd been waiting with great anticipation for ages for this movie to be released, so that I coul finally watch it, and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Directed by J.A. Bayona, with Steven Spielberg as its executive producer, co-written by Colin Trevorrow (who directed the other two movies in the Jurassic World trilogy), and released in 2018 by Universal Pictures, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom sees the return of Chris Pratt as velociraptor handler/whisperer Owen Grady, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing, formerly the operations manager of the dinosaur theme park Jurassic World before the mayhem of its genetically-engineered living dinosaurs and pterosaurs loose and on the rampage, as dramatically portrayed in the previous movie, Jurassic World (2015), had forced its permanent closure. The abandoned theme park, or what is now left of it, is situated on the isolated Central American island of Isla Nublar, uninhabited by humans since the park's closure, and where the escapee dinosaurs and other resurrected Mesozoic monsters are able to roam free, undisturbed, unthreatened – but not for much longer.

The island's volcano is threatening to erupt, and with devastating force, enough to make the Krakatoa eruption look like a hiccup, and which will definitely destroy all life on the island (and quite probably the island itself), including, therefore, the dinosaurs. Moreover, as they exist nowhere else on Earth (yes. I'm excluding birds from all such considerations!), this will result in a second dinosaur mass extinction, on a far smaller scale but just as comprehensive as the one that wiped them out the first time, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, roughly 65 million years ago.

 

Chris Pratt as Owen Grady, Blue the velociraptor, and my official Jurassic World franchise 2017 Mattel 12-inch-tall Owen Grady action figure (© J.A. Bayona/ Colin Trevorrow/Steven Spielberg/Amblin  Entertainment/Legendary Pictures/The Kennedy-Marshall Company/Universal Pictures / © Mattel – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis  for educational/review purposes only)

To make matters even worse for the imperilled dinos, a United States Senate committee votes against US Government involvement in any plan to rescue them from their doomed island homeland before the volcano erupts. However, a ray of hope appears upon the horizon when Jurassic Park founder Dr John Hammond's now immensely rich former partner Sir Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) invites Claire to his vast mansion where he and his assistant Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) discuss with her their bold plan to rescue a representative selection of the dinosaurs and relocate them to a new island sanctuary.

Inspired by this exciting news, Claire agrees to help them, by making available her knowledge of the park's systems as well as of the dinosaurs themselves. She also recruits Owen to come on board, particularly with regard to capturing Blue, the last surviving velociraptor, whom he had reared and trained, and who therefore trusts him.

However, there is treachery afoot, as they subsequently realise when they reach Isla Nublar and discover that the dinosaurs being trapped there are destined to be transported not to any island sanctuary but instead to the Lockwood mansion, where Lockwood's young orphaned granddaughter Maisie (Isabella Sermon) overhears a mysterious auctioneer named Eversoll (Toby Jones) secretly discussing plans to sell the dinosaurs to the highest bidders in a private auction to be held there. But what if any of the winning bidders choose to use their purchased dinosaurs as bio-weapons – and who at the Lockwood mansion is behind all of this skullduggery anyway? Furthermore, it turns out that the dinosaurs are not the only genetically-engineered entities in the mansion – isn't that right, Maisie?? Deep waters indeed!

The CGI dinosaurs are even more spectacular than in previous movies within this franchise, and I certainly will not be losing any sleep over their absence of feathers or any other palaeontological inconsistencies. If I can suspend disbelief to watch middle-aged men performing incredible stunts that defy physical reality and gravity in equal measure (yes, Tom Cruise, I'm thinking of the Mission: Impossible films as I write this), I can certainly do the same regarding any dinosaurian discrepancies and deviations from current mainstream opinion within the palaeo-community.

