The End of Oak Street review

THE END OF OAK STREET: 

DINOSAURS INVADE THE 80s! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Ewan McGregor, Christian Convery, Maisy Stella, and Anne Hathaway in The End of Oak Street

 

            A family must fight to survive a dinosaur attack in The End of Oak Street, the new film from director David Robert Mitchell (It Follows, Under the Silver Lake) and producer J.J. Abrams (Star Trek franchise, Super 8, Star Wars franchise). Truth be told, it takes a lot to impress me with dinosaurs in movies these days, and the cause of that is the subpar quality of Jurassic Park’s sequels which, while some are better than others, never quite recaptured the magic of the 1993 groundbreaking original. 

            On the surface, this seemed like another movie where dinosaurs rampage through modern-ish times (The film is set in the 1980s) and trying to capitalize on the success of Jurassic Park. Still, I was curious to see how this film would turn out. I really enjoyed It Follows and thought it was one of the best horror films of the 2010s and one of the best movies in general from 2015…The End of Oak Street doesn’t quite reach that level of praise, but I was entertained. 

            This is a pure dumb popcorn movie, and I mean that in the best way; it’s a film that knows it’s silly and has fun with its absurd premise, but unlike the majority of Jurassic Park sequels, it actually has a brain and, surprisingly, a heart amidst all the chaos. If you ask me, this is the best Jurassic Park sequel (or prequel given the time period) that just isn’t called Jurassic Park. 

            The film is set in 1982 and follows Denise (Anne Hathaway-The Devil Wears Prada 1 and 2, The Dark Knight Rises, The Odyssey) and Greg Platt (Ewan McGregor-Star Wars franchise, Big Fish, Doctor Sleep) and their two children, Audrey (Maisy Stella-Nashville, My Old Ass, The Man I Love) and Brian (Christian Convery-Cocaine Bear, The Monkey, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein) living in a suburban neighborhood on Oak Street. But when a mysterious light flashes over the neighborhood, the Platts find themselves attacked by dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures and must fight to survive and figure out what happened and how. 

            The film also stars P.J. Byrne (The Legend of Korra, The Wolf of Wall Street, A Complete Unknown) as Mel Jacobs, Emily Kuroda (Gilmore Girls, RED, Strange World) as Mrs. Valcourt, and the late Hudson Meek (90 Minutes in Heaven, Baby Driver, The School Duel) as Kaden Tucker. 

            Overall, The End of Oak Street probably won’t leave a T-Rex-sized footprint on cinema like the original Jurassic Park, but those looking for a silly, over-the-top summer blockbuster where dinosaurs attack people should get their fill with this. Sure, it’s not a perfect film, and there are some issues with the narrative, but I found this to be a very enjoyable ride from beginning to end. 

            The dinosaur sequences are very exhilarating and honestly, a little grisly at times, especially for a 2020s PG-13 film. It definitely has that 80s PG tone where people get killed in intense ways, whether it’s being ripped to shreds by pterodactyls or an Allosaurus gnawing off a man’s leg and eating him alive; unlike the sanitary Marvel PG-13, End of Oak Street is a hard PG-13 that earns it. 

            The overall plot is interesting, though I would need to go into spoilers to properly describe it, but it was fascinating to see everything unfold about why there are suddenly dinosaurs attacking a neighborhood. Granted, some things don’t make sense, and I felt the ending, while mostly executed well, was a bit of a cop-out; that’s all I’ll say. 

            Most of the acting was fine, but Anne Hathaway is really damn good in this, and between End of Oak Street and The Odyssey, this really was her summer. She brings her A-game and acts her ass off in this silly movie about people fighting dinosaurs; she even outshines McGregor. 

            I also thought the movie nailed the early-80s setting very well and often reminded me of old-school Spielberg in terms of the tone, production design, and character archetypes. I guess it makes sense that it reminded me of Spielberg since the film’s producer, J.J. Abrams, directed a giant Spielberg homage with Super 8 in 2011. 

