TMW #67: Jurassic World Rebirth, The Shrouds and Hot Milk reviewed
Plus, the biggest new trailers a chance to win David Fincher's Zodiac on 4K UHD!
In today’s roar-some review round-up, we’ve got a movie 65 million (and 32) years in the making, plus a sun-kissed debut and the return of a body horror master. Plus, you can win David Fincher’s sublime Zodiac on eye-popping 4K disc. Scroll down to enter, and don’t forget to like, share and/or comment while you’re at it.
Jurassic World Rebirth
12A, in cinemas now
⭐⭐☆☆☆
Midway into Jurassic World Rebirth, a character who’s been longing forever to see a dinosaur ‘in the wild’ finally gets their wish. Everything’s in place for the big moment: the FX are impeccable, the performance is earnest, the score does its best John Williams impersonation… but the feels are AWOL.
It’s a similar story throughout Gareth Edwards’ franchise extender, a technically competent, well-appointed action-adventure that’s less rebirth than rehash. But at least there aren’t any locusts. Nor, for that matter, much else that tethers the film to the last Jurassic trilogy, which reached a series nadir with 2022’s Dominion.
Dinosaurs no longer live among us, save for the odd ailing one causing massive New York gridlock. Thanks to climate change, the best place to find them now is the untamed tropics - just the spot for some back-to-basics storytelling (Edwards directs from a script by David Koepp, writer of the first two, Spielberg-directed Jurassic Parks).
Although the ‘basics’ here involve an unwieldy gaggle of new characters, divided into two groups. Our ‘A’ team comprises covert-ops specialist Zora (Scarlett Johansson), buddy-with-a-boat Duncan (Mahershala Ali), nervous paleontologist Henry (Jonathan Bailey), plus a few expendables, all hired by Big Pharma snake Krebs (Rupert Friend), whose arc is paved with corporate-dickwad cliches. On the ‘B’ team, meanwhile, we have a shipwrecked family - plus eldest daughter Teresa’s (Luna Blaise) layabout boyfriend Xavier (David Iacano) - whose reasons for being anywhere near such treacherous territory in the first place are so inexplicable, even the script can’t fathom them.
Team A’s mission is to extract DNA samples from a trio of dinos that’ll provide a major breakthrough in the treatment of heart disease. Of course, said dinos have to be alive and gnashing, which raises the stakes to cliff-top heights. And to keep things varied, the targeted beasts roam respectively by sea, land and air.
But with its stop-start momentum, telegraphed twists and general lack of anything fresh or unexpected, this box-ticking Jurassic jaunt leaves only the faintest mark in the space tagged ‘jeopardy’. Edwards’ world-building imagination ran wild in the uneven but frequently inspired The Creator. Here, disappointingly, he seems less focused on pushing envelopes than paying homage to Spielberg; given all the hat-tips in the previous World movies, the result is double deja-vu. Still, if one set-piece feels like a watered-down Jaws, another makes the best use of a life raft since Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
And while characterisation is hindered by hit-miss humour and cookie-cutter beats - predicting who dies and who’s encased in plot armour is child’s play - there are affable turns from Johansson, Ali, Bailey and Iacano. It also pleases to see a big-IP movie honour its standalone brief, with no obvious sequel-baiting - hopefully making it easier for the next iteration to carry off a genuine rebirth. (Matthew Leyland)
IN SHORT: A slick but underwhelming summer time-passer that’s like a theme-park ride you’ve been on so many times, the thrill is all but gone.
STAY FOR THE END CREDITS? No bonus footage, just lots of names. Turns out it takes a lot of people to create a load of photorealistic dinosaurs.
MONSTER MUNCH: Look out - not that you can miss it - for product placement linking big beasts and small sweets in a brazen manner not seen since the old Chewits ads.
Hot Milk
15, in cinemas now
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
While the title is never explicitly explained - in the film, nor the Deborah Levy novel it’s adapted from - it’s possible to interpret it as a maternal bond curdling in the sun. The film itself similarly resists easy interpretation, which will no doubt frustrate some, but if you can acclimatise to its wavelength and drift along with it, there’s something undeniably beguiling here. In large part that’s down to the enigmatic but compelling screen presence of Emma Mackey (Netflix’s Sex Education). She stars as Sofia, a young woman spending the summer in Almería with her unwell mother, Rose (Fiona Shaw, ferociously spiky). They’ve come to Spain seeking an unconventional treatment for Rose’s ailments - she’s unable to get out of her wheelchair, but there’s a lingering suspicion that the problem might be as much mental as physical.
Any opportunities for Sofia to grow have been stymied by a demanding role as a carer, so it’s understandable that she’s entranced by mysterious local Ingrid (Vicky Krieps), who gallops into her life via a horse ride on the beach and proves to be a largely unknowable to Sofia (and us) despite their erotic connection. The debut feature by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (writer of Ida and Disobedience), Hot Milk doesn’t yield answers easily, right down to a final scene with an unshown outcome, but it conjures an oppressively heady atmosphere and a keen sense of place, and there’s a really fascinating dynamic between Mackey and Shaw that feels lived in and raw. (Matt Maytum)
MORE MACKEY: For further evidence of Mackey’s considerable on-screen power, check out unconventional Brontë biopic Emily (2022), which deserved to be more widely seen. Currently streaming on Netflix.
