Jurassic Park 3D and Evil Dead Reviews

Yes, this is now going to be a thing. Shut up.

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Jurassic Park

Believe it or not, I have never seen this film in its entirety and I heard from reviewer Chris Stuckmann that the 3D conversion in this film was spectacular, which it was, but I'll get to that later. I went into this purely off of these reasons, because, in fact, I was planning on doing Spring Breakers instead of this so I could do a more modern movie review, but with the lukewarm Rotten Tomatoes score and the polarizing reviews from friends, I decided to steer clear and do this.

First off, let's get into what I consider the most important parts, the acting and writing. The actors do a splendid job on screen, particularly Sam Neill and Richard Attenburough, playing the stern and serious Alan Grant and the lively John Hammond, respectively. After watching the Nostalgia Critic's review of The Lost World (this films sequel), I can say that it dampened my liking for Jeff Goldblum, even though his performance is fine, especially with the role he's given. The two children, played by Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards, also do very well in their roles, matching the likeness of their much more experienced actors.

The writing for the film itself is also very cool, with an interesting premise, some pulse-pounding action, and some great character arcs. The character development and progress of Alan Grant was very nice, playing a serious and dedicated paleontologist with a distaste for children (due to their lack of appreciation for dinosaurs) and having him be the father figure for Tim and Lex (the two children) when the three of them are forcibly separated from the other characters, resulting in some funny and/or heartwarming banter. The other character arcs include Hammond, who goes from an eccentric and excited planner of the park with no real insight on the ethical values he's breaking or the lack of power he has over his new world to learning about how how south bringing an extinct species back to life can go.

The action and tension in the movie becomes nonstop during the second half of the film as Jurassic Park slowly crumbles around the characters as they try and find a way to seek rescue and prevent being a dinosaur's dinner. And being that it comes from Steven Spielberg, who's no stranger to monstrous creatures as he's shown in Jaws, he's a natural at keeping the suspense going and having it look as real as possible

Speaking of, that brings me to one of the films highlights: the technicals. The special effects (along with Sound Editing and Mixing) were awarded with an Oscar in 1993, and rightfully so. The film blends animatronics with CG imagry with peerless detail, making the dinosaurs look as real as the people they're chasing. The island setting and set designs of the park building itself are beautiful and the score by John Williams is timeless and unforgettable. The 3D is also rendered wonderfully, looking just as good as Avatar or Titanic did in their respective years.

However, there are some gripes I have with the film. I've never liked it when a character is a supposed genius in their field yet go around bumbling like an idiot, and this is all too true for Wayne Knight's character, Dennis, one of Jurassic Park's architects with ulterior motives that eventually doom the park. Despite being the one that kills the park through hacking, he manages to bumble to his death like no smart person would. Lastly, I felt the ending was too sudden, like there wasn't a real climax to the film; it just kind of ended. However, it's very minor.

All in all, Jurassic Park continues to be a visual treat with (mostly) great characters and and plot, and if you've already seen it, I recommend it once more.

Final Verdict:

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Evil Dead

Being that I never saw the original or its two sequels, I'm judging this one completely on its own merits. Evil Dead is a remake of Sam Raimi's cult-hit The Evil Dead about kids who go to a cabin in the woods and wacky shit begins to happen. But as a film on its own, does it live up to the hype?

The acting in the film is good given that it's essentially the most extreme gore porn you will expect to see all year. Jane Levy and Shiloh Fernandez in particular shine as Mia and David, a young woman kicking a heroin addiction and her estranged, but caring brother. In particular they were my favorites because we learn about them throughout the film, which is more than I can say for Eric, Olivia, and Natalie (the latter one needing a look-up on Wikipedia because I couldn't remember her name, despite having one of the best gore scenes in the film). This is one of the film's downfalls, focusing almost all its attention on the relationship between Mia and David (as good as it is) while hardly giving any other character their light of day, minus some development peppered in for development's sake (Olivia's a nurse and Eric had a falling out with David in the past. Who cares?).

Despite the poor characterization for the latter three characters, the plot itself is very tight and offers some great explanations as to why the characters don't leave the island, which adds a lot of plausibility to a film that could have easily been the horror schlock that we get in cinema recently. As well, there is some good tension brought through the arguments between the characters as they try to give the most ethical solution to how to deal with Mia as her mind (and soul) slowly but violently wither. And the film is also smart to not blow its load too early, making each bloody scene even bloodier than the last, offering a good, steady rise of tension and suspense as the film progresses on.

However, you know you aren't going into this film for the acting or writing (and frankly, neither did I). You want to hear about the gore and violence, and rest assured, it's pretty damned messy (the good kind of messy). However, some issues arise when many of the gore scenes are set in oddly lit (flickering light bulb) or dimly lit areas, making it difficult in certain times to see the blood. The struggle between Olivia and Eric in particular wasn't too good, as the flickering light bulb and sporadic editing made for a near incomprehensible sequence. However, like I said, the gore picks up and up each minute and once it gets to the final third, it really starts getting to the film we hoped to see after seeing the red-band trailer, even if it takes an hour to get to that point. And since practical effects made up the vast majority of the film's kills (minus some CGI burning alive action in the beginning), the film is incredibly visceral and makes the violence all the more genuine looking, thus offering more squirms of disgust and delight.

I won't recommend rushing to see the film in the theaters unless you're really excited about it, but I implore that at the very least, check it out once it hits DVD and Blu-Ray. It's a gleefully violent film with surprisingly good acting and writing for a horror film, and (I assume) a fantastic remake that gives me faith in the fact that the horror genre is not yet dead (no pun intended).

Final Verdict: