It’s no surprise, then, that the streaming service leapt at the chance to make the siblings’ next planned film, an adaptation of Simon Stålenhag’s illustrated novel ‘The Electric State’.
The pair has already cast Millie Bobbie Brown and Chris Pratt (because they seemingly refuse to make a film post-Avengers without one of the Marvel heroes in it) in the movie.
Stålenhag’s lushly illustrated novel is set in a post-apocalyptic 1997 and tells the story of a teenage girl (Brown) who realizes that a strange but sweet robot who comes to her has actually been sent by her missing brother. She and the robot set out to find the brother in an imaginative world of humans mixing with all manner of tech, uncovering a grand conspiracy in the process.
Stanley Tucci in 2017’s ‘Transformers: The Last Knight.’
Regular Russo writing collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely wrote the script for the new movie after their company, AGBO, snapped up the rights and quickly sold a package including the writers, directors and Brown to Universal.
Yet it didn’t quite coalesce there, and, with the deal back up for grabs, Netflix locked it down. “This is a very human story about a teenage girl with all the powers of a teenage girl and nothing more,” Markus told Deadline around the time of the Universal deal. “Another thing we are really proud of when it comes to this story is all the major characters, barring one supporting character, are women which is super exciting to be involved in.”
There are no details of who the new arrivals might be playing, though Deadline’s report on the latest casting mentions that Cox and Slate will be lending their voices to CG characters.
And even though Netflix might love for the AGBO team to start work on the ‘Gray Man’ sequel and spin-off that was announced in the wake of its streaming success, this is certainly an intriguing prospect that is now crammed full of great actors.
Yeoh, of course, is a veteran enjoying current success with ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’. Cox is the foul-mouthed patriarch at the heart of HBO hit ‘Succession’. Tucci needs little introduction but was most recently seen on the big screen in a small role for ‘The King’s Man’. Alexander, most famous for ‘Seinfeld’ on TV, worked on comedy pic ‘Faith Based’. And Slate can be heard in ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’ (and has a quick role in ‘Everything Everywhere’, where she causes trouble for Yeoh’s Evelyn.
Set to kick off shooting this fall, there’s no word yet of a date for ‘The Electric State’.
There was a time when Chris Pratt was rumored to be taking on a wide variety of roles.
That time was during his peak career moment, around the first ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ movie and ‘Jurassic World’, where he’d successfully made the leap from character actor and TV sitcom star to bona fide action hero.
One of the biggest rumors was a Deadline story that had Pratt under consideration by Disney to take over playing Indiana Jones were Harrison Ford to decide he didn’t want the job going forward. The rumors persisted, though cooled off more recently after Pratt’s clout began to wane slightly.
Add to that, the general reaction online to anyone – but Pratt in particular – picking up the whip was negative, which probably didn’t help move anything along.
Asked about the concept, Pratt initially brushed it off with a joke about never having talked to one of the main people who would be making the decision as to the next fedora wearing hero.
“I don’t even know who Steven Spielberg is. Who? Steven Who?” laughed the actor. “No, aren’t they doing Indiana Jones with Harrison Ford?” (Given his role in the ‘Jurassic’ movies, we’re fairly sure he has Spielberg’s phone number, since the latter is one of the producers).
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’
“All I know,” Pratt adds, “is once I saw a quote from Harrison Ford and I don’t even know if it was really him but it was enough to scare me, that was like, ‘When I die, Indiana Jones dies.’ And I’m like, am I gonna get haunted by the ghost of Harrison Ford one day when he dies if I play… ?”
Ford – who just turned 80 this week – is still going strong, so Pratt seems not to have to worry too much about that for the moment. Though we have seen him in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ as a Force Ghost, so perhaps there’s something to this.
And Ford, of course (with the help of a stunt team and other filmmaking techniques) is still playing Dr. Jones – the next ‘Indiana Jones’ film, the fifth in the franchise has wrapped shooting.
The first not to be directed by Steven Spielberg, the new movie is in fact from James Mangold.
Much about the next movie is still unknown, including the adventure that Indy will be going on, or what it’ll even be titled. Still, we do at least have confirmation that legendary composer John Williams is writing the score again.