 

Publicity poster for Jurassic World, the first movie in the Jurassic World film trilogy (© Colin Trevorrow/Steven Spielberg/Amblin  Entertainment/Legendary Pictures/The Kennedy-Marshall Company/Universal Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis  for educational/review purposes only)

 

 

My Jurassic Park trilogy and Jurassic World  trilogy  complete DVD collection plus my Jurassic Park trilogy steelbook edition (© Steven Spielberg/Joe Johnston/Colin Trevorrow/J.A. Bayone/Amblin  Entertainment/Legendary Pictures/The Kennedy-Marshall Company/Perfect World Pictures/Universal Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis  for educational/review purposes only)

And speaking of the dinosaurs in this movie: whereas in previous Jurassic Park/World films the dinosaurs were breathtaking and dramatic, in this much darker, horror-driven entry, however, the carnivorous dinos in particular are little short of demonic at times, fully justifying this film's 12A certificate in the UK. Small children may indeed have nightmares from watching it, especially in relation to one particular scene, featuring Maisie cowering in her locked bedroom as a genetically-engineered wholly novel dino-horror called the Indoraptor that is positively fiendish in both form and behaviour seeks – and ultimately achieves – entry into her room. I'll say no more, but it's decidedly creepy, even Gothic in places.

In summary: the plot of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is nothing if not eventful, providing a toxic combination of megalomania and financial greed, plus a natural catastrophe thrown in for good measure, yielding a deadly game in which the dinos are unwitting pawns.

As for its ending: back when I first watched this movie in 2018, it seemed not so much an ending as a launch-pad for what could well be an unlimited number of sequels. Indeed, there is a brief but memorable post-credits scene that provides a very clear indication of the directions that such sequels might pursue.

With the subsequent completion of this trilogy by the release in 2022 of a third, concluding movie, Jurassic World Dominion, however, this might no longer be the case. Having said that, film franchises that have been as financially successful as this one (its six movies have collectively grossed approximately 6 billion US dollars at the box office alone!) have a tendency not to lay down and die all that easily, so who knows? It may yet be that the dinosaurs are not the only ones to be resurrected!

 

My three official Jurassic World franchise Mattel pehistoric animal action figures: my 42-inch-long Blue the velociraptor, my 30-inch-long giant mosasaur sea-lizard (the mosasaur escapes from its pool into the ocean at the beginning of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), and my 32-inch-long Brachiosaurus (the Brachiosaurus meets a tragic end in this movie) (© J.A. Bayona/ Colin Trevorrow/Steven Spielberg/Amblin  Entertainment/Legendary Pictures/The Kennedy-Marshall Company/Perfect World Pictures/Universal Pictures / © Mattel – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis  for educational/review purposes only)

 

 

My Uni-Amblin official  Jurassic World and The Lost World: Jurassic Park metal pencil cases (© Colin Trevorrow/Steven Spielberg/Amblin  Entertainment/Legendary Pictures/The Kennedy-Marshall Company/Perfect World Pictures/Universal Pictures / © Uni & Amblin – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis  for educational/review purposes only)

Incidentally, I should warn you that certain trailers for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom that have been highly visible online ever since its release actually offer a very slanted (even imho a quite deceptive) idea of what happens in the main part of the film. So if you still haven’t watched this movie yet but plan to do so, don't be misled by any such trailers into thinking that you already know what will be happening.

What does happen is a dynamic tour de force of escapist action, adventure, and suspense, supplemented by the stirring music of John Williams, and populated by a host of awesome CGI dinos (and also some animatronic model ones for certain close-up scenes), all of which I enjoyed immensely, juat like I did when last year I watched the above-mentioned third movie in this trilogy, Jurassic World Dominion (2022). And yes indeed, courtesy of this latter film a feathered non-avian dinosaur finally appears in the Jurassic Park/World franchise! Was it worth the wait? Be sure to watch Jurassic World Dominion and judge for yourselves!

Meanwhile, please click here to watch on YouTube an official Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom trailer (one, moreover, that is suitably dramatic but thankfully does not contain any of the ambiguous excerpts alluded to by me earlier here).

Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

Publicity poster for Jurassic World Dominion, the third movie in the Jurassic World film trilogy (© Colin Trevorrow/Steven Spielberg/Amblin  Entertainment/The Kennedy-Marshall Company/Perfect World Pictures/Universal Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis  for educational/review purposes only)

 

SMALL SOLDIERS

 

Publicity poster for Small Soldiers (© Joe Dante/Amblin Entertainment/DreamWorks Pictures/Universal Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

On 14 September 2024, I saw at a local market the intriguing 8-inch-tall vintage Hasbro action figure pictured at the end of this present review, a vaguely leonine character with an arrow quiver slung across his back. I learnt from the seller that he was from the late 1990s sci fi/comedy movie Small Soldiers, which I own on DVD but had never watched. So I bought the figure for £1 and the following evening I watched the movie. Let's just say that I much preferred the figure!

Directed by Joe Dante, and released in 1998 by DreamWorks Pictures in North America and Universal Pictures internationally, Small Soldiers has as its title characters a set of toys that have been rendered self-aware and with the ability to learn but also weaponised for serious battle-fighting, due to their having been inadvertently implanted with a top-grade, top-secret microprocessor intended for use in the USA's military defence programs!

Through faintly nefarious means, albeit for a good cause (to sell them at his father's ailing toy shop and thus bring in some much-needed cash), a complete set of both toy factions – the gung-ho Commando Elite soldiers, who are programmed specifically to win; and their alien but peaceful, non-aggressive foes the Gorgonites, who are programmed always to lose (with my newly-purchased action figure proving to be the lead Gorgonite character, an emissary named Archer) – come into the hands of teenager Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith).

But it all soon gets totally out of hand, when the Commnado Elite soldiers declare full-scale war upon the Gorgonites, as well as upon any humans who try to stop them. Moreover, despite their small stature, these terrifying toy soldiers soon prove exceedingly adept at utilising full-sized – and potentially death-dealing – equipment to achieve their ends!

Alan's family and their next-door neighbours the Fimples, who include Alan's high-school love interest Christy (Kirsten Dunst), swiftly find this out to their cost, once Alan and Christy attempt to protect the hapless, helpless Gorgonites from the Commando Elite's merciless, sustained, and seemingly unstoppable onslaught.

And this is when and why it all became rather tedious for me. I'm not a war movie fan at the best of times, and the ongoing, ever more violent battles between the besieging toy soldiers and the besieged humans (and Gorgonites) holed up inside their homes seemed interminable during this movie's second half after an equally drawn-out setting of the stage for these battles in the first half. Put another way, it didn't take very long for my boredom threshold to be reached!

Having said that, I enjoyed watching how the neat twist of the ostensible heroes of this movie's toy contingent turning out to be the villains and its supposed villains proving to be the heroes played out. Certainly, the Commando Elite soldiers are thoroughly obnoxious, and become ever more so as the movie progresses, with no redeeming characteristics at all, whereas the Gorgonites, although much more sympathetic, are not given enough screen time, so the viewer finds it difficult (or at least I did) to bond with or root for them.

Happily, however, the bad guys did ultimately get their comeuppance, the good guys survived to set forth on an inevitably small-sized but scenic voyage of discovery here on planet Earth in search of their own world, and I added an interesting new movie action figure to my collection, so everything ended well.

It's just that I feel certain that Small Soldiers could have worked so much more effectively had it been a tight 45-minute featurette rather than a stretched-out 90-minute feature.

Finally, I can't bring this review to a close without mentioning that the voice cast for the toys (brought to life on screen via a combination of puppetry and CGI) was nothing if not eclectic. For it utilised not only Tommy Lee Jones but also actors from the 1967 American war movie The Dirty Dozen (including Ernest Borgnine and George Kennedy) for the Commando Elite soldiers, and cast members from the 1984 spoof rock movie This is Spinal Tap for most of the Gorgonites (but with Frank Langella as Archer), plus Sarah Michelle Geller of Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV fame and Christina Ricci from The Addams Family movies for some weaponised dolls! I told you that it was eclectic!

If you'd like to watch an official Small Soldiers trailer on YouTube, please click here to do so.

