Gold

This review is going to venture into spoiler territory. I really tried not to, but a lot of Matthew McConaughey's good acting comes into play about ten minutes from the end of the film.

Matthew McConaughey has had a good run over the last five years. He has successfully rebranded himself as a serious actor who is able to handle fare that is outside the surf-rom-com flicks that made him famous. Because of this turnaround, I think that there is a lot of unwarranted pressure for every performance he gives to be bigger and better than the last. While the performance in Gold isn't his best, the character he plays is very captivating and surprisingly original (only partly original, but I'll get to that).

Kenny Wells (McConaughey) is an unlucky businessman whose family has been in the prospecting business for four generations. After his family business fails, he finds himself working out of a small bar in Reno, Nevada, trying to get backers on potential mining claims with little to no assurance that the sites he has chosen have any real mineral deposits. One night, he has a drunken dream about a geologist he once met and a potential claim in Indonesia. Pawning all the gold he has, Wells hopes on a plane to Indonesia to hunt down Michael Acosta (Édgar Ramírez), the geologist from his dream. Together they journey into the jungles of Borneo and and stumble across the biggest gold find of the decade.

It really made me happy that Gold was pretty original. While it is based on an actual tale that happened in Indonesia in the early 90s, only key elements are really taken from that and even then things have been changed. The first half of the movie is definitely the strongest part. It is a fun jungle adventure with hints of Apocalypse Now, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park. It is as if director plucked the essence of the jungle scenes that appear in those movies and used it to lay a familiar setting that we can feel comfortable with. The other good part comes at the end of the film, where it turns out that there was no gold claim at all and Acosta just faked the fact that there was a deposit where he said there was. He did this through a con called salting (it's pretty cool). Not only is this twist and the end of the film pretty awesome (the whole time we're assured that there is gold), but McConaughey is amazing as a man who has just been betrayed by someone who he thought was his best friend. The movie starts out with what we think is narration by Wells, but we learn at the end is actually an FBI interview to see if he is guilty of fraud.

Gold really struggles during the middle and lead up to the twist reveal. It switches from not quite adventure movie to slow business drama. There's a lot of talking about who to sell the gold to and people taking advantage of Wells. It becomes really quite boring. There is an imitation of The Wolf of Wall Street as we see Wells claw his way back to the top, but we've seen that in countless movies before and since then and this doesn't add anything new. There are countless supporting characters who get lost in the mix and it's quite disappointing considering the fact that they are played by well known actors like Stacy Keach and Corey Stoll. These actors are wasted talents in this movie, especially Bruce Greenwood, who at least tries to stick out with a decent South African accent, but is hampered by having only three scenes in the movie. I will praise Toby Kebbell however, for his tiny role as the sympathetic FBI agent.

While Gold has some good elements, it focuses on all the boring parts of the story. The relationship between Wells and Acosta gets buried by focusing too much on the business side of things, which while helpful in setting up the twist, is a tiring time to get through. Stellar performances from the three leads (McConaughey, Howard, Ramírez) are cancelled out by the many mediocre ones.

Pete's Dragon

A heartwarming tale of a boy and his pet, Pete's Dragon remakes an eccentric piece of Disney canon into a fresh and modern live-action family flick. Despite the story being somewhat predictable and relying on classic tropes from similar stories, Pete's Dragon amplifies the connections felt between humans and their pets into the realm of fantasy, while also staying somewhat grounded with a realistic, modern complication.

Young boy Pete (Oakes Fegley) finds himself orphaned and alone in the forest after a tragic motor accident kills his parents, until he finds and befriends a fluffy green dragon, whom he names Elliott. Years later, forest ranger Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) discovers Pete as she looks to protect the forest's animals and their habitats from deforestation. Soon after, Grace and her future daughter-in-law Natalie (Oona Laurence) discover Pete's secret companion, and look to protect him after locals discover his existence and look to hunt him down.