Directed by Taika Waititi, Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as Thor, with actress Natalie Portman returning to play Jane Foster after sitting out the last movie. This time Foster becomes The Mighty Thor, and must team with her ex-boyfriend to defeat Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who has vowed to kill all Gods.
Moviefone and Made In Hollywood recently had the pleasure of sitting down and speaking with Natalie Portman in-person about her work on ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’
(L to R) Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Photo courtesy of Disney Studios.
You can read the full interview with Natalie Portman below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Portman and Chris Hemsworth.
Moviefone: To begin with, people are going back to the theaters and Marvel fans are really excited to see ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ on the big screen. Is there anything you’d like to say directly to the fans as they’re getting ready to sit down and watch this movie?
Natalie Portman: I’m just so excited for people to see it. I just feel like it’s so entertaining. I think they’ll get a lot of joy and heart from it.
MF: Can you talk about returning to this franchise, returning to the character of Jane Foster, and having the opportunity to hold the hammer and finally play a superhero yourself?
NP: It was such an incredible opportunity that Taika and Marvel invited me back in this way where Jane gets to become The Mighty Thor. I got to work with Chris again, and with Tessa again, even though we hadn’t worked in the MCU together, but we had worked together on ‘Annihilation.’ It was just such a gift to get to come into this incredibly fun environment, and with people I felt so comfortable with.
Natalie Portman in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Photo courtesy of Disney Studios.
MF: Had you followed this storyline in the comics? Were you aware that Jane Foster eventually becomes The Mighty Thor?
NP: I did. I think it was actually first mentioned to me by journalists when I was doing press for something around the time the comics first came out. So, I had heard about it, but it wasn’t until Taika approached me. I mean, it was right before the pandemic I feel like that he kind of started talking to me about the possibility of doing it together.
MF: What was it like reuniting with Chris Hemsworth, and can you talk about the different dynamics between Jane and Thor this time around?
NP: Well, it was so fun to work with Chris again. I mean, first of all, he’s just the best person, he’s so nice, fun, hardworking and such a good actor. He’s so just wonderful, and it was also very moving. When we met, we had both just started dating our future spouses on the first one and now our kids are running around on the set playing together. So, that was so wild to kind of cut to 10 years later.
Similarly, in the film, I think our characters are kind of reuniting after all this time passed and seeing where the other is in their lives, and so much has changed for them. I mean, it’s not similar places. We are in our lives as our characters are, but just the passage of time and how wild that is to have this relationship with someone that you’ve known for so long.
(L to R) Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Photo courtesy of Disney Studios.
MF: Finally, what was your experience like working with director Taika Waititi on ‘Thor: Love and Thunder?’
NP: Taika is just so extraordinary, and singular as a director and as a person. I mean, he really insists on spontaneity all the time, which is so incredible to be challenged with as an actor to be like, oh, every time has to be completely different. I have to be completely open to anything that could happen and just flow with it. It was really wonderful.
Then he also kind of makes it his responsibility to have everyone have a great time every day. He’s DJing, there’s music, and he’s on the mic making jokes. He’s leading the crew in workouts every hour on the hour. So, it’s the most fun set and it’s just his generosity that he cares about everyone having a good time.
Natalie Portman stars in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’
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Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down and speaking with Chris Hemsworth in-person about his work on ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’
Chris Hemsworth in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Photo courtesy of Disney Studios.
Moviefone: To begin with, people are going back to the theaters and Marvel fans are really excited to see ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ on the big screen. Is there anything you’d like to say directly to the fans as they’re getting ready to sit down and watch this movie?
Chris Hemsworth: I’d say, strap in, and get ready for the wildest wacky Marvel adventure you’ve ever been on.
MF: You’ve played this character for over ten years now in multiple films, what does playing Thor mean to you personally?
CH: Well, it’s paralleled my life. My whole career has been instructed around playing this character and being a part of the Marvel universe. It’s an absolute honor and a dream, and it’s such a special thing to be able to come back and play the character again, and with a different cast, different directors and trying different things. If you asked me when I first started acting what my dream career looked like, this was well above and beyond anything I could have imagined. So, I’m thankful.
(L to R) Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Photo courtesy of Disney Studios.
