Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom: Even as someone who is typically delighted by shiny, stupid blockbuster spectacle, I can't pretend like the Jurassic World films aren't starting to test my patience. Fallen Kingdom doubles down on the braindead lunacy of the original while cutting the entertainment value in half. Moving the action away from a relatively contained island setting to the sprawling mainland is a cool idea that results in some thrilling sequences, but for some inexplicable reason, these well-executed bits of dino action are often pushed aside for a ludicrous, human-centric story involving black market auctions, secret cloning experiments and another round of bizarre detours into family melodrama territory. At this point, I'm just curious to see how much further up the absurdity ladder Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow can go before this series comes to an end. If Chris Pratt ends up jumping off a motorcycle and roundhouse kicking a rogue raptor in the face at some point, I will instantly become the biggest Jurassic World fan on the planet.
Grade: C+
Sicario: Day of the Soldado: Concocting a sequel to a widely-acclaimed film is a frightening task, especially when some key players (Emily Blunt, Denis Villenuve) aren't returning to the fold. Fortunately, the creative team behind Day of the Soldado handled the challenge admirably and ended up delivering a film that helped solidify the excellence of the Sicario brand. Director Stefano Sollima establishes a tense, uneasy tone throughout, just about every performance is top-notch and writer Taylor Sheridan does an excellent job of crafting an efficient story that showcases the morally dubious actions of both the United States government and Mexican drug cartels. It's far from a pleasant watch, but I still really enjoyed it.
Grade: B+
The First Purge: In the postmortem of Donald Trump being elected President, many people on social media predicted that the guaranteed turbulence of his presidency would result in the creation of a lot of great art from people that were disgusted by his election. Since that fateful day in November 2016, The Purge series is the only piece of politically-charged art that I've come across that I believe has flourished as a result of Captain Crowdsize's presence in the Oval Office. At a period of time where people from both sides of the aisle take to the hub of subtlety otherwise known Twitter to talk politics, this blunt critique of classism gets its message across in an appropriately nuance-free fashion. The First Purge continues this trend of capturing the ugly pulse of our royally fucked-up nation with another round of messy yet ultimately effective social commentary brilliantly juxtaposed with schlocky action and horror atmosphere.
This prequel retains the formula laid down by the two prior sequels by following a group of disenfranchised people that come under siege during a 12 hour period of government-ordered where all crime is legal, but thanks to some nice touches in James DeMonaco's script, the storytelling becomes more effective. By disclosing how the New Founding Fathers ensured the Purge would turn into a nationwide phenomenon and adding some heft to the observations about how the government exploits poor people in this country and why these individuals are often forced to turn to crime as a result of that infrastructural neglect, make the events of the film that much more unsettling and haunting.
The First Purge's increased emotional resonance is further aided by the strength of its protagonists. Dimitri (Y'Lan Noel) and Nya (Lex Scott Davis) are the smartest, strongest and most engaging characters this franchise has featured thus far. Both actors do a great job of allowing their character's motivations to evolve on the fly once they discover what's really occurring on Purge night while also possessing the effortless likability that makes you really care about these people's safety once the insanity ratchets up in the third act.
As over-the-top as the content of the Purge series tends to be, I have to applaud DeMonaco, Jason Blum, Gerard McMurray and everyone else that has helped bring these movies to the big screen. Shining a light on a largely ignored issue that's arguably the source of America's biggest institutional problem through a series of action horror flicks that have continued to get more assured and potent as they've gone along is a hell of an accomplishment that seemed inconceivable to me when it started five years ago. I have no idea how I would feel about these movies if they were released in a different political climate, but right now, these visceral, heavy-handed reminders of this country's sinister institutional flaws that also serve as a rallying cry for citizens to go out and fight like hell to evoke positive change are pure zeitgeist poetry.
Grade: A-
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