            Despite this being a more mainstream movie, there are some aspects of It Follows’ filmmaking here where something quietly creeps from behind in the background and charges at the protagonists, with a suspenseful buildup to the main threats. Like I said, Super 8 was like a hodgepodge of J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg; this is a hodgepodge of David Robert Mitchell and J.J. Abrams in terms of the production. 

            The End of Oak Street won’t become a game-changing dinosaur classic like the first Jurassic Park, but it’s everything its sequels, including the Jurassic World movies, aren’t. It’s dumb, it’s loud, and it’s fun with just enough of a brain and compelling characters to give it credibility. 

            The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day are still the definitive summer releases out in theaters now, but if you’ve already seen them and are looking for something mindless and goofy with a splash of intelligence, this might be your dino adventure. 

Super Troopers 3 review

SUPER TROOPERS 3: 

A VERY STANDARD THREEQUEL WITH THE VERMONT STATE POLICE WITH SOME DECENT LAUGHS THROWN IN! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Kevin Heffernan, Jay Chandrasekhar, Erik Stolhanske, Paul Soter, and Steve Lemme in Super Troopers 3

 

            The Vermont State Police have returned in Super Troopers 3, the latest installment of Broken Lizard’s Super Troopers film series dating all the way back to 2001 with the original cult comedy classic (The first movie didn’t get a wide release until 2002, though). I thought the first Super Troopers was fine for what it was, a dumb comedy about dim-witted cops, and had some good laughs, though I certainly wouldn’t call it one of the all-time greatest comedies or even one of the best police-themed comedies (I’ll take Reno 911 or the 21 Jump Street movies any day over Super Troopers). 

            The second film, 2018’s Super Troopers 2, I did not like very much and found it to be a rather uninspired follow-up that just did the same shit again except not as funny as before. However, Kevin Heffernan as Farva is the comedic driving force of that and its predecessor as easily the most consistently funny character in the franchise, like if Eric Cartman was a cop…oh, wait, they did that. 

            Now we have the third film once again directed by and starring Jay Chandresekhar (Club Dread, The Dukes of Hazzard, Beerfest) and the cast from the previous installments reprising their roles. I knew what I was getting into with this movie having seen its predecessors, but I was questioning whether or not a third Super Troopers film was in high demand. 

            Well, I sat down in an empty theater where I was the only one in there and gave it a shot and…it’s better than 2. There are some funny bits here, and for all this franchise’s faults, the cast has decent chemistry with each other, but it’s just another Super Troopers movie that doesn’t expand upon the formula much or take these mustached cops anywhere new. 

             The film follows the fat, loud, ill-tempered patrolman, Rodney “Rod” Farva (Kevin Heffernan-Sky High, Management, Scoob!), getting engaged to Arcot “Thorny” Ramathorn (Chandrasekhar)’s sister, Sarita (Hannah Simone-New Girl, Oldboy (2013), Killing Gunther), much to the disapproval of Thorny, who schemes to break up their relationship. While that’s going on, Thorny, Carl Foster (Paul Soter-Tacoma FD, The Re-Education of Molly Singer), MacIntyre “Mac” Womack (Steve Lemme-The Slammin’ Salmon, The Babymakers, Quasi), and Robbie “Rabbit” Roto (Erik Stolhanske-Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under, The Onion Movie) try to crack down a pernicious new drug ring that’s supposedly smuggling drugs in “Maple” syrup. 