You can read the full interview with Chris Hemsworth below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Hemsworth and Natalie Portman.
MF: Can you talk about reuniting with Natalie Portman on this movie and the different dynamic between Jane Foster and Thor this time around?
CH: It was great. I started this journey with Natalie eleven years ago, and now to reunite and see her back dressed like Thor was so impressive. It was fun and unique. It did immediately change the paradigm of the space, and my character and his interaction. That’s what you want. You want your fellow actors and actresses to manipulate the scene. You want them to throw something in there that dramatically shifts your interpretation of it, and then it becomes unpredictable and it becomes unique.
She’s incredible and so much fun. She is a dear friend of mine. As I said, back on the first film, and we were just talking about this earlier today, she was so kind to me. To think that she’d won an Oscar, she was Natalie Portman, and this was my first job. I thought, I’m going to be fired or replaced at some point. But she was encouraging, supportive, and wonderful. I’m really thankful for that. I think about where it all started and so much of it, I think, the path that I was set on was due to that collaboration.
MF: Finally, after working with him on ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ what was the collaboration like on set between you and director Taika Waititi making ‘Thor: Love and Thunder?’
CH: It’s just about embodying the same thing we did in ‘Ragnarok,’ which is a sense of adventure and fun. If you’d asked a couple of five-year-olds what they wanted to see in a movie, that’s what this film is. That was us kind of riffing and throwing more and more ridiculous elements into it.
Again, he’s another very close friend of mine and to have that space to experiment, improvise and try different things, often that’s a little daunting. You don’t know what the director’s going to do with that in the edit room and how you’re going to look, but I have complete trust and faith in him. It’s a safe space to just go for it and I know he’s going to have my back.
Chris Hemsworth plays Thor in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder,’ which opens in theaters on July 8th.
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The result is another fun and stylish MCU outing from Waititi that features amazing performances from Portman, Hemsworth, and Bale, but tries to recreate too many moments from ‘Ragnarok’ and as a sequel never transcends its direct predecessor.
The film opens with Gorr the God Butcher’s (Bale) backstory, before a clever narration from Korg (Waititi) bringing the audience up to speed on Thor’s (Hemsworth) adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy since we last saw him in ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ We see him transform from “Dude Thor” to his old self and then leave the Guardians with Korg when he learns of Gorr’s vow to kill all Gods. Worried about his fellow Asgardians, Thor returns to New Asgard to find King Valkyrie (Thompson) who has turned their town into a Disneyland-like tourist attraction.
Tessa Thompson in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Photo courtesy of Disney Studios.
Meanwhile, Thor’s ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster (Portman) is dying of cancer. She feels the broken pieces of his hammer, Mjolnir calling to her and she arrives in New Asgard to investigate. The hammer suddenly comes alive, rebuilding itself, and eventually transforming Foster into The Mighty Thor, which temporarily cures her disease. Thor is surprised to see his ex, as well as wondering why Mjolnir has chosen her, but teams with Foster, Valkyrie and Korg to stop Gorr. In order to do so, they will need the aid of Zeus (Crowe) and his fellow Gods to defeat the butcher before it’s too late.
I loved ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and I would put it in the top five on my list of the all-time best MCU movies. But I only liked it on my first viewing, it took repeat viewings for me to fall in love with it. I had a similar experience with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.’ ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ was not quite as enjoyable for me as ‘Ragnarok’ but it is one of the better Marvel sequels, although technically it is the forth in the franchise. To that point, it is still far superior to ‘Thor’ and ‘Thor: The Dark World,’ which are among Marvel’s most disappointing.
I also love Taika Waititi and think he is a brilliant filmmaker and actor, but he goes to the well one too many times trying to recreate ‘Ragnarok’s best moments in ‘Love and Thunder.’ For example, Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth, and Sam Neill return, now with Melissa McCarthy, as Asgardian actors performing a play, which is the same joke from ‘Ragnarok’ and was given more prominence but lacked the surprise the second time around.
Another example is the sequence in the court of Gods with Zeus, which is very similar to the “Contest of Champions” scene with Hulk in ‘Ragnarok.’ It seemed unnecessary to the story and just an excuse to fill the scene with Easter eggs.