And to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE; also, please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

My 8-inch-tall vintage Hasbro action figure of Archer, the Gorgonite emissary from Small Soldiers (photos ©  Dr Karl Shuker)

 

ANGELS AND PANTHERS AND YETIS, OH MY! MINI-REVIEWING A DOZEN RECENTLY-WATCHED MOVIES

 

Publicity posters for Fallen, Black Panther, and Abominable (© Scott Hicks/Lotus Entertainment/Silver Reel/Mayhem Pictures/Apex Entertainment/Vertical Entertainment / © Ryan Coogler/Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / © Jill Culton/DreamWorks Animation/Pearl Studio/Universal Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

 

I've been watching a fair few films lately, far too many to be able to prepare a full-length review of each one. So here, instead, is another series of mini-reviews, this time highlighting no fewer than twelve very diverse movies that (for the most part) I've particularly enjoyed viewing during the past few months.

 

 

My official DVD of White Snake (© Amp Wong/Zhao Ji/Light Chaser Animation Studios/Warner Bros Far East/Joy Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

WHITE SNAKE

As a life-long Disney fan, I have always believed that when at the top of its game this studio cannot even be equalled, let alone bettered, in creating superlative animated features – but after my movie watch on 6 April 2022, I have been forced to change my opinion. For that was when I viewed White Snake. Directed by Amp Wong and Zhao Ji, and released in 2019 by Joy Pictures, White Snake is a Chinese-American computer-animated fantasy co-production movie with animation by China's Light Chaser Animation Studios, and is based upon the traditional Chinese story 'Legend of the White Snake' (which is all about a female white snake demon who can assume the guise of a beautiful young maiden and, while in that guise, falls in love with a mortal youth). And it is by a country mile or three quite simply the best, most spectacular, and most sensational animated movie that I have ever seen – and I have seen A LOT of animated movies down through the decades. The level of animation is so stupendous as to be indescribable, so I won't even attempt to. If, like me, you love animation, you must see this movie! And yet, as a further example (following on from numerous and varied comments by others of late) of just how irrelevant film awards and award ceremonies are nowadays, this truly incredible example of dazzling, awe-inspiring animation at its absolute zenith of achievement was never even nominated for an Oscar or Bafta award (let alone going on to win one). Never mind. To paraphrase what was once said of a world-famous, undeservedly-reviled, and tragically short-lived princess by her grieving brother in his eulogy to her, this movie needs no award for it to continue to generate its particular kind of magic. Click here to watch an official White Snake trailer on YouTube.

 

 

My official UK DVD of Congo (© Frank Marshall/The Kennedy/Marshall Company/Paramount Pictures Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

CONGO

My movie watch on 5 April 2022 was the 1996 sci fi movie Congo, based upon the eponymous Michael Crichton novel from 1980, which I had read many years previously. Directed by Frank Marshall and released by Paramount Pictures in 1996, Congo features as the crux of its plot a gorilla named Amy whose ability to communicate with humans via sign-language has been technologically augmented by a device that transforms her signs into actual vocal speech, Amy participates in an expedition to the Congo seeking rare blue diamonds to fuel a revolutionary new laser, but the team unexpectedly stumbles upon a fabled lost city, Zinj, not to mention its hidden diamond mine, said to be the source of fabulously wealthy King Solomon's diamonds. For me, however, the most fascinating part of this movie is the discovery of the mine's guardians – a scientifically-unknown species of grey gorilla, which had been trained by the city's long-bygone human occupants to be extremely aggressive, so much so that they eventually killed all of the humans living there. Now they aim to do the same to the expedition's members, but can Amy's unique input make a difference? And what about an ominously rumbling volcano close by – is the lost city of Zinj about to be lost again, but this time on a permanent, irrevocable basis, along with everyone currently in it, when the lava begins to flow? Congo stars Laura Linney as electronics specialist Karen Ross, sent to retrieve the blue diamonds, Dylan Walsh as Berkeley primatologist Peter Elliott, who has trained Amy to communicate and treats her as a friend rather than as a scientific subject, and Tim Curry as wily, fake philanthropist Herkermer Homolka, obsessed with confirming the reality and continuing existence of Zinj (not to mention its priceless hoard of gems!). Click here watch an official Congo trailer on YouTube.

