Jurassic World (6/10): Leave it to Chris Pratt to rescue a franchise along with his raptor buddies.

“You just went and made a new dinosaur? Probably not a good idea.”

This review of Jurassic World is brought to you by Mercedes Benz and classy high-heel running shoes. After the success with his sci-fi indie film, Safety Not Guaranteed, Colin Trevorrow was given the reigns to direct the fourth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise. With the help of his collaborator, Derek Connolly, he co-wrote the script based on Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver’s story. It was a pretty risky move considering Trevorrow hadn’t worked on a big budget film before, but with all the product placement included here you can tell he was probably very restricted and controlled by the executives. But I’m not going to complain about that because if you think about it Jurassic Park also had tons of product placement and that is one of my favorite blockbuster action films of all time. Jurassic World tries to pay homage to the first film ignoring most everything that happened in the sequels and once the dinosaurs are set lose it succeeds in doing so. The set-up was probably unnecessary and by far the weakest part of the movie as most of the characters here were uninteresting and we could’ve done without the introduction of so many of them. Fortunately Chris Pratt shows up soon enough with his domesticated raptors and saves the movie from derailing entirely from its rather stupid plot. He’s the new Indiana Jones and he can make the dumbest screenplay seem cool and entertaining. He delivers the perfect amount of comedic relief and has some great actions scenes to carry the movie. The dinosaurs are spectacular as always and there were a couple of thrilling scenes, although Michael Giacchino’s score never matches the brilliance of the original (there is a cool piano cover of the original Jurassic Park theme however that delivers plenty of nostalgia to fans). Jurassic World doesn’t live up to the high standards set by the original which was a masterpiece, but it’s as slightly satisfying a sequel as the rest of the films in the franchise. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it is better, but Chris Pratt does make it a lot easier to enjoy.

So Jurassic World is set some 20 years after the events of the original film. John Hammond’s vision of a dinosaur theme resort has been functioning for over a decade now in Isla Nublar. Unfortunately the attendance rates in recent years has been dropping as the enthusiasm and novelty of seeing these live beasts has died down a bit. The owner of the resort, Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), has ordered his scientists to genetically engineer a bigger and meaner dinosaur knowing that this will spark more interest. Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is in charge of organizing and managing the park and one of her responsibilities is making sure this new dinosaur remains contained. Simon asks her to talk to Owen (Chris Pratt), one of the on-site staff members who’s in charge of conducting behavioral research on Velociraptors, and ask him to give his opinion on the safety of the creature’s new home. Owen had no prior knowledge of what these scientists had been doing and is not happy about the management’s decision, but before he has time to do anything the creature escapes and now they must alert the thousands of people who are at the park that a dangerous dinosaur is on the lose. Claire’s nephews, Gray (Ty Simpkins) and Zach (Nick Robinson), happen to be visiting the park and of course they don’t pay attention to the warning and are left stranded near the danger zone. Claire asks Owen to help her find them and thus the thrills begin. 

There are several other characters in this film that aren’t given much depth. It’s a shame because a talented cast including Vincent D’Onofrio, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, BD Wong, and Judy Greer are entirely wasted. Johnson has some fine scenes and it’s cool he got to wear a Jurassic Park vintage t-shirt, but his character didn’t have much to do really. The entire plot revolving around D’Onofrio’s character felt recycled from the first sequel and was quite silly. Omar Sy, I love him, but he wasn’t given anything remotely interesting to do. The two kids in this film are as exciting as watching two brothers who don’t get along. I’ve already said that Chris Pratt is the saving grace of the film along with the dinosaurs, but he also has some great scenes with Bryce Dallas Howard as well. She’s perhaps the only other redeeming character in the film although at times it felt like she was trying too hard to be Jessica Chastain. It’s kind of hard to feel that same level of suspense we all got from the first film when there aren’t many characters to root for here. Fortunately the film doesn’t take itself too seriously and it ends up being a lot of fun and the less you sit down to think about it the more fun you will have watching the dinosaurs hunt down the visitors. I think that Trevorrow knew the premise was silly and used the genetically engineered dinosaur story as an allegory as to what the audience wants from a sequel: They’ve already seen the dinosaurs and are getting tired of them, so why not give them a more threatening one, and so he did.      

My Review: Mood Indigo (5/10)

"This feeling of solitude is unfair. I demand to fall in love too!"