Christian Bale in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Photo courtesy of Disney Studios.
While the musical choices are also similar to ‘Ragnarok,’ just swapping Led Zeppelin for Guns N’ Roses, it actually works exceedingly well and is explained by the story. But Waititi makes a bold choice by having the character of Gorr and his world presented in black and white, which is in stark contrast to the other colorful costumes and characters in the movie. While the film feels like it runs a little long, even at only 119 minutes, it’s completely entertaining and Waititi fills it with his unique humor and point of view.
In his eighth full length performance as the God of Thunder in a little over ten years, Hemsworth has finally found his Thor, which has become his signature character as an actor. Let’s be honest, no matter what else he does in his career, “Thor” will be in the first sentence of his obituary.
It took Hemsworth a few movies to truly find the character, and it didn’t really begin to happen till ‘Ragnarok,’ but once he was allowed to inject his own humor into the character he became the Thor we all know and love. In ‘Love and Thunder’ Hemsworth continues the characters journey after the events of ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame,’ by restoring the humor and insecurities that have made the God-like hero so relatable in the second half of Hemsworth’s tenure.
Christian Bale, who is of course no stranger to comic book movies after playing Batman in ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy, gives a brilliant and terrifying performance as Gorr the God Butcher. Bale creates a sympathetic character that is not only truly frightening, but also a worthy nemesis for Thor and his alleys. Tessa Thompson also gets to build on her character, Valkyrie after ‘Ragnarok’ and ‘Endgame,’ and while the actress is excellent, I do wish we got a bit more of her in the film.
Natalie Portman in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Photo courtesy of Disney Studios.
But the breakout performance for me came from Natalie Portman, who returns to the franchise after sitting out ‘Ragnarok.’ The Academy Award winning actress wasn’t given a lot to do in the first two ‘Thor’ movies, which is probably why she opted not to do the last one, but after a cameo in ‘Endgame’ returns thanks to a more pivotal story arc and likely the opportunity to work with Waititi. Adapting the “Mighty Thor” storyline from the comics allowed Portman to actually be a superhero too, and she is fantastic battling alongside Hemsworth.
However, I thought this was going to be a “passing of the hammer’ movie and it is not. I have news for you, Chris Hemsworth is here to stay as Thor. That’s fine by me, but I hope there is a way to bring Portman back again in the future. Her storyline was sad yet inspiring, and the actress clearly relished in having the opportunity to do more with the character.
There are two end-credit scenes, although I won’t give them away. I’ll just say that Marvel continues its trend of introducing a deep-cut comic book character played by a veteran movie star (see Charlize Theron as Clea in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’) or a fan-favorite celebrity (see Harry Styles as Starfox in ‘Eternals’) in the end-credits. It’s fun for fans of that particular actor or comic book historians, but the rest of the audience is often left scratching their heads asking, “Why is Charlize Theron in this movie?”
(L to R) Pom Klementieff, Chris Pratt, and Chris Hemsworth in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Photo courtesy of Disney Studios.
And for anyone hoping the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ actors would have major roles in the movie, I hate to disappoint you, but they don’t. While it was nice to see Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, and Karen Gillan, and hear Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel, they are not in much of the film, so you’ll have to wait to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ to see more of their story arc. But I’m glad they concluded Thor’s story with the Guardians before their next full-length feature outing, and their appearance does add to the film.
In the end, I may have been a little harsh on ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ and I really do hope that I will eventually love it as much as I wanted to, but for now, I only really liked it. Director Taika Waititi delivers a strong sequel, that tries too hard to recreate the magic of the last film, but is still entirely entertaining, funny, and action packed, and also features great performances from Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, and in particular, Natalie Portman.
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ receives 4 out of 5 stars.
Chris Hemsworth in Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ Photo courtesy of Disney Studios.
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Premiering on Prime Video beginning July 1st is the new action series ‘The Terminal List,’ which is based on the novel of the same name by Jack Carr and directed by Antoine Fuqua.
The series stars Chris Pratt as Lt. Commander James Reece, a former Navy SEAL officer investigating why his entire platoon was ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Constance Wu and JD Pardo about their work on ‘The Terminal List.’
