BrentHankins

More than twenty years ago, Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park captivated audiences around the world, showcasing the most photorealistic depiction of dinosaurs ever realized on film, thanks to a combination of Stan Winston's animatronic creations and state- of-the-art CGI. Now, the park is open again for Jurassic World – but does this long- awaited sequel recapture the same magic?

Not quite, although Universal Pictures and director Colin Trevorrow certainly make a valiant attempt. Wisely ignoring the events of the second and third films in the franchise, Jurassic World takes place approximately twenty years after the original. Isla Nublar is now home to a sprawling resort that has been operating successfully for years – something like a combination of Disneyland and an animal safari park, but with the giraffes and elephants replaced by lumbering herbivores like triceratops and stegosaurus. There's even a Sea World-esque attraction where visitors can watch a mosasaurus burst out of the water to devour its dinner before splashing down and soaking the first few rows of spectators.

Jurassic World follows many of the same beats as the original film, but manages to never seem as though it's trying to replicate its predecessor. There are numerous homages to some of the most iconic scenes from Jurassic Park – some are clever winks to the die-hard fans, and some are very blatant references – but the near-constant fan service is a very welcome detail.

Regrettably, the movies falls a bit short in some places, not the least of which is the truly awful dialogue. We got a few glimpses of this in some of the film's trailers and TV spots, and viewers hoping that the most cringe-worthy moments were already revealed in the marketing will be in for some disappointment. Chris Pratt – so charismatic and charming in last year's Guardians of the Galaxy – is saddled with some of the worst bits, spending most of the film as a walking exposition machine. But co-star Bryce Dallas Howard doesn't fare much better, and most exchanges between their two characters will have eyes rolling toward the ceiling.

Another truly puzzling aspect of Jurassic World involves a bizarre subplot with an InGen employee (Vincent D'Onofrio) hoping to turn a velociraptor research study into a military training program, wherein the raptors could be conditioned to follow commands and be sent into war zones in place of ground troops. It's a completely ludicrous notion, and everything associated with this idea could easily have been excised from the film without losing anything important.

And while I understand the theme park is modeled after real-world locations with real-world business arrangements, there is an absurd amount of product placement in this film. At one point, after Claire (Howard) shows off the facility's research lab to a group of corporate representatives hoping to sponsor an upcoming attraction, she muses about having "Verizon Wireless presents" on the marquee. There's also the opulent Samsung Innovation Center, towering above the resort's hub area much like Cinderella's Castle at Disneyland, not to mention a slew of retailers and eateries that would be much more at home in a shopping mall than a theme park.

Aside from those admittedly large stumbling blocks, Jurassic World delivers pretty much everything fans could ask for. The number and variety of the dinosaurs has increased vastly over the original film, and the creatures are once again created through a combination of animatronics and CGI for a stunningly lifelike experience. And of course, there's the Indominus Rex, the park's first genetically engineered hybrid, which serves up most of Jurassic World's thrills and chills through a number of white-knuckle action scenes.

Audiences expecting Trevorrow and Universal to redefine the genre should probably temper their expectations before purchasing a ticket. The film is hampered by some major script issues that should have been addressed long before the cameras began to roll, but they're not enough to keep the experience from being enjoyable, and fans of the original film – and even its terrible sequels – should find plenty to love about Jurassic World.