Pete's Dragon starts surprisingly dark, displaying the car accident which kills Pete's mother and father and leaves him stranded and alone deep in the forest. Through this scene setting, audiences instantly grow deeply sympathetic and compassionate for Pete, and his amiable bond with his dragon buddy becomes justified. Though this quickly peters into a somewhat trademark story of the hunting and protection of an actually harmless beast, this ingrained value of a boy's connection with his pet carries the story forwards and tugs at the heartstrings.

The CGI design of Elliott is stunning, with realistic and believable movement and detailed body design. Oakes Fegley's surprisingly solid acting in cohesion with the CGI dragon lets us closely understand the supposed bond between the two and easily forget that it's simply a child actor interacting with what is probably just a guy in a motion capture suit. Bryce Dallas Howard fits the classic lead of a young, beautiful woman with a unique job perfectly, using her inherent skill in showing emotion to identifiably connect with the deeper themes of love apparent between Pete and his dragon.

Overall, Pete's Dragon is a great example of one of those "Come for the CGI, stay for the story" flicks, with a strong amount of family enjoyment to be had. Adults and children alike can understand Pete's bond with his dragon, just as many people connect with their own pets, and this integral love and affection becomes the driving force for the film's complications. Despite the use of perhaps one too many cinematic tropes, Pete's Dragon is sure to pleasantly satisfy audiences of all ages.

Jurassic World

So I've shown time and again that I am a huge fan of the Jurassic Park movies. I grew up as a dinosaur kid and the movies really did feed my desire to want to be a palaeontologist (I've since discovered that movies have impacted those desires and choices). The last movie in the series was a bit of a departure from the whole trying to build a dinosaur theme park. This movie sets that all back on track. 

In Jurassic World, the theme park has been running for quite a few years. It is headed by ambitious Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) whose estranged nephews Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) are coming to stay for a week. Elsewhere on the island, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a Velociraptor expert has being training a team of raptors under the watchful eye of InGen head of security Vic Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio). Claire is also getting ready to reveal a new attraction in the park; the first genetically engineered dinosaur created by Dr Henry Wu (B.D. Wong), a process the park owner, Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), has come to oversee. As usual nothing goes to plan.

It is very enjoyable for me to see a functional Jurassic Park (or World in this case). The park has some super enjoyable attractions, such as the rides and attractions that John Hammond would have wanted. There is even a super cute petting zoo for the kids. Of course we get to see the complete destruction of all of this. The action that happens is really fun and completely ridiculous. At one stage a velociraptor is riding the back of a T.Rex and there are many other moments that are just mindblowingly exciting. There are also dozens of references back to the original film. Some are glaringly obvious (they visit the abandoned original Welcome Centre) and some of the imagery is reminiscent of shots from that one.

I have a few minor gripes with the movie. One is that there are way too many characters. They all are introduced rather quickly and we have to juggle where they all fit in. There is also not too much care given to the minor characters who we are teased with interested backstories but not developed at all. The characters I wanted to see to see more of were Masrani as he takes over the role of charming head and plays the character exactly the same as Richard Attenborough. Also Jake Johnson and Lauren Lapkus play park controllers that provide great comedic relief. B.D. Wong is the only actor to return from the original film, but his character is tarred as a bad guy, which is a shame because I have always loved Dr Henry Wu. A lot of people have also criticised the ridiculous ending, but I just laughed the entire time.

Chris Pratt continues to be the charming action movie lead and it really works to his benefit. He's serious demeanour also adds some variation. Bryce Dallas Howard acts well, but her character's clothing choices are questionable. I didn't even recognise Vincent D'Onofrio in his role and I feel so ashamed. Simpkins and Robinson are okay, but I felt as though their main purpose was just character motivation. Again Irrfan Khan provides some great moments.

All in all, Jurassic World is a lot of fun. It may not be scientifically accurate, but it's a fun ride. There are some romantic elements that are pointless. I thought that this movie would be a perfect opportunity to use something like this.