Tag Archives: David Koepp

Jurassic World Rebirth

We have a new dinosaur movie Jurassic World Rebirth with Scarlett Johansson. Which begs the question: how good do the dinos look? Also, how good does ScarJo look?

Overall, the dinosaurs look pretty, pretty good! Some better than others. The key dinosaurs in the film are hybrids. Cross bred to create some new looks for dino fans. 

Zora Bennett (Johansson) is a mercenary who is recruited by drug company rep Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) to lead an expedition to an off-limits island in the North Atlantic. An incident caused human researchers to leave the island in the recent past. They also recruit a paleontologist, Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathon Bailey). Zora/Scarlett wears a few tight-fitting sleeveless tops that show off her figure. And she’s a pretty woman with a bright smile that turns up a time or two before the real action starts.

The mission’s goal is to extract blood from three different creatures: one from the sea, one from land and one from air (a bird or birdlike creature) on or around this island. Supposedly these bloods may be able to mitigate heart disease in humans.

Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) is the boat owner who is hired to pilot the expedition. He soon gets the team up close to a sea creature. In a harrowing sequence, Zora manages to procure a blood sample. Meanwhile, a family—dad, his two daughters and the older daughter’s stoner boyfriend—are sailing across the ocean. Suddenly their boat is capsized by the sea creature and they are rescued by our gang of adventurers and their crew.

As they approach the island, the family goes into the drink and is separated from the expedition crew. Both parties encounter perilous situations in the jungle. On the island, blood is taken from a land creature and from an air creature, the latter via a needle inserted into a dino egg. Mission accomplished? Gosh, no!

How will they all get off the island? And how will they escape the Distortus Rex, a huge and ugly dinosaur with a healthy appetite? This monstrous dino lopes like Godzilla but his (or her, maybe—how can you tell?) presence onscreen is one of the film’s money shots.

Jurassic World Rebirth was written by David Koepp who scripted the first two Jurassic movies back in the 90s. Gareth Edwards is the film’s director. His resumé includes Godzilla and Rogue One.

Why do another Jurassic movie? Hasn’t that intellectual property run its course? Two reasons: moviegoers—ticket buyers, that is—have in recent years been kind to films from franchises they’re familiar with. And today’s young movie fans want new dinosaur movies to give them a few jump scares and a few “ooh-aah” moments of their own (enjoyed with a tub of popcorn on their laps.) That first Jurassic Park movie came out 32 years ago!

Yes, we’ve seen movie dinosaurs before. And humans in danger in less than welcoming surroundings. Jurassic World Rebirth follows a familiar template. But it is fun and seems just right for some needed summer escapism.

Soundtrack is by Alexandre Desplat. And how about a hand for the sound design crew who make the speakers rattle? 

Jurassic World Rebirth runs two hours and fourteen minutes. It is rated PG-13. 

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Black Bag

Black Bag is compact. Tight. Succinct. Slick. Director Steven Soderbergh does not waste a frame in this 90-minute spy thriller. 

Plus it has a cool percussion heavy soundtrack from David Holmes who did those wonderful soundtracks for Soderbergh’s Ocean’s movies (11, 12 & 13.) Black Bag’s music has more of a 60s-70s feel to my ear.

From the opening shot of George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) walking through a boisterous nightclub for a meeting to the quieter setting of the dinner he serves his guests in his home, the story keeps you guessing as to what’s next and who’s the transgressor. Which is the point, right?

Woodhouse is charged with figuring out which of a list of intelligence operatives is sharing secrets with the other side. His methods include an uncomfortable game played with his dinner guests which takes a surprisingly violent turn.

Those guests from the spy agency include his wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela), Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page) and Dr. Zoe Vaughn (Naomie Harris). All of them, as well an agency guy played by Pierce Brosnan, are flawed and some of their missteps are known (or become known) to Woodhouse and to the film’s audience.

Revelations occur in sessions with therapist Dr. Vaughn, in interactions at agency HQ, via lie detector tests, via long distance observation of Kathryn’s visit to Geneva and even on a quiet lake in a fishing boat. And, of course, in private conversations between George and Kathryn.

Though marketing for Black Bag has stressed the issue of the married couple having to keep secrets from one another AND the issue of their not being able to completely trust the other partner, there’s more to the movie than that simple element.

Fassbender and Blanchett are both excellent in their roles and the other players make up a compelling ensemble. Soderbergh and writer David Koepp toss in Black Bag’s various narrative points at an occasionally rapid pace so don’t take a long potty break once the show starts.

Black Bag is rated R.

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Premium Rush

“Premium Rush” is a movie my sons would’ve loved when they were 11 or 12. The movie is kinetic. It rarely stops moving. And some of the bike stunts are really cool. The title refers to the priority delivery status of a package, but it can also describe the adrenaline flow the movie sets off.

The film has hip younger characters, bumbling older characters, a friendly rivalry, a hint of romance, a bit of mystery, several chuckles and danger on many fronts. (Its rating is PG-13.)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a bicycle courier in Manhattan. He does all the things that give some urban cyclists a bad rep: running red lights, riding between lanes of auto traffic, riding against the flow of traffic, taking to the sidewalk when the road is clogged, etc. He has no gears and no brakes on his bike.

The story revolves around one important delivery that has to go from Columbia Law School to Chinatown during afternoon rush hour. Michael Shannon is a crooked NYPD detective who wants to intercept the package, in order to pay off a gambling debt. “The Daily Show’s” Aasif Mandvi is the courier service’s dispatcher.

From the excellent opening shot, which shows Gordon-Levitt floating through the air in slow motion, director David Koepp takes us back a few hours to set everything up. He picks up from that slo-mo float to get us to the climax. The out-of-sequence storytelling works well.

If you’ve ever driven in Manhattan, you may have experienced bicyclists darting in and out amongst heavy traffic. “Premium Rush” depicts that reckless behavior with multiple shots of the bike riders in precarious situations on crowded streets. Gordon-Levitt’s risky riding is further revealed via many POV shots. One effective technique shows him speculating—in a split second—his chances of success among several options for getting through a congested intersection.

Will those over the ages of 11 and 12 like “Premium Rush?” I think yes. The action blends well with the storytelling. As a bike rider who prefers the Katy Trail, the idea of racing through the streets of NYC is frightening. But the vicarious thrill I get from this movie is a rush.

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