It’s shocking that in the 33 years since the release of Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, filmmakers have been unable to make a good “man vs. dinosaur” movie. That inability is even more apparent considering there have been six more Jurassic films, all of which run the gamut from “okay” to–in the case of the Jurassic World franchise–”unspeakably lame”. It’s what makes It Follows’ writer-director David Robert Mitchell’s new film The End of Oak Street all the more refreshing due to simply how much fun it is, even if it relies heavily on well-worn inspiration.
Set in 1982 in the fictional town of Flowervale, the film starts off with a neighbourhood cookout where we’re introduced to the Platt family: Greg (Ewan McGregor), Denise (Anne Hathaway), their two kids, Audrey (Maisey Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), as well as their dog Starbuck. Upon first glance, they seem like the ideal family; a quick look below the surface shows the fractures in their dynamic.
Greg is secretly delivering pizzas to make ends meet after being laid off while Denise surreptitiously writes a novel heavily inspired by her unhappiness in their relationship, Audrey can’t afford to go to her dream college, and Brian is on the run from a childhood bully. Each of these relatively big problems is about to become a lot smaller when, one night, a mysterious bright light ends up transporting the Platts’ entire neighbourhood back 200 million years to the prehistoric era.
Both Mitchell and producer J.J. Abrams proudly wear their Amblin influence on their sleeve, and it can strongly be felt all throughout the entirety of the film, whether it’s through the 80s aesthetic, the main theme of a broken family coming together, or even Michael Giacchino’s score that sounds like a lost John Williams theme.
Where The End of Oak Street differs from other Spielberg-influenced flicks (including Abrams’ own Super 8) is that it doesn’t feel like it calls attention to the nostalgia. Rather, The End of Oak Street feels like it could naturally live among the early Amblin catalogue. Each of the characters is charming and pretty well-developed thanks to the great cast, even when the script calls for them to make some wildly stupid decisions at times. Anne Hathaway in particular continues her incredible year with a very demanding performance, both physically and emotionally.
But what really impressed me the most was how The End of Oak Street was not afraid to get mean with it. Even for a PG-13 rating, Mitchell pushes that rating to the limit with some surprisingly gory kills courtesy of the many dinosaurs terrorizing the neighbourhood. There’s one especially nasty kill that had the audience going ballistic, myself included.
“Where The End of Oak Street differs from other Spielberg-influenced flicks (including Abrams’ own Super 8) is that it doesn’t feel like it calls attention to the nostalgia.”
Even during the film’s slower moments, you can still hear the unsettling soundscapes of dinos in the background hunting down other people and animals, many of whom don’t make it. Also, there’s no other way to say this, but there’s a hilarious beat involving two dinosaurs getting “romantic”, if you will. Additionally, the many chase scenes are very fun, and the scale of these creatures tearing up suburbia is well captured on an IMAX screen, thanks to cinematographer Michael Gioulakis.
Clocking in at 1hr 40, there’s very little fat to chew. The End of Oak Street doesn’t spend much time at all trying to explain why this is happening or how the time travel works outside of a Carl Sagan name-drop. It does mean that the story relies heavily on convenience, but that doesn’t fall out of line with the ridiculousness of the premise to begin with. There were rumours that this was another stealth Cloverfield film, which I can say with certainty it isn’t. It’s purely its own thing.
Overall, The End of Oak Street is a great late-summer surprise. It’s exactly the kind of modernized old-school blockbuster that knows exactly what it is, and is perfectly content being the wild roller-coaster ride it is, and nothing else.
