FILM REVIEW: THE END OF OAK STREET (12A) ESP RATING: 4/5
- Gavin Miller
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
This fast-moving sci-fi action-thriller is easily more fun than the recent Jurassic World movies.
It definitely has the vibes of producer JJ Abrams’ highly-acclaimed works like Cloverfield and Super 8, as a mysterious cosmic event brings dinosaurs into suburban America – more specifically 1982-set Michigan.
The Platt family seem like the perfect picket-fence foursome – parents Greg (Ewan McGregor) and Denise (Anne Hathaway), along with their teenage kids Audrey (Maisy Stella), Brian (Christian Convery) and dog Starbuck – but behind the smiles, all is not well with the married couple.
They constantly quarrel with Greg losing his main job and working all hours as pizza delivery driver to keep the family afloat, and aspiring author Denise writes a novel in secret, aspiring for something to break the monotony.
But that plotline soon takes a back seat to simply staying alive, as overnight their neighbourhood is surrounded by prehistoric life. Some familiar – T-Rex, Pterodactyls – and some refreshingly new – like a terrifying snake that makes Anaconda look like a baby.
And as people in the community of Oak Street start getting eaten, it comes to fruition that recent flashes of light may have been a wormhole that transported the neighbourhood millions of years into the past.
The family must then work together to try and survive this freak event, and through a bright and breezy hour and forty minutes, provides the perfect popcorn-crunching thrills and spills to make this a surprise summer cinematic treat.
It doesn’t have a lot of depth, but the ‘game’ cast – particularly Oscar-winner Hathaway – give it their all as director David Robert Mitchell (It Follows) and Abrams churn out a satisfying adventure that boasts some fantastic edge-of-your-seat action sequences.
Unfortunately it may not be abundantly clear to the uninitiated that this is a way grander dinosaur spectacle than may have been expected – as it was somewhat underplayed with the low-key trailers.
But rest-assured this is definitely the most absorbing prehistoric adventure since at least the first Jurassic World movie in 2015.
It comes highly recommended – and carries a very entertaining bite.
ESP Rating: 4/5
Gavin Miller
Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough & Odeon Luxe Peterborough, Out Now
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Ewan Mcgregor, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery, Pj Byrne, Jordan Alexa Davis, Emily Kuroda & Anne Gee Byrd
Running Time: 1 Hr 39 Mins
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Film Review Venue: Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough
For all the latest film information & showtimes at Peterborough’s Showcase Cinema De Lux & Odeon Luxe Cinemas go to www.showcasecinemas.co.uk and www.odeon.co.uk
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