'THE END OF OAK STREET' is Jurassic Park in your backyard

Jurassic World

99 Mins. Starring: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella & Christian Convery. Screenplay: David Robert Mitchell. Director: David Robert Mitchell. In: Theatres.

By TIM DAVID HARVEY

Ross from 'Friends', and all you other fellow dinosaur obsessed millennials, you're going to love driving to 'The End Of Oak Street'. An 80s set time-warp with 'Stranger Things' going on (you'll love the soundtrack, too). Starring 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' star Anne Hathaway (who is really owning the summer, in almost everything right now), Obi-Wan Ewan McGregor, and rising stars of the future Maisy Stella and Christian Convery, not to mention, Starbuck the dog, in a family that's about to go nuclear. Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell ('It Follows', 'Under The Silver Lake'). It's the surprise hit of the summer, between stories of toys and men as spiders you all know and love, that just springs up on you, with a barely explained plot. But isn't that what we always knew and loved about golden era popcorn blockbusters? Leaving your brain at home, and a much-needed escapism respite, for this writer, to conclude a Monday triple-header, following the heaviness of 'The Drama' and 'Obsession'.

Stephen King loved it (check his Threads). Steven Spielberg will be proud. And J.J. Abrams is producing. Netflix may have something to say, though. This source code is a lot like 'The Last House', starring Wagner Moura and Greta Lee, recently streaming (we'll get to that). But still, it's more 80s and fun-filled like the COVID time era, forgotten but fond 'The Adam Project', starring Ryan Reynolds, Zoe Saldana and Mark Ruffalo, as Deadpool, Gamora and Hulk got into their own mind-bending time travel. You see, these Oak Street residents don't move, but does their house? Because look who just moved in. Guess who's coming to make you dinner. A bunch of prehistoric creatures that are welcomed like 'Jurassic Park', but with more feathers and bird-like accuracy, to this big-screen event you shouldn't wait for on streaming. Scary in the dark? Jeff Goldblum was right. There goes the neighbourhood.

This summer blockbuster season, you'll be getting out your seat and taking off your sunglasses, like the late, great forefather of all this, Sam Neill (rest peacefully, Sir), when you see this. Turning your partner's head to the screen if they're looking at their phone, like Laura Dern, a leaf. Because there's nothing aloof about this. And maybe, like 'The Drama' and the 'Obsession' beforehand, it's not for the faint of heart. Some of the bodies counted for on Oak Street are bloody and brutal, but also, in a blockbuster kind of way, brilliant. This science-fiction survival of the fittest film, from 1982 to the land before time, throws everything at you whilst you throw your popcorn in the air. Jump scares and actually earned suspense are back in the biggest of ways, and you'll be glad you paid to see this in all its grand, gory glory.

But you may, maybe want to leave your kids at home. No matter, how stellar Maisy and Christian Convery are, coming of age. Yet it's Anne Hathaway who owns this, leading with a rifle, like fellow 'Prada' sporter Emily Blunt with a blunderbuss in 'A Quiet Place'. This is also more sobering, richer depths with what Ewan McGregor brings to the table. And we're not just talking about that 80s delivery driver pizza from his side-gig. Mitchell's movie, like many a Spielberg 'War Of The Worlds' inspired tale before, is actually really about the disaster that faces a family in crisis, and the way they roar and rage against the dying of that light. It's thanks to that nature that makes this film, more ludicrous than a 'Fast and Furious' actor (or film), one that you actually take seriously. No matter how much the stakes, or white picket fence home roofs are raised. We're almost at the end of the summertime. Just enjoy 'The End Of Oak Street'. It's roaringly good fun.

Further Filming: 'Jurassic Park', 'Source Code', 'The Last House'.