The Shrouds
15, in cinemas now
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
David Cronenberg’s career-long obsession with the body reaches its (un)natural apotheosis with The Shrouds, a sombre meditation on grief wrapped up in a techno-thriller garb. Cronenberg vet Vincent Cassel (Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method) stars as the spectacularly named Karsh Relikh, a widower and the entrepreneur behind GraveTech, in that order. Powered by a state-of-the-art burial shroud, Karsh’s morbid invention streams a 3D live feed of his wife’s decomposing corpse to his phone at the touch of a button, allowing him to be “involved in her body the way I was in life, but even more”.
For Karsh, the technology is a comfort and a shackle: he can see his wife, Becca (Diane Kruger), at any time, but he can never move on – a state of limbo compounded by several layers of psychosexual strangeness. Not only does Becca have a twin sister, Terry (Kruger), who is very much alive, Karsh is visited by the decaying, ghostly vision of Becca in his dreams, while his animated AI assistant, Hunny, bears more than a passing resemblance to Becca (and is also voiced by Kruger). In other words, we’re in classic, Cronenbergian headfuck territory.
Penned by Cronenberg following the death of his wife of 43 years, there’s a tragedy to Karsh that comes from a place of aching emotional authenticity. Despite his financial success, Karsh moves through the world like a spectre, even taking a date to his wife’s burial plot during one darkly comic early scene, until an act of targeted vandalism reconfigures the film into something of a geopolitical conspiracy thriller.
Despite bringing Guy Pearce’s entertainingly twitchy tech-whiz Maury into the picture, The Shrouds is far less successful when it moves away from Karsh’s twisted emotional headspace, too knotty and elusive to satisfy as a pure thriller. It’s a film of modest scope, but there’s a sense of ambition outstripping reach here with one too many nation states invoked for a film shot in and around about six locations in Toronto.
It’s difficult to imagine The Shrouds converting anyone not already a card-carrying member of the cult of Cronenberg, but for completists, it’s a fascinating and raw late-career curio. (Jordan Farley)
SLIDING DOORS Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux were originally cast as Karsh and Becca, respectively, but both dropped out before filming.
Win a copy of David Fincher’s Zodiac on 4K UHD!
One of auteur David Fincher’s finest films, the superbly crafted thriller Zodiac comes to 4K Ultra HD for the first time on 7 July. First released in 2007 to great acclaim and accolades galore, it features an outstanding ensemble cast led by Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., and Chloë Sevigny.
Gyllenhaal stars as a San Francisco newspaper cartoonist who becomes obsessed with discovering the identity of the notorious real-life Zodiac Killer. Based on the non-fiction bestseller by Robert Graysmith, Fincher’s film has been hailed for its meticulously researched attention to detail and impeccable craftsmanship.
The 4K UHD release includes both the theatrical version and 162-minute director’s cut of the film, as well as a host of extras. There’s a commentary by Fincher, plus another featuring Gyllenhaal, Downey Jr and crime novelist James Ellroy.
For a chance to win a 4K UHD copy of this five-star modern classic, email themoviewingman@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Zodiac competition’ before 8am on Monday 14th July. The winners will be chosen at random. UK entrants only. The judge’s decision is final.
Trailer Club
We know Glen Powell is in demand right now, but this is ridiculous: in Edgar Wright’s take on Stephen King’s novel, all of America is hunting the Twisters star down. Good news is, if he survives 30 days, he’ll be crowned champ of the titular game show (hosted with booming gusto by Colman Domingo: “Bloodlust is our birthright!”). Is Wright on to a winner? On this evidence, his vision of a reality-TV dystopia looks different enough from the 1987 version, while honouring that Arnie classic’s commitment to crunching ultra-violence, ostentatious satire and giant explosions. Speaking of the big fella, keep the pause button handy for a lightning-quick Easter egg…Will there be more? Or like Buzzsaw, will he have to split? We’ll find out on 7 November…
Project Hail Mary has impeccable credentials: Ryan Gosling stars, Sandra Hüller provides authoritative support, Lord and Miller direct, it’s based on a book by the author of The Martian, adapted by the screenwriter of The Martian… but can this sci-fi of ideas take off at the box office? We’ll find out in March…
The reunion of the director (Joachim Trier) and star (Renate Reinsve) of The Worst Person in the World guaranteed we’d be seated. Throw in Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning and a meta filmmaking angle and Sentimental Value looks unmissable…
The first trailer for the second feature-length adaptation of The Cat in the Hat shows off a cel-shaded animation style, and features fart gags, plenty of rhymes and the titular feline being pepper-sprayed. There’s also an abundance of Things, looking to muscle in on the Minions’ market share…
A mere half-minute long, the Eyes of Wakanda tease doesn’t reveal much except the Marvel show’s lush animation style. It’s exec-produced by Ryan Coogler, in case you missed the ginormous messaging.
Elsewhere in the MCU, following last week’s ‘final’ Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer comes a ‘First Look’ - like a trailer, but with the filmmakers offering their two cents.
Hold on to your tiaras… here’s the second trailer for Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, featuring society-threatening scandal (“She’s divorced!!”), tributes to Maggie Smith and the return of Paul Giamatti.
Taron Egerton and his young moppet have what looks like the most fraught daddy-daughter day ever in the first trailer for thriller She Rides Shotgun…
Well-received at last year’s TIFF, Relay sees fixer Riz Ahmed running (and gunning) to the aid of whistleblower Lily James. David Mackenzie’s first film since 2018’s Outlaw King, it’s based on Justin Piasecki’s Black List-ed screenplay…
Just watched heads of state good popcorn movie
The Running Man trailer looks epic let’s hope the film lives up to the trailer.