No one does surrealism better than the French, but unfortunately I'm not into surrealism and I usually have a hard time enjoying this genre in general. Mood Indigo is probably more surreal than any other film you've seen before, and despite the fantastic visuals and rich imagery used I had a hard time engaging with the characters and its lack of a strong narrative story. I was a huge fan of director, Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and despite the surrealism in that film I enjoyed the strong narrative along with the romance, but I guess a lot of that had to do with Charlie Kaufman's involvement in the writing of the script. Mood Indigo kind of feels like that short scene where Jim Carrey's character was sharing his memory from his childhood as a small scaled adult, with the exception that in Mood Indigo the entire film is like that. There are many surreal elements, like a rat sized man dressed in a rat costume running around the house, a door bell that takes a life of its own every time someone rings the bell, and there's a piano that makes cocktail drinks depending on the notes you play, among many other things (and did I mention how people's legs stretch like rubber every time they started dancing?). Mood Indigo is a great title, although I like the sound of the original French title, L'écume des jours, but the english title fits the film well because moods are a predominant element here. It is a unique film, but one that I had a hard time connecting with and got little enjoyment out of it.

Despite not having a strong narrative, I enjoyed the performances in this film. Romain Duris plays Colin, a wealthy bachelor who falls in love with Audrey Tautou's character, Chloe. They quickly fall in love and everything around them seems to blossom. That is until Chloe develops a strange illness when a flower begins to grow in her lungs. Colin will spend his fortune and do what it takes in order to save her, but little by little the happiness and brightness of his home begins to lose its intensity. Other strong performances came from Omar Sy who played Colin's overly enthusiast chef and who prepares some strange dishes with the help of a TV cook, and then there is also Colin's best friend, Chick, played by Gad Elmaleh who is in a relationship as well and is always hanging out at his home. They all give strong performances and help set the surreal tone of the film with their energetic deliveries. It was great to see Omar Sy again because I really enjoyed his performance in The Intouchables. He was probably my favorite character in this film.

Ultimately the film wore me out and I had a hard time sticking with the entire story because I wished it had a stronger narrative story. I never really cared for the characters here because Gondry was more focused on the images and the fantastical elements rather than on telling a story. This is as close as you get to watching a live action cartoon so if that is what the audience is looking for they will be pleased, but it just wasn't a film for me. 

My Review: Intouchable (9/10)

¨Sometimes you have to reach into someone else's world to find out what's missing in your own.¨

Intouchables is a remarkable ¨feel good¨ French film mostly about friendship, but there is a little bit of drama and a love story included as well. This film with relatively unknown directors and actors has managed to make some big noise in Europe, and especially in France where it has become the second highest grossing French film of all time. The key to the success of Intouchables relies on the great chemistry and performances from Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy. They are just absolutely great in this film and their friendship felt authentic and real. The movie mixes the drama with the comedy really well and it works better than most films have in the past when combining two different and sometimes opposite characters together. Sy and Cluzet play totally different characters who come from very different backgrounds, and although we`ve seen this play out in hundreds of films in the past it works really well here thanks to their terrific performance and a great script from the directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano. Cluzet has a sort of a Dustin Huffman vibe and he says so much with his expressions without having to say anything at times, while Sy plays a more outgoing character who isn’t afraid to speak his mind. This odd pairing reminded me a lot of another film which I really loved, Goodbye Solo which follows a similar premise at times. Intouchables is a feel good movie, but it transcends the term at times and becomes much more. An absolute must see, especially if you`ve ever had to work or live with a handicapped person.

Philippe (Francois Cluzet) is a very rich quadriplegic who lives in his mansion with several servants and his teenage daughter. He is hiring a live-in carer once again (since most only last a couple of days with him). Driss (Omar Sy) happens to be applying for the job, but actually just wants to get rejected so he can live on welfare without having to work. He`s been in prison for the last 6 months and away from home, but Philippe decides to actually hire Driss for the job considering he is someone different who doesn’t look at him with empathy and actually treats him like a normal person. Driss and Philippe come from very different backgrounds, but they seem to complement each other very well. Philippe is a millionaire who`s interested in art and classical music; while Driss comes from a poor African background, who`s interested in pop culture mostly and in bands such as Earth, Wind, and Fire. Driss is really outgoing and becomes really close friends with Philippe. Together they share various stories about their past and end up helping each other solving some present conflicts. There are some other secondary characters whose names I don`t even remember because they are not very important to the story, but mostly revolving around other house servants.  

Intouchables is actually loosely based on a true story involving a quadriplegic and his Arab carer who ends up befriending him. The directors actually came across a documentary about these two men and decided to film a movie about it. One of the greatest things about the film beside the inspiring story was the casting. Omar Sy and Francois Cluzet were really the perfect match and they had me laughing real hard at times and at the border of tears during others. It is truly an emotional and powerful film, a story that will stick with you long after the film ends, and by the time the credits role you will have a smile on your face. It is a feel good movie, but never feels cursi or anything like that. I was really surprised with Omar Sy and hope he gets many more roles. This is really a great French film, very different from Le Prophet but just as good. I had a really good time watching this movie and recommend it to everyone.

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