THE PLOT
After a catastrophic crash on an unknown planet, pilot Mills quickly discovers he’s actually stranded on Earth - sixty-five million years ago. Now, with only one chance at rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa, must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight to survive.
QUICK REVIEW
If you’ve been reading this newsletter or following me on social media, you know what a big fan of creature features I am. After all the Godzilla franchise is the reason I became a cinephile. So you know I was excited when I heard a new film was coming out with Adam Driver fighting Dinosaurs.
But the film’s marketing has been hyping this up as something akin to a Jurassic Park type of film when in reality its more along the lines of a survival movie that just happens to have Dinosaurs show up every now and then. Though there is a pretty thrilling finale sequence that feels very much like more of what the marketing was selling.
This film has not had the confidence from the studio. There were virtually no screenings, the embargo dropped during Thursday night previews, there’s been no marketing, and they’re releasing the movie on the same weekend that the new Scream is going to control the box office. And as I write this the film is getting woeful reviews.
I can see from an objective standpoint why. We’re not exactly talking one of Driver’s greatest performances, the CGI and Dinosaur designs are generic at best, the story beats are very familiar and predictable, and there’s more walking around a forest than there is Dino action.
But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to enjoying this. Maybe I’m just that much of a sucker for creature features, but I liked the background of our main protagonist and how it tied to the child he had to escape Earth with. The film’s direction is pretty good in my opinion, and I genuinely was on the edge of my seat for the very action packed finale.
I think ultimately creature feature fanboys like me will generally like this, but I can see why it might not be others’ cup of tea. I’m sorry but honestly I had more fun with this than the new Scream flick that will undoubtedly get more money and attention than this seems destined to.
INTIAL GRADING