I’ve been waiting for a rated R dinosaur film that is a violent and bloody fear fest where humans face impossible odds for survival. This is that movie.
Anne Hathaway is a mother and wife who dreams of her own career as a writer and there are moments where the movie might want to say something about what a woman gives up for motherhood, but this movie also knows it’s not that movie so it doesn’t linger on it. Instead, it sets the stage for the dinosaurs to show up in this unsuspecting neighborhood. An unhappy marriage. A rascally dog. A kid who gets bullied. And a neighbor who gets along with no one. All set in 1982.
Once the dinos arrive, it’s one chase after another as this family of four try to escape and then just try to survive whilst people die around them. Once they figure out what caused this, it’s a race to a distant house to jump into a portal that will send them home.
What’s makes this film so watchable is that it doesn’t pit human against human in a who-is-the-real-monster take like those Jurassic Park films. This doesn’t victimize the ancient creatures. It makes them the dangerous carnivores that they are, out sizing and out chasing humans for a bite to eat. As hungry animals do.
There is one large snake dinosaur that gets into the house silently. This scene in particular used horror tropes to its advantage. A silent snake. Four people too distracted by current events and grief to notice it slithering through the house. Suspense builds. You want to tell the character on screen to turn around. To see that they are about to be eaten. A perfect sequence.
There’s some character development as the mother finds out she doesn’t need to leave her family behind to be happy, but mostly it’s run-for-your-life sequences where dinosaurs rule the earth. Great watch.
This film also smartly uses split diopter shots during one tense scene where the family discusses how they ended up where they did and how to survive. It elevates the scene and the movie by matching both the off kilter situation and the intimacy of the scene. I’m still smiling about it.
4 out of 5 stars.
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Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
I’ve been waiting for a rated R dinosaur film that is a violent and bloody fear fest where humans face impossible odds for survival. This is that movie.
Anne Hathaway is a mother and wife who dreams of her own career as a writer and there are moments where the movie might want to say something about what a woman gives up for motherhood, but this movie also knows it’s not that movie so it doesn’t linger on it. Instead, it sets the stage for the dinosaurs to show up in this unsuspecting neighborhood. An unhappy marriage. A rascally dog. A kid who gets bullied. And a neighbor who gets along with no one. All set in 1982.
Once the dinos arrive, it’s one chase after another as this family of four try to escape and then just try to survive whilst people die around them. Once they figure out what caused this, it’s a race to a distant house to jump into a portal that will send them home.
What’s makes this film so watchable is that it doesn’t pit human against human in a who-is-the-real-monster take like those Jurassic Park films. This doesn’t victimize the ancient creatures. It makes them the dangerous carnivores that they are, out sizing and out chasing humans for a bite to eat. As hungry animals do.
There is one large snake dinosaur that gets into the house silently. This scene in particular used horror tropes to its advantage. A silent snake. Four people too distracted by current events and grief to notice it slithering through the house. Suspense builds. You want to tell the character on screen to turn around. To see that they are about to be eaten. A perfect sequence.
There’s some character development as the mother finds out she doesn’t need to leave her family behind to be happy, but mostly it’s run-for-your-life sequences where dinosaurs rule the earth. Great watch.
This film also smartly uses split diopter shots during one tense scene where the family discusses how they ended up where they did and how to survive. It elevates the scene and the movie by matching both the off kilter situation and the intimacy of the scene. I’m still smiling about it.
4 out of 5 stars.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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