 

 

My official UK DVD of Fallen (2016) (© Scott Hicks/Lotus Entertainment/Silver Reel/Mayhem Pictures/Apex Entertainment/Vertical Entertainment – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

FALLEN (2016)

During the afternoon of 19 March 2022, I chilled out (literally – it was very hot outside that day) watching the young-adult fantasy movie Fallen. Directed by Scott Hicks and released in 2o16 by Vertical Entertainment, Fallen is based upon the first in a six-book series of novels by Lauren Kate. She basically sanitizes and rehabilitates fallen angels in much the same way that Stephenie Meyer did with vampires in her Twilight series of novels, but gives them sparkly wings instead of sparkly skin. No major acting names are present other than Joely Richardson as Sophia Bliss, an enigmatic teacher of religious philosophy at the secure school where shadow-stalked heroine Luce (Addison Timlin) and other 'problem' teenagers – notably Daniel (Jeremy Irvine) and Cam (Harrison Gilbertson), who compete for Luce's attention – are sent and confined by the authorities. There is plenty of adolescent angst abounding, as you'd expect from a YA movie, and a plot incorporating reincarnation and a recurring curse that is reminiscent of the storyline in the 1990 vampire comedy movie Rockula (which I've reviewed here). However, it boasts good special effects once the teenagers finally transform into teen angels and become airborne. In short, Fallen is an undemanding, relaxing 90 minutes of viewing, though the movie's inconclusive ending demonstrates all too readily that this was originally planned to be the first in a movie franchise, but which – unlike its angels – never materialised. Click here to watch an official Fallen trailer on YouTube.

 

 

My official UK 2-disc DVD of Inception (© Christopher Nolan/Warner Bros Pictures/Legendary Pictures/Syncopy – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

INCEPTION

On 4 March 2022 I watched the 2010 sci fi movie Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and I'm very glad that I followed a friend's advice and read up on the plot beforehand (something I don't normally do), because, exactly as he'd said, without having done so I'd have been totally swamped by the fiendishly complex storyline and presentation. (One of its stars, Tom Hardy, has allegedly confessed in an interview somewhere that even he didn't understand the full plot.) Basically, however, it's all about a process called inception, in which a team of skilled dream workers is able to infiltrate a target's dreams in order to discover secrets about him/her or, even more difficult, implant an idea not of the target's own conception in order to influence the target's future actions in whatever way the person or company covertly hiring the dream workers desires. In this instance, however, the plan goes awry, and the team finds itself locked inside several layers of dreams – dreams within dreams within dreams, etc – with no guarantee that they will ever wake up back in the real world. Its starry cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio (as team leader Tom Cobb), Marion Cotillard (Cobb's deceased wife Mai, who haunts his dreams, literally!), Tom Hardy (Eames, the team's master impersonator/identity thief/forger), Cillian Murphy (Robert Michael Fischer, the team's target/victim), Tom Berenger (Peter Browning, Fischer's godfather), Pete Postlethwaite (Maurice Fischer, Fischer's dying father), and Michael Caine (Prof. Stephen Miles, Cobb's mentor and also father-in-law). Overall, Inception is a very enjoyable film, though I felt that the culmination scene went on for so long that it lost its momentum, to the point that I finally started clockwatching, praying for the end to hurry up and come, which rather defeated the object of all of the extensive plotting leading up to it. Nevertheless, this movie presents a very intriguing, original concept ably supported by a dazzling on-screen execution. Click here to watch an official Inception trailer on YouTube.

 

 

My official UK DVD of Abominable (© Jill Culton/DreamWorks Animation/Pearl Studio/Universal Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

ABOMINABLE

I didn't get around to viewing the DreamWorks/Pearl animated movie Abominable when it was shown on TV last Christmas here in the UK (though I did watch the new similar-themed animated featurette The Abominable Snow Baby), because I already owned it on DVD, so I could view it whenever I chose to, which I duly did on 13 January 2022. Directed by Jill Culton and released in 2019 by Universal Pictures, Abominable is a delightful movie, with three quirky but plucky Chinese youngsters (Yi, Peng, and Jin) determined to return to his parents in the Himalayas a young yeti, dubbed Everest, who has been kidnapped by eccentric animal collector Mr Burnish (voiced by Eddie Izzard). The scenic visuals are extraordinarily beautiful, and although diehard cryptozoologists will be uneasy about not only Everest's white fur and that of the other yetis (in reality, this Asian man-beast is reported by eyewitnesses to be brown or reddish-furred) but also his magical abilities (he can substantially enhance the growth rate of plants, conjure up whirlwinds and blizzards, etc), Abominable is meant to be a fun-filled fantasy movie (not a cryptozoological documentary), and it succeeds at this very comprehensively. My own (albeit only) quibble is that I wish the animators hadn't given poor Everest a pair of massively over-sized jaws that resemble a man-hole cover cut in half! He deserved a more photogenic face, surely, but his innocent playful demeanour is so enchanting that I can overlook this (just!). Abominable is a lovely movie, one of the nicest family-oriented animated features that I have seen in a long while. Click here to watch an official Abominable trailer on YouTube.

 

 

My official UK DVD of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (© Bob Persichetti/Peter Ramsey/Rodney Rothman/Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation/Marvel Entertainment/Arad Productions/Lord Miller Productions/Pascal Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

On 2 January 2022, I watched the Marvel animated movie Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, which was directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, and was released in 2018 by Sony Pictures. Whereas I love Marvel comic books and Marvel CGI-enhanced live-action movies, despite being a massive animation fan since my earliest days I personally find that their wholly animated movies often come across as an uncomfortable half-way house between the other two formats – but not this one! I thought that nothing could surprise me any more in the field of animation, but this incredible movie took me to an entirely new dimension of animation – several new dimensions, in fact. Which is only to be expected, bearing in mind that in this movie there is not just one Spider-Man but seven, including two female Spideys and even, I kid you not, a porcine equivalent named Spider-Ham! Voiced by the likes of Nicolas Cage, Chris Pine, and Shameik Moore – Moore taking on the role of our own universe's latest Spider-Man, Miles Morales, following Peter Parker's death – five of them have been drawn from their own respective parallel universes within the multiverse into ours. This is due to the cataclysmic effects of super-villain Kingpin's catastrophic attempts with a particle collider to draw from a parallel universe his late wife and son, killed in a vehicle smash that he unfairly blames upon Spider-Man. The animation is beyond spectacular, beyond colourful – how I'd have loved to see this movie on the big screen! But it was more than enjoyable and thrilling even on my TV's small(ish) screen. Another fantastic MCU feature film duly viewed, so click here to watch an official Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse trailer on YouTube.

 

 

Publicity poster for Black Panther (© Ryan Coogler/Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

BLACK PANTHER

On 28 December 2021, I watched another Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) super-hero movie. Directed by Ryan Cooglet, and released in 2018 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, this one was Black Panther, starring the late, greatly-missed Chadwick Boseman in the title role. Except that this was NOT just 'another Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) super-hero movie'. Ever since its release, and especially since the tragic passing of its lead star, I have read so much about how great a film this is. I disagree. Black Panther is not a great film – it is, quite simply, one of the most incredible films that I have ever been privileged to watch. And I'm not just talking about its CGI effects, even though they are so stupendous as to defy description. I am talking about everything – the exemplary performances of all of its stars (who include the likes of Forest Whitaker, Michael B. Jordan, and Andy Serkis), though none more so than Chadwick Boseman himself as T'Challa, king of the (fictional) African kingdom of Wakanda, whose alter-ego is super-hero Black Panther; its unexpected depth and emotional impact, which I do not generally expect from a super-hero movie – it was more like watching Hamlet or its Disney derivative The Lion King than any comic-book-inspired production; the stirring music and vibrant costumes; and above all else the emphasis upon culture and tradition. Black Panther won no fewer than three Oscars at the 2019 Academy Awards (for Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Production Design), but it so deserved to have won at least two more (Best Picture, and Best Actor). If you watch this fantastic movie, as everyone should, you will never again think of comic-book super-hero films as lightweight or juvenile, I can guarantee that. Click here to view an official Black Panther trailer on YouTube.