            The film also stars Brian Cox (Rushmore, Bourne 1 and 2, X2: X-Men United) reprising his role as now retired commander of the Vermont State Troopers Captain John O’Hagen, Marisa Coughlan (Teaching Mrs. Tingle, Freddy Got Fingered, Boston Legal) reprising her role as Ursula Hansen, Nat Faxon (The Descendants, Disenchantment, The Way, Way Back) as Captain Todd Markowski, Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl, What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting, The Boys) as Baker Buchanan, Andrew Dismukes (Saturday Night Live, Call Me Brother) as Trooper Coy Burns, Iqbal Theba (Green Book, Hurricanna, Fractured) as Dr. Makundan, Sakina Jaffrey (House of Cards, Timeless, The Equalizer 2) as Mehta Makundan, Jon Rudnitsky (Saturday Night Live, Catch-22) as Steve Buchanan, and Lisa Gilroy (Twisted Metal) as Bettie. 

            Overall, Super Troopers 3 is marginally better than its predecessor, and there are a handful of moments that I found genuinely funny, but the script just does the bare minimum and doesn’t take the franchise in a new direction. I’m sure it’ll appeal to die-hard fans of the previous two films or those looking for some dumb laughs, but this isn’t exactly 22 Jump Street in terms of comedy sequels. 

            The film sticks to the Super Troopers formula: the mustached Troopers have to crack down another drug case, they make jokes and pull pranks on one another, something shitty happens to Farva, and Lynda Carter cameo at the end. Using the already mentioned 22 Jump Street as a comparison, it hits similar beats as its predecessor, but it did progress the story and put its characters in new situations that we hadn’t seen in the first; here, aside from an Indian wedding going out of control, hardly anything is new or different. 

            Despite the formulaic material, I will give it to the cast; they still got it. The actors playing the Troopers’ chemistry is as strong as ever, with Kevin Heffernan’s Farva once again being a comedic highlight. The obnoxious, angry fat patrolman who swears and says/does inappropriate things all the time- it’s like Broken Lizard knew Heffernan has all the best bits in these movies, so they decided to make him the central focus of this outing, which I’m actually grateful for. 

            I actually also enjoyed Jay Chandrasekhar’s Thorny quite a bit in this, with him trying to expose Farva for who he truly is to his sister and parents before the wedding. The setup has a lot of comedic potential, and for the most part, the Thorny VS Farva plot works in that regard. 

            Some of the weirdness got a few laughs out of me, like a subplot involving an automated Electric Car and one of the Troopers getting frozen in syrup similar to when Han Solo was frozen in carbonite in Star Wars. I gotta respect a movie that tries to do batshit crazy things like this. 

            Sadly, where the jokes were somewhat upped compared to Super Troopers 2, Super Troopers 3 is still a standard, repetitive comedy sequel with sparks of creativity and humor here and there. Only approach this one if you’re a massive Super Troopers or Broken Lizard fan because it might be time for these wacky cops to retire. 

Spider-Man: Brand New Day review

SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY:

SPIDEY’S RETURN IS A VERY GOOD DAY INDEED! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES AND MARVEL STUDIOS

Spidey’s back in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

 

            Tom Holland (The Lost City of Z, Uncharted, The Odyssey) is back as the web-slinger in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and follow-up to 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. I really enjoy Holland’s run as Spider-Man, though admittedly, his first two outings, 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home while both very solid films I thought were kinda overrated compared to the first two Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies and especially the two animated Spider-Verse films with the latter being some of the best comic book movies I’ve ever seen. 

            I felt Spider-Man’s adventures should be grand and epic, and those felt smaller scaled and had much lower stakes compared to other Spider-Man and MCU films. However, the third film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, which revolved around the multiverse and featured returning cast members from the other movies, finally was that epic Spidey adventure I wanted and a giant love letter to the character; it was the best live-action Spider-Man movie since Spider-Man 2 (2004). 

            Which brings us to this fourth film with Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12, The Glass Castle, Just Mercy); who had previously directed the MCU movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings taking over directing duties from Jon Watts and Holland, Zendaya (Dune trilogy, The Drama, The Odyssey), and Jacob Batalon (Shortcomings, Lift, Novocaine) reprising their roles. I was initially skeptical about another Tom Holland Spider-Man movie because No Way Home left such a huge impact and was a game-changer by having actors and characters from different Spider-Man universes come together; where do you go from there? 