(L to R) JD Pardo and Constance Wu in Prime Video’s ‘The Terminal List.’
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Wu and Pardo, as well as Chris Pratt, Taylor Kitsch, Jeanne Tripplehorn, LaMonica Garrett, author Jack Carr, writer David DiGillio, and director Antonie Fuqua.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you both describe your characters for our audience?
JD Pardo: That’s an interesting question. My character is an original character created for the series, so I can’t really get into it too much because I think I’ll start spoiling some things. I play Tony Layun, who’s an FBI agent in San Diego, which is a smaller market. When he sees that James Reece is a fugitive and he’s wanted, and that everyone says that he can’t be caught and how dangerous he is, Tony wants to get him. So, that’s where I come in.
Constance Wu: I play Katie Buranek, who is a war correspondent, and has a personal history with journalism that makes journalistic integrity really personally important to her. She gets involved with the story of James Reece and what happened to his team of SEALs. She finds that there are a lot of inconsistencies and mystery around it. As someone who is committed to uncovering the truth and doing it with journalistic integrity, she sets on a mission in the same way James Reece sets on his type of mission. Her mission is to uncover the truth, to do justice to and for these service men and women who are so often overlooked, when they really are our nation’s heroes fighting for us.
(L to R) JD Pardo as Tony Liddel, and Christina Vidal as Mac Wilson in Prime Video’s he Terminal List.’ Photo: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
MF: Finally, can you both talk about how your character’s react to Reece’s actions in the first episode?
JP: In the beginning, my character, he got into fugitives because he likes things being black and white. He doesn’t want to get into the emotion. He doesn’t want to get into that gray. If you’re bad, you’re bad, you do bad things and I want to catch you. As it starts to unfold, he gets thrown into this gray area and then it becomes a question of morality. What is good? What is bad? What is the truth? How is the truth manipulated? What are we told? Then eventually he has to start looking within himself and what his own heart tells him. It’s really complicated, and at the same time feels completely relatable.
Constance Wu: I think Katie’s relationship with James Reece, Chris Pratt’s character, one of the things I love that it continues to evolve and change. I do think at the beginning, it’s a journalistic scoop. She’s looking for a story, but as she looks at the pieces of the story and finds some mystery and inconsistencies in it, then it becomes about a personal quest to uncover the truth, and Reece is a means to that. He’s also a person who this affected. The tragedy that happens in the beginning, it affected him and his family. So, she cares about it from a human level. The more she utilizes him as a source, the more she gets to know him as a person.
I think that evolution of understanding him and everything he’s going through, and what his goals are and why they are those goals, I think changes her point of view almost from episode to episode. That’s really fun that it’s not static because we’re all humans and we’re way more complex than that. I think that’s a good thing we can all think about.
Constance Wu as Katie Buranek on Prime Video’s ‘The Terminal List.’ Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Premiering on Prime Video beginning July 1st is the new action series ‘The Terminal List,’ which is based on the novel of the same name by Jack Carr and directed by Antoine Fuqua.
The series stars Chris Pratt as Lt. Commander James Reece, a former Navy SEAL officer investigating why his entire platoon was ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Pratt and Taylor Kitsch about their work on ‘The Terminal List.’
(L to R) Taylor Kitsch and Chris Pratt for Prime Video’s ‘The Terminal List.’
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Pratt, and Kitsch, as well as Constance Wu, JD Pardo, Jeanne Tripplehorn, JD Pardo, LaMonica Garrett, author Jack Carr, writer David DiGillio, and director Antonie Fuqua.
Moviefone: To begin with, Chris how would you describe the premise of ‘The Terminal List?’
Chris Pratt: Well, it’s based on the bestselling novel by Jack Carr. It follows Lieutenant Commander, James Reece, as his platoon of Navy Seals is killed in a covert mission overseas. We follow him home and realize that his memories of the event are conflicting with reality and that he is in a way, an unreliable narrator to his own story.
As his paranoia starts to mount we question whether or not he’s in the middle of a conspiracy or whether he’s losing his mind. So, it’s a psychological thriller that will really keep you guessing. It’s got incredible action, wonderful performances, it’s truly designed to honor the Navy Seal community, and we did our very best to bring this be bestselling book to screen.