 

 

Publicity poster for Sonic the Hedgehog (© Jeff Fowler/Sega Sammy Group/Original Film/Marza Animation Planet/Blur Studio/Paramount Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

On 5 December 2021, courtesy of the UK's Channel 4 TV station, I watched the movie version of Sonic the Hedgehog. Directed by Jeff Fowler, and released in 2020 by Paramount Pictures, it is inspired by the famous Sega video game franchise featuring the eponymous and exceedingly fleet-footed alien blue hedgehog and his megalomaniacal nemesis Dr Robotnik, aka Eggman. As someone who has never been into playing video games, I had no background knowledge regarding Sonic, but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie nonetheless. Voiced by Ben Schwartz, Sonic is a CGI creation, whereas Jim Carrey in one of his typically restrained, understated performances (sarcastic, moi??) plays Robotnik, but in such a frenetic manner that it is sometimes difficult to determine which character is real and which is CGI! It also stars James Marsden as small-town (Green Hills, Montana) cop Tom Wachowski who befriends Sonic and helps him elude Robotnik's clutches. The importance of friendship is emphasised, albeit not unduly so, and the special effects are undeniably very special indeed, exactly as they'd need to be when bringing to the big screen such an animated character (in every sense!) as Sonic. Well worth a watch – so click here to view an official Sonic the Hedgehog trailer on YouTube.

 

 

Publicity poster for Mouse Hunt (© Gore Verbinski/DreamWorks Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

MOUSE HUNT

My movie watch on 23 November 2021 was the slapstick fantasy/comedy Mouse Hunt. Directed by Gore Verbinski, and released in 1997 by DreamWorks Pictures. Mouse Hunt stars Nathan Lane and Lee Evans as a pair of brothers, Ernie and Lars Smuntz, who inherit a dilapidated but exceedingly valuable old house from their father, and decide to renovate it for selling at a huge profit. However, they are thwarted at every turn by its small furry squatter – an exceptionally clever, enterprising house mouse. This results in increasingly manic slapstick attempts by the brothers to evict or destroy said rodent, but the only thing that is ultimately destroyed is not the mouse but the house. In their respective roles, Evans and Lane have been compared to Laurel and Hardy, but in my view they are far more similar to the late great British comedy actor Norman Wisdom, and David Jason (in his Del Boy character from the popular UK TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses). This would be no bad thing, were it not for the sad fact that the slapstick goes on, and on, and on, unrelentingly, for far too long with ultimately far too little effect. Less is more, whereas here more is definitely less. For instance, the section featuring Christopher Walken as an eccentric vermin exterminator named Caesar, could, I feel, have been excised in its entirety with no loss at all to the movie's humour quotient. Overall, Mouse Hunt is a decent but overlong comedy film imho, though the special effects featuring the mouse's dastardly activity are first-rate and help to offset the eventual tediousness of the human characters' contributions. Click here to watch an official Mouse Hunt trailer on YouTube.

 

 

My official UK DVD of The Happening (© M. Night Shyamalan/Dune Entertainment/UTV Motion Pictures/Spyglass Entertainment/Blinding Edge Pictures/20^th Century Fox – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

