4k-UHD/Movie Review: Jurassic Word: Fallen Kingdom

 

Fallen Kingdom is the 2018 sequel to 2015's Jurassic World. It was written by Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow and directed by J.A. Boyona. The movie stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, reprising their roles from Jurassic World, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, Toby Jones, and Ted Levine. B.D. Wong and Jeff Goldblum also reprise their roles from the original trilogy. 

This is the second in the new trilogy, which is, of course, the sequel trilogy to the original Jurassic Park trilogy. This movie starts out with what is ostensibly a rescue mission because a volcano on Isla Nuba is going to erupt and kill all the dinosaurs. Of course, there is a question (which is where Jeff Goldblum makes his cameo return) about whether the dinosaurs on Isla Nuba should be saved or whether they should be allowed to go extinct again. As you would expect by now, things go sideways, and chaos ensues.

The 4k set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The AV quality of the UHD disc is outstanding, especially if you have a big screen. The visuals from Hawaii are awesome, and the dinosaurs look better than they have in any of the movies, thanks to the CGI advancements. The dinosaurs in the movie are a mix of puppets built as models and CGI creations, but it is hard to tell the difference between the practical models and the CGI dinosaurs. The UHD disc contains the movies and all of the extras, which is great. The extras include several relatively short (about 5 minutes or so) behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. All totaled, the extras add up to about an hour's worth of material.

Chances are, if you liked the first movie in the new group, you will like this one. If you thought they should have just left the franchise alone, then chances are you will still feel that way watching this one. All of the ethical questions from the previous movies, such as humans playing god, whether humans and dinosaurs can co-exist, etc, come back in this one. It is definitely an action movie, but it is also one that does try to make you think. In this one, more than in any of the other films (at least in my opinion) the dinosaurs are as much of, if not more, sympathetic characters as they are the scary monsters. If you are a fan of the franchise, this is worth watching.

 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Passengers (2016)

 

Passengers is a 2016 movie starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence (not to be confused with the 2008 film of the same name starring Anne Hathaway). This movie is partly a sci-fi space drama, partly an action movie, partly a romantic drama, and partly an ethical thought experiment. Pratt stars as Jim Preston, a mechanical engineer aboard a spaceship called the Avalon, traveling from Earth to a new, habitable planet 60 light-years away from Earth. Technology has advanced to the point where the trip only takes 120 years, so the passengers aboard the ship are put in a state of suspended animation for most of the trip with different passengers being awakened in stages when the ship is within a couple of years of its destination. During the voyage, the ship is struck by a wayward asteroid, which damages the ship and causes Preston to be awakened 90 years too early. For the first portion of the movie, it is just Pratt and Michael Sheen (who plays the ship's computer/butler, Arthur). Then, over the course of the movie, Jennifer Lawrence's character, Aurora Lane is awakened, as is Laurence Fishburne's character, Gus, who is the ship's deck officer. The movie transitions from a lost at-sea castaway kind of movie, to a romance movie, to a disaster movie all within the span of nearly four hours. 

For those who get the 4K blu-ray set, there are three discs. The 4k-UHD disc just has the movie, a 3D-Blu-Ray disc that again just has the movie, and a regular blu-ray disc that has the movie and all of the extras. The extras include four different making-of featurettes that range in length from four minutes to just over eleven minutes. Then there are about ten minutes of deleted scenes, a series of fake commercials promoting travel on The Avalon, a gag reel, and trailers for other movies. So, a decent amount is there for people who like watching the extras. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is wonderful, and the movie has a ton of great CGI visuals.

Ultimately, the movie is long but does not really feel as long as it is. It is paced very well, and while the story is definitely a bit predictable in parts, it is entertaining. Given that Pratt has to carry the first portion of the movie on his own, with only a handful of scenes with Michael Sheen playing opposite him, he does a very good job portraying a guy who slowly starts to go crazy. Jennifer Lawrence does a good job with her character once she "comes to life" and the action portion of the movie is good as well. It is definitely worth the time to watch.