MF: Taylor, did you read Jack Carr’s book before shooting the series?
Taylor Kitsch: I did not. No, I used the script as my Bible, more or less for Ben. Then of course I reached out to Jack Carr, which he couldn’t have been more inviting to talk about Ben. I think the most important part is really him giving me the reign to make it my own. I know this community pretty well, we’ve both played Navy Seals before, and to entrust me with that is very empowering. So, I was very flattered by it.
Taylor Kitsch in Prime Video’s ‘The Terminal List’
MF: What kind of training did you go through to prepare for ‘The Terminal List?’
CP: I mean, there’s physical training to get yourself in shape, so that you look like somebody who could be a Navy Seal. But granted, the only homogeny amongst this group of men is typically their grit, their fortitude, and their determination. But there are tall ones, short ones, kind of chunky ones, and skinny ones too. Some of them are in incredible shape, they look like they’re CrossFit gods and other guys who just are a little unassuming. So, they really come in all shapes and sizes.
The choice was to give yourself a physicality that would be believable if you were a Navy Seal. But most of the training that you really can’t fake is tactical training. Being able to hold a weapon system, transition between one weapon to another, shoot a gun without blinking your eyes or flinching, knowing how to hold a gun and where to hold your eyes, and how to walk into a room or turn around a corner or those types of things.
So, we both went through extensive training under the guidance of several Navy Seals that we hired as tech advisors and that we surrounded ourselves with so that we could be authentic in our movements. Oftentimes we’d do a take and we’d feel really good about it. They’d say, “you know what? Look at this, let’s try to fix those things and we’ll do it again.” We always gave them the room to be honest with us and critical of us, so that we could present these characters in an authentic way that would pass their sniff test. So, that’s where most of the training was.
MF: Finally, Taylor what was the most challenging scene for you to perform?
TK: I think the tactical part, to be honest. The beauty of this action is its story driven. It’s not violence for the sake of violence. You finally get to see these two guys in a whole different realm, serving each other, and working with each other through these different spots, indoor, outdoor, and even getting shot in the process and what that looks like. So, just figuring that out with the Seals and with Chris and again, keeping it as authentic and grounded as you can.
‘Dominion’ takes place four years after the events of ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ and the destruction of Isla Nublar. Dinosaurs now live and hunt alongside humans all over the world. The result is an absolutely incoherent movie lacking any fun or excitement, that completely waists the talents of the returning legacy franchise actors.
The movie begins by showing us the destruction and chaos that living among dinosaurs has caused since the events of the last film. Owen (Pratt) and Claire (Howard) are living in seclusion, raising the cloned Maisie Lockwood (Sermon) as their own daughter, as well as keeping an eye on Blue and her new baby Velociraptor. However, Dr. Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott) of Biosyn Genetics, has hired a team of mercenaries to hunt down and retrieve Maisie and Blue’s baby. After they are taken, Owen and Claire go on a mission to save the missing children.
Meanwhile, giant locust is destroying the food chain, which will eventually result in the extinction of mankind if something is not done about it. Dr. Ellie Sattler (Dern) discovers the locust’s destruction and realizes that it is somehow connected to Biosyn. She visits her old friend and partner, Dr. Alan Grant (Neill) seeking his help to expose Biosyn. He agrees, and the two head to the company’s secret headquarters but they will need help from the inside to gain access.
Enter Dr. Ian Malcolm (Goldblum), who is a guest lecturer working for Dodgson at his facility, but secretly working with Sattler to expose Biosyn for creating the giant locust. As the two groups converge on Biosyn, they will soon meet for the first time and have to work together to take down Dodgson and save Maisie and Blue’s baby.
Chris Pratt in Universal Pictures’ ‘Jurassic World Dominion.’
While I did enjoy the first two Steven Spielberg directed movies in the franchise, ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park,’ I’ve never been a huge fan of the series. ‘Jurassic Park III’ did very little to continue the magic of the original two, and I thought the franchise would go extinct after that. Just about fourteen-years later the series returned with ‘Jurassic World,’ which was sort of a fresh start with a new cast but became derivative of the original by about halfway through.
