Dog’s Movie House: “Post Vacation Roundup!”

Howdy Folks!  It’s The Kendog!

Elastigirl Gets A New Set Of Wheels In “The Incredibles 2”

Sorry for the lateness of the output, but I have just recently returned from a glorious two week vacation in Maui with my lovely bride of 20 years!  Although I saw movies I didn’t think about a keyboard for a single minute of those two weeks.  With that in mind, some of the biggest movies of the year happened to come out during that time, so I’m gonna give you the quick and dirty on which films to see, with a continuing promise to be a little more on the ball when updating content!

First up is “The Incredibles 2,” which picks up right where the last movie left off.   This movie focuses on the fallout from the battle with The Underminer and a efforts of a billionaire (Bob Odenkirk) to get the government to make superheroes legal again.  This involves using Elastigirl as the face of the “Supers” (Mr. Incredible has a tendency to do a little too much property damage) while hubby Bob (Craig T. Nelson) is left at home raising the children, including a very powerful infant in the form of Jack-Jack.   In the meantime a new villain called ScreenSlaver has popped on the scene with some nefarious plans of his own.

This movie isn’t quite as good as the first film but it’s damn close.  One of the best films of the year so far, “The Incredibles 2” features everyone from the first film and some new characters who each have endearing arcs.  There’s more Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) and Edna (voiced by writer/director Brad Bird) and said writer/director has recovered nicely from the mess that was “Tomorrowland.”   There are a few surprises and a lot of heart all wrapped up in some beautiful animation and terrific set pieces that compete with anything Marvel Studios is pumping out.  Just a wonderful film for the whole family!   5 Out Of 5 On Kendog’s Barkometer!

https://youtu.be/nOF1SWfB5qE

Next up is “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” a movie that is mostly entertaining despite some interesting ideas that are only half-developed.  The plot involves rescuing the dinosaurs from Isla Nublar as the long dormant volcano is getting set to destroy the island.  Funded by an old partner of John Hammond’s (played by James Cromwell) returning stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt think they’re moving the dinos to new facility, but they get double crossed by Cromwell’s partner (Rafe Spall) and soon the surviving dinosaurs are being auctioned to the highest bidder to some nefarious characters in a secluded lab/castle in the Northern California woods.  What do you wanna bet the dinos escape and raise havoc on the estate?

https://youtu.be/GOXqAw-vkrk

The film is excellently directed by J.A. Bayona (“A Monster Calls) but the script by Colin Treverrow and Derek Connelly hits a view snags by throwing out so many ideas that some of them are way too underdeveloped to make much of an impact.  The acting is better this time around, with Pratt and Howard showing much better chemistry (even if some of the humor still falls a little flat)  Daniella Pineda all but steals the show as a tough-talking dino-vet, and veterans like Spall, Toby Jones, and Ted Levine are appropriately hissable villains.  The dinosaurs are the true stars of course, with terrific special effects and some pretty scary set pieces, especially toward the end of the film.  I for one would like to see ILM do the effects for a pseudo-documentary on the beasts without any humans involved at all.  But that’s just me.  As it stands, “Fallen Kingdom” is an entertaining enough film but won’t make anyone forget Spielberg’s 1993 masterpiece.   3 1/2 Out of Five on Kendog’s Barkometer!  So Sayeth The Kendog!