            Well, this one makes the wise decision of going back to basics and focusing on Peter’s personal and psychological dilemmas, balancing his normal life and Spider-Man and masking up (No pun intended) the courage of telling his friends, MJ, and Ned who he is after their memories were erased at the end of the last movie. I’m happy to say that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a worthy entry in the MCU Spider-Man franchise and my second favorite in the series after No Way Home. 

            The film is set four years after Doctor Strange’s spell erased everyone’s memories of Peter Parker and follows Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Holland) anonymously protecting New York City while keeping a watchful eye on his former friends, Michelle “MJ’ Jones (Zendaya) and Ned Leeds (Batalon). But when a mysterious new threat comes that starts telepathically possessing people and Peter’s superpowers undergo a surprising and potentially dangerous evolution, he enlists the help of Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal-The Accountant 1 and 2, Baby Driver, The Odyssey; reprising his role from previous MCU projects) and Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo-Spotlight, Dark Waters, Poor Things; reprising his role from previous MCU projects) to figure out what’s going on and how to stop it. 

            The film also stars Tramell Tillman (Severance, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Ebenezer) as head of DODC William “Bill” Metzger, Michael Mando (Far Cry franchise, Better Call Saul, Orphan Black) reprising his role from Spider-Man: Homecoming as Mac Gargan/Scorpion, and Liza Colón-Zayas (The Purge: Election Year, The Bear, IF) as NYPD detective Jean DeWolff. 

            Overall, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the most “Spider-Man” the MCU era of Spidey has ever been and a solid character piece that balances superhero spectacle and strong dilemmas. This is the second-longest Spider-Man movie, clocking in at 2 hours and 25 minutes, and unlike The Amazing Spider-Man 2, does not waste any of its time. 

            I was locked in and invested in just about everything in this film, whether it’s an exciting action scene or the struggles Peter, MJ, and this new character we find out about are going through. Between this and No Way Home, I feel the MCU is finally getting Spider-Man right (Just for the record, I enjoyed the films that came before those) and giving him relatable problems outside of “I just really want to impress Mr. Stark” and understanding his responsibility as a hero. 

            Tom Holland is superb here as both Peter and Spider-Man, with this film giving him some of the best acting I’ve seen from him as the web-slinger. He is quippy and fun but also carries a lot of emotional weight to the story with him determining whether or not to tell his former friends the truth about who he really is. 

            The best scenes of Holland are when he’s with either Zendaya or Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. There is a lot of tension and heartbreak during the scenes with Holland and Zendaya, whom the former remembers and not the latter, and the dynamic between Spider-Man and the Punisher is like a buddy duo; it’s great hearing their banter. I also really enjoyed the dynamic between Peter and the “Villain” though I can’t talk about it without going into spoilers, and trust me, it’s best that you just go see the movie for yourself. 

            The film itself reminded me a lot of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 in terms of its plot, with Peter essentially having an existential crisis and everything going wrong for him. But unlike in Spider-Man 2, where Peter’s powers keep failing, he suddenly gains organic web-shooting abilities, and his powers get enhanced based on his emotions. 

            The action scenes are great and easily the best out of all the Holland movies (Yes, even No Way Home), with much of it being done practically and shot and edited with a lot of energy and flow. Spider-Man stops a runaway tank, fights a barrage of Hand ninjas, a fun clash against the Hulk that even has a “Puny God” nod from the first Avengers, and an intellectual battle between Peter and the film’s villain. 

            Spider-Man: Brand New Day might not reach the heights of No Way Home, Spider-Man 2, or even Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, but it’s a solidly crafted, exciting, and character-focused superhero film with amazing performances by its leads and a compelling narrative with bold themes and ideas. It’s a Brand New Day, and this is a damn good day to watch Spider-Man.

San Diego Comic Con 2026 Recap