Writing a review of a film for which I have no strong opinion is always something of a tedious task, but less than 48 hours after sitting through 20th Century Fox's Spy, I find myself having trouble recalling more than a handful of moments that truly resonated with me. The film marks the third team-up for director Paul Feig and funny lady Melissa McCarthy - the duo previously worked together on The Heat and Bridesmaids, which served as McCarthy's breakout role - and the formula is definitely beginning to wear out its welcome. This time around, McCarthy is Susan Cooper, a CIA agent who spends her time behind a desk as the handler for Bradley Fine (Jude Law), a dashing James Bond clone with whom Susan is smitten. When a mission goes wrong, Cooper volunteers to be sent into the field to clean things up - much to the surprise of her boss (Alison Janney) and Fine's rival, Rick Ford (Jason Statham). Cooper is tasked with keeping tabs on the daughter (Rose Byrne) of a wealthy arms dealer as she partners with an intermediary (Bobby Cannavale) to secure the sale of a nuclear weapon. If you're familiar with McCarthy's other work, then you can probably guess that she bumbles and fumbles her way through the mission, getting herself deeper entrenched in the dangerous world of espionage. The film takes a somewhat surprising twist around the halfway point, with Susan's personality undergoing a dramatic change that makes her interactions with the other characters infinitely more entertaining. This is also around the time that Spy significantly ramps up the action, including a wild chase scene through the streets of Budapest, complete with plenty of mayhem and collateral damage, and a hilarious hand-to-hand combat sequence in a restaurant's kitchen. Unfortunately, it takes entirely too long for Spy to get to this point, and sitting through the first hour is an exercise in perseverance. The action scenes and the added humor are a welcome addition, but as with most other movies about secret agents, the third act pulls out a couple of implausible surprises that strain credulity - even for an absurdly comic outing such as this one. But the biggest problem with Spy isn't the length or pacing - although both of those are big issues - it's that most of it feels bland and unimaginative. Take, for example, Susan's lecherous Italian wheelman (Peter Serafinowicz), who can't seem to keep his hands from wandering to her breasts and buttocks every few seconds. It's mildly amusing - if not a little creepy - the first time, but it quickly wears out its welcome by repeating endlessly. It just feels lazy, as if the writers couldn't be bothered with giving the character any personality traits other than this one. McCarthy is about as good as can be expected, but she's not really stretching the limits of her range here, and Law is well-cast as the mischievous and debonair secret agent archetype. But the film's funniest moments come courtesy of Byrne and Statham, the latter of which is at his absolute comedic best in a role that can only be described as a swaggering, foul-mouthed version of Inspector Clouseau. Spy is neither a great film, nor a terrible film - it merely exists, and seems to perfectly comfortable with that achievement alone. Moments of vapidity and comic brilliance are doled out in equal measure, with enough to ensure that audiences won't regret buying a ticket. But they likely won't be terribly excited about spending that ten bucks, either.

After a grueling journey from Scotland to America on a quest to reunite with his beloved, Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) crosses paths with a mysterious drifter named Silas (Michael Fassbender) in the forests of Colorado. It's fortuitous timing, as Jay has gotten himself into a bit of trouble, and Silas understands that violence is necessary in order to survive in the west - a concept which the timid youth struggles to grasp.

For a price, Silas offers to accompany Jay on his journey to locate his sweetheart - although as we learn through a series of flashbacks sprinkled throughout the film, Rose (Caren Pistorius) may not be terribly excited to see Jay again. But she'll almost certainly be less excited by an introduction to Silas, who knows that a reward has been offered for the capture of Rose and her father (Rory McCann) in relation to a crime that occurred before their journey to America.

Further complicating matters is Payne (Ben Mendelsohn) and his group of bounty hunters, with whom Silas has a prior relationship. After crossing paths with Jay in the woods, Payne and his men seem to always be lurking just out of sight, lending the latter half of the film a near-constant sense of foreboding as we keep waiting for them to strike.

Slow West gradually peels back the layers of its narrative while constantly remaining focused on the burgeoning friendship between Jay and Silas. Despite his distaste for ferocity, Jay finds himself becoming increasingly reliant on Silas and his wisdom, while Silas tries to fight a growing desire to protect the boy from the dangers of a world he isn't prepared for.

Director John MacLean (who also wrote the screenplay) gives the quieter moments just enough room to breathe before punctuating them with instances of absurdly black humor or sudden, brutal flashes of violence, both of which seem to have been influenced by the likes of Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers. Of particular note is a tense, riveting shootout during the film's climax, featuring a moment so farcical that I burst out laughing in spite of the on screen carnage. It's the kind of thing only the most competent of filmmakers could get away with, and MacLean absolutely nails it.

But despite MacLean's prowess as a writer and director, Slow West ultimately succeeds on the strength of its cast, with Smit-McPhee as the wide-eyed innocent and Fassbender as the grizzled, trail-weary wanderer. Mendelsohn deserves a nod for being suitably creepy as the flick's sort-of villain, but at its heart, this is a coming-of-age story about a young man in need of a strong role model and father figure, who finds it in the most unlikely of places.