The End of Oak Street
Effectively combining the sense of wonder from the 80s Amblin films with the excitement of the Jurassic Park movies, The End of Oak Street is an enjoyable thrill-ride of a movie, and arguably pulls off the dinosaurs-in-the-real-world concept in a way that the Jurassic World films could never quite manage.
Premise: Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg Platt (Ewan McGregor) and their two children find themselves in mortal danger when their entire suburban neighbourhood is somehow transported through time from 1982 to the prehistoric world of dinosaurs.
Review:
When it comes to dinosaur-themed films, there really has only been one game in town – Jurassic Park and its six (so far) sequels. Most other attempts to play in that sandbox have fallen flat, or looked like cheap knockoffs in comparison to the Jurassic Park/World series (even enjoyable movies like 65 haven’t been in the same league). Credit where credit’s due, then, because The End of Oak Street not only earns the right to stand