At the cinema: Jurassic World
You’ve got to hand it to Steven Spielberg and Universal Pictures. Audience interest in Jurassic Park movies tailed off after the third one in 2001 – the wow factor was gone, and fans couldn’t get excited about another serving of dino mayhem on a tropical island. Funny what a difference 14 years makes. That’s ample time for nostalgia to kick in, and fan anticipation for this franchise revival could hardly be higher. The premise for Jurassic World is plenty ingenious: to reinvigorate customer excitement about the titular theme park, the owners have come up with a new attraction – Indominus Rex, a genetically mutated super dinosaur. Obviously, it escapes. Less obviously, it turns out to be a super-intelligent, chameleonic creature, more than capable of outwitting the feeble humans. Luckily, hunky Chris Pratt (Guardians Of The Galaxy) is on hand, a dino trainer whose favourite velociraptors may be the best hope of survival for the various humans – notably park manager Bryce Dallas Howard and her two nephews. Jurassic World hardly reinvents the wheel, but it’s a skilful reboot, and we’re glad to have the dinos back.
On DVD: Kingsman: The Secret Service
Back in January, when all the worthy Oscar-bait movies were competing for cinemagoers’ attention, a film of a wholly different hue landed in the plexes. From Kick-Ass creative duo Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, Kingsman: The Secret Service offered another comic-book adaptation, this time about a council-estate teen (Taron Egerton) recruited to join a posh English intelligence agency by sharp-suited spy Colin Firth. The film also features Samuel L Jackson as a lisping techno villain, plus Michael Caine and Mark Strong. Director Vaughn delights in pushing his films into outrageous areas, while always maintaining a commercially accessible tone – he takes risks where rival Hollywood action films fear to go, while carrying a large audience along with him. He’s one of the few mainstream film-makers putting a really distinctive stamp on his material, and Kingsman delivers a whole lot of entertaining fun, while making the odd mis-step along the way. Definitely one to check on DVD or VOD. Oh, and Taron (actually aged 25, thankfully), we have our eye on you.
On TV: Magic Mike (Sunday, Channel 4, 10.00pm)
When Channing Tatum’s past as a male stripper was exposed, the actor proved refreshingly unembarrassed – he used to take his clothes off and bust a few sexy moves to make a living, big deal. In fact, he exploited the revelation, turning movie producer to put his life story on the screen. The result was Magic Mike, directed by posh Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh, who helped turn a low-budget US indie into a major box-office hit. Despite the title, the story turns out to be more about raw recruit Adam, who joins Mike’s (Channing’s) erotic dance troupe. Fun times, then not-so-fun times, ensue. Magic Mike XXL hits cinemas on July 3, and the sequel proves to be naughtier, funnier, saucier than the vaguely gritty original. If you somehow missed Magic Mike first time around, here’s your chance to catch up before the new one arrives. Incidentally, Alex Pettyfer, not always to be relied on for good acting (In Time, yikes) is pretty fine in this.