Joey Magidson
Dinosaurs are scary again! Now, I have a very soft spot in my heart for the Jurassic Park / Jurassic World franchise, but with the exception of the original film, none of them have been fully successful, or really struck any fear into your heart. The End of Oak Street is very different than those movies, owing as much to Land of the Lost as the Jurassic flicks, but this is as indebted to Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin Entertainment as anything I’ve seen in years. In terms of pure summer science fiction entertainment? This is aces.
The End of Oak Street absolutely rips, mixing an Amblin sense of fun and family dynamics with dinosaurs that aren’t just scary, but actually feel dangerous. Pushing the PG-13 rating to the absolute limit, every moment in this film feels designed to give summer audiences what they want. That it’s able to do so in consistently surprising ways is just a bonus. Few movies can manage to deliver on expectations while also upending them. A summer blockbuster? That’s even rarer, and part of what sets this one apart from the pack.
Set in a Detroit suburb in 1982, the Platt family appears to be having a lovely and normal summer. However, even during a fun day, cracks are showing. Parents Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) are fighting, with her writing a thinly veiled book about her unhappiness, while he’s delivering pizzas to as a purported second job, hiding the fact that he’s been laid off. Daughter Audrey (Maisy Stella) feels left out from the popular crowd and son Brian (Christian Convery) has been getting into trouble, so there’s lots going on with the Platts, even including the mischievous family dog Starbuck. Then, one night a cosmic event transports their suburban neighborhood to someplace unknown.
It takes a bit for the Platt family, as well as their neighbors, to realize that they’ve been transported, but it becomes quite clear when the streets are overrun with dinosaurs. Now, it’s a fight for survival, one that will need them to band together in order to survive. Of course, their problems haven’t gone away either, so the giant carnivores roaming the neighborhood only add to the troubles. Taking on a teen girl in Jeannette Christiansen (Jordan Alexa Davis) who has lost her parents, the Platts try to figure out what’s going on, and if there’s any way out of this mess.
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor are very good here, with Hathaway especially having far more to do than other films of this ilk would give her. Hathaway gets to play both determined and vulnerable, scared yet also fiercely protective of her family. You buy her terror as well as the immediacy with which she takes up arms. McGregor is the good cop in the family, more of a buddy at times to his son than a father, but when things get hairy, you see him at his best. Together, their spousal dynamic is compelling, even when they argue. The kids are slightly more stock characters, but they’re still enjoyable to watch in their fight for survival. Hathaway and McGregor are just the highlights. Supporting players include Anne Gee Byrd, P.J. Byrne, Emily Kuroda, Hudson Meek, and more.
Filmmaker David Robert Mitchell blew me away with his sophomore effort It Follows, and while this is far bigger of a film, it feels like the more natural follow up than Under the Silver Lake. Here, he’s able to work in humor far more successfully, especially as a way to cut the tension. Visually, Mitchell and cinematographer Mike Gioulakis homage Steven Spielberg with how they hide the dinosaurs for a while. Not only is there practical reasons at play, it also ramps up the terror, as the danger is often just out of sight. Add in Michael Giacchino’s terrific score and you’re on the edge of your seat. Mitchell’s screenplay doesn’t feel the need to explain everything, giving you just enough to not feel like he’s not playing fair. Plus, there’s an amazing use of the Steve Winwood song Valerie at a perfect moment. Now, the climax of the movie may prove divisive, but I was quite pleased with how he chose to bring things home.
The End of Oak Street rules, plain and simple. Fun, scary, and wildly creative in how it tells what easily could have been a derivative story, I had an absolute blast. Spielberg should be writing a blank check to David Robert Mitchell in order to convince him to helm the next Jurassic World flick, though I sure hope Mitchell follows the beat of his own drummer (and gets around to They Follow). This is the kind of movie that summer sci-fi blockbusters were always meant to be. What a satisfying film!
SCORE: ★★★1/2
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