Then came ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,’ which I thought “jumped the shark” with its introduction of human cloning to the franchise. I was hoping that ‘Dominion’ would ignore that plotline and redeem itself in this “so-called” conclusion to the franchise, but unfortunately it doubled down on it and delivered an even worse movie than the last one. Completely gone is the magic and wonder that we felt the first time we saw dinosaurs in ‘Jurassic Park,’ now replaced with CGI monsters that terrify the human characters but can actually leave the audience nauseated and even bored at times.
I really thought that if they were going to continue the cloning plotline, that they’d find a way to clone Dr. Ian Malcom, so we could have double Goldblum this time around, which would have actually been kind of genius. But alas that did not happen, in fact, Jeff Goldblum’s role is rather small. Not as small as his cameo in ‘Fallen Kingdom,’ but he is relegated back to a supporting character, as he was in the original, and not the lead that he was in ‘Lost World.’ I would have preferred the actor had a larger role, but I understand that the filmmakers wanted to focus on Owen and Claire, and Alan and Ellie’s relationships instead. That being said, Goldblum’s talents were once again wasted in this film.
The same can be said for Laure Dern and Sam Neill, who deserved a better film to mark their return to these characters. Dern has the largest role of the two and does her best to make the most of it but is ultimately crippled by the screenplay’s lack of originality. There are some nice character driven moments between Dern and Neill, and it is sweet seeing the couple from the first film reunite all these years later. But again, like Goldblum (who gives an uninspired nod to his shirtless scene from the original), Dern and Neill are mostly used for fan-service and unfortunately, have their talents wasted too.
(L to R) Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) and Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise) in ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ co-written and directed by Colin Trevorrow.
Among the new characters, DeWanda Wise gives a strong performance as Kayla Watts, a helicopter pilot who helps Owen and Claire. The actress creates a compelling character that unfortunately would be best served in a different movie. Campbell Scott plays Dr. Lewis Dodgson, who was seen briefly in the first film but was played by a different performer. Scott, who is a veteran actor, is absolutely ridiculous as the movie’s big bad, and plays the role like a terrible Bond villain. Also awful is Scott Haze (‘Venom’) as probably the world’s dumbest assassin who also happens to be wearing the worst wig I’ve ever seen!
As for Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, I love them both as performers and they both do their best with the limiting material. Their likability as actors carries them through a lot of the film’s plot holes and most ridiculous moments and you are rooting for them throughout, not just to survive as characters, but you are also hoping that as actors they might be able to save the movie. Ultimately, they can’t, but it’s through no fault of their own.
Pratt’s at his best in the action scenes, but also in the quieter moments with Claire, Maisie, Blue and “Baby Blue,” who is super cute! While Howard had a more pivotal role than in the previous movies and is featured front and center in one of the film’s most compelling sequences.
In the end, the ‘Jurassic’ franchise was bound to go extinct eventually, and ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ seems like the asteroid that will kill this beloved series of films. With an incoherent script by Emily Carmichael and Colin Trevorrow, and uninspired directing from Trevorrow as well, not even the likability of Pratt and Howard, or teaming them with legacy actors Dern, Neill and Goldblum was enough to save this prehistoric mess!
(L to R) Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise) in ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ co-written and directed by Colin Trevorrow.
‘Jurassic World Dominion’ receives 1.5 out of 5 stars.
(L to R) Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) and Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise) in ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ co-written and directed by Colin Trevorrow.
Directed by Colin Trevorrow, ‘Dominion’ takes place four years after the events of ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ and the destruction of Isla Nublar. Dinosaurs now live and hunt alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard about their work on ‘Jurassic World Dominion.’
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You can read our full interview with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Pratt, Howard, Laura Dern, Isabella Sermon, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, and director Colin Trevorrow.
Moviefone: To begin with, how do you feel about ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ releasing in movie theaters on the big screen?
Chris Pratt: It’s fantastic. I think the world is ready to get back to the movies and this is the perfect film to kick that off. It was made for the big screen. It is the epic grand finale of this beloved franchise. People love ‘Jurassic Park,’ people love ‘Jurassic World’ and the two franchises converge in a finale that’s really unlike anything that’s ever been filmed before. So, it’s perfect for the big screen.
