Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Three years after the destruction of the theme park Jurassic World, a now-active volcano on Isla Nublar poses a serious threat to the dinosaurs still on the island. Wanting to save as many of these animals as possible, wealthy benefactor Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) hires former raptor trainer Owen (Chris Pratt) and former JW manager and now dinosaur activist Claire (Byrce Dallas Howard) to take a team to the island. However, once they arrive, it seems that not only is their task going to be a difficult one, but the people who hired them have ulterior motives for what they plan to do with these dinosaurs. The Indominus Rex was just the beginning.

A Monster Calls (2017) - Movie Review

With how many times the average person comes across it in a standard day, we tend to underappreciate the strength of storytelling. With the right words and imagery, something as mundane as what a person had for breakfast can tell some poignant things about the human condition. Or, at least, I’m assuming that’s the case; quite frankly, I can’t think of another reason why people seem to be so intent on sharing every single meal they ever have on social media.

 

But even that easy target, how people use social media, itself is a form of storytelling. Sometimes, it’s just to provide snapshots of a person’s life that might a few disparate thoughts into place and help things make a bit more sense. Other times, it’s to completely detach from the real world for a time, absorbing one’s self in the fantastical and frequently loopy details of fiction. But there are times when we tell each other stories, and even tell ourselves certain stories, because the reality that they represent is a little too confronting to take on without some form of filter. That particular situation will be the subject of today’s film; as someone who prides cinema as a highly effective method of storytelling, I’ll admit that I’m quite curious about how this will turn out.