THE HAPPENING

My DVD movie-watch on 19 November 2021 was the very unusual sci fi film The Happening. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and released in 2008 by 20^th Century Fox, The Happening stars Mark Wahlberg as New York-based science teacher Elliot Moore, who is caught up in an initially-inexplicable, terrifying wave of mass suicides occurring extremely rapidly (within the space of a single day) throughout the eastern coastal states of the USA. Wahlberg's co-stars include Zooey Deschanel as Elliot's wife Alma, John Leguizamo as their friend Julian, and Betty Buckley as sinister rural recluse Mrs Jones. In my DVD collection, I have categorised this one as a monster movie, but whereas the monsters in such movies frequently are unequivocally bloodthirsty elusive horrors of the fictitious mutant or prehistoric survivor kind, those in this film are all too real, only too visible to everyone everywhere, and ostensibly innocuous, thus making The Happening a surprisingly creepy film. If you haven't already seen it, I won't say any more about the monsters, for want of a better term (other than SPOILER ALERT!! they're predominantly green in colour and photosynthesise!). However, I found it to be an unusual, suspenseful movie, and in spite of its very high death count there is scarcely any of the nowadays-standard/obligatory blood'n'gore that you might have expected – and is all the better for its absence, thereby leaving far more to the imagination, which is unquestionably the greatest source of fear ever created. Hitchcock would surely have approved! Click here to watch an official The Happening trailer on YouTube.

 

 

Publicity poster for Crack in the World (© Andrew Marton/Paramount Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

CRACK IN THE WORLD

On 16 October 2021, I finally watched in colour on the UK TV channel Film On 4 a thrilling sci fi/disaster movie that I'd only ever previously seen in b/w, and a great many years ago – Crack in the World. Directed by Andrew Marton, and released in 1965 by Paramount Pictures, Crack in the World is all about how a scientific atomic explosion at the Earth's core, engineered by brilliant but impetuous scientist Dr Stephen Sorensen (Dana Andrews), which was meant to release magma and harness its geothermal energy, goes horrifically wrong. For it creates an immense thermonuclear blast instead that sends a devastating crack through the planet's crust via a pre-existing fault, threatening to split Earth in half and thereby destroy it. Much of the footage of volcanic eruptions and lava flows were stock footage, obviously, but incredibly vibrant, certainly needing Technicolor to do them full justice in a way that b/w could never do, and made even more compelling by the stark knowledge that this wasn't sfx, this was real – real eruptions and real lava – Nature at its most potent but visually glorious, an extravaganza of excess. And also a timely lesson that we meddle with Nature and the workings of our world at its (and our own) peril. Click here to watch an official Crack in the World trailer on YouTube.

 

 

Publicity poster for Elephant Walk (© William Dieterle/Paramount Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

ELEPHANT WALK

On 23 September 2021, I watched an engrossing movie very different from my more usual sci fi/fantasy-infused film fayre – Elephant Walk. Directed by William Dieterle, and released in 1954 by Paramount Pictures, Elephant Walk stars an exquisite Elizabeth Taylor (who replaced Vivien Leigh after she suffered a breakdown during its filming), plus Peter Finch and Dana Andrews. This movie's premise is wealthy tea plantation owner John Wiley (Finch) from what was then still called Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) marrying lovely bookshop owner Ruth (Taylor) during a whirlwind romance in England, then whisking her back to his opulent mansion in a remote location in Ceylon. Here, John's bull-headed late father Tom 'The Guv'nor' Wiley had deliberately built the mansion directly across a traditional path used for untold centuries by the area's wild elephants to access water, and which now caused regular confrontations with these great beasts. Once they arrived there, it didn't take long for Ruth to discover (via a storyline not dissimilar from that of the Daphne Du Maurier novel Rebecca) that despite being dead, The Guv'nor still held John, the mansion's native staff (especially their head man, Appuhamy), and even John's friends in thrall, with everything maintained just as he'd left it, and with a huge tomb containing his mortal remains built in the gardens. Any suggestions for change made by Ruth were brusquely rebuffed by John and Appuhamy, leading her to seek solace in the company, and eventually the arms, of John's business partner, Dick Carver (Andrews), the one person immune to Wiley Snr's baleful influence – and then there's the far from insignificant matter of the seriously disgruntled elephants taking matters into their own hands – or trunks and tusks, to be precise! Both the on-location sequences and the indoor studio sets are lavish and sumptuous, and Taylor is at her radiant best throughout. Click here to watch an official Elephant Walk trailer on YouTube. 

To view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

My official plush model of Everest, the young yeti from Abominable (photo © Dr Karl P.N. Shuker)

 

My official Marvel 12-inch-tall Black Panther action figure (photo © Dr Karl Shuker)