Bryce Dallas Howard: It’s a spectacle. It’s absolutely a spectacle and it’s a ride. I think when you go to the theater, it eventizes whatever you’re seeing. The fact that what you’re seeing here is ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ like what Chris was saying, it’s the sixth movie in three decades. So, I think that if you’re going to go to the theaters this summer with your family, this is definitely the movie to see in a theater.
CP: Especially since it’s like the farewell film, you know? You always want to catch the big act on their farewell tour, and I think that’s what this is. So, you definitely don’t want to miss it.
MF: Finally, the movie also features the return of original cast members Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. What are your memories of watching the first ‘Jurassic Park’ back in 1993?
CP: The whole world was waking up to this idea that, first of all, this Jurassic pandemonium, everybody loved it and loved the dinosaurs, but it was successful for many reasons. It was this merging of science, imagination and cinematic techniques that essentially allow us to see what we could have only up until that point imagined.
There were bad Claymation versions of this that had been done. Bad stop motion animation versions of this that had been done. This is the first time that people looked and actually feasted their eyes on a living, breathing dinosaur. It was a promise to audiences like, “Hey, everything you could have possibly imagined, you will now be able to see.”
It was a great story. Michael Crichton’s amazing book adapted by Steven Spielberg had an incredibly poignant themes about life, technology, corporate greed, hubris and nature. So, it was just the perfect storm of wonderful things. I remember it very clearly and the fact that we’re sitting here next to each other, talking about the finale and we’re a part of that, it’s surreal. We’re both very blessed.
(L to R) Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt. Universal Pictures ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ opens in theaters on June 10th.
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(L to R) Christian Bale, Chris Hemsworth, Taika Waititi, and Tessa Thompson in Marvel Studios’ ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’
The first teaser for ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ was just that… a tease. We got glimpses of Chris Hemsworth’s Asgardian Avenger trying to find himself after all his battles and adventures.
Of course, the new Marvel movie wouldn’t exactly thrill fans if it was two hours of Hemsworth sitting around on a yoga mat (though we’re sure people would still go and watch it). Which means that of course he’ll be thrown back into a big story full of gods, monsters and lots the humor that director Taika Waititi brought to his previous outing, ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.
The big threat this time is from Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who, as his name suggests, has a real problem with gods. He’s sick of how the powerful omnipotent beings care little for those whose lives their ruin, and he, well, again with the name thing, aims to kill them.
Thor is naturally on his list, though the likes of Zeus (Russell Crowe) should also be worried. And Crowe’s character features in one of the big laugh moments of the trailer, as he accidentally strips our hero, much to the fainting consternation of the women around him. All, of course, except for Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman).
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Oh yes… Jane Foster. She’s back in Thor’s life in a big way and has her own god-like powers. While there’s an explanation for that in the comics, the trailer naturally is going to let the movie explain all of that. All we do know is that Jane can wield Mjolnir and dispatch baddies with her own lightning abilities. Plus, she’s certainly got some strength there. While there’s no sign (yet) of Kat Dennings’ Darcy, the double act between Jane and Valkyrie shows promise.
Also around (though probably not spending much time in the movie), the Guardians of the Galaxy, including Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, Pom Klementieff’s Mantis, Dave Bautista’s Drax, Karen Gillan’s Nebula, the Vin Diesel-voiced Groot, and Rocket Raccoon, brought to life as usual by Sean Gunn on set with the vocal tones of Bradley Cooper. Oh, and we can also expect to glimpse Kraglin (also played by Gunn, without needing his Rocket performance capture equipment).
Waititi’s back in performance capture gear himself to play Thor’s rocky pal Korg, who becomes something of a storyteller here. Could we be seeing a framing device for the movie? It’s also a funny moment for the character. Who, as you might figure is an unreliable narrator.
And it’s not just gags – there’s plenty of action and the usual deep dive into Thor’s character. Written by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson alongside Waititi and featuring the likes of Jaimie Alexander (back as Lady Sif), Sam Neill, Melissa McCarthy, and Matt Damon (McCarthy joins a returning Neill and Damon as actors playing Asgardian heroes), ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ rumbles into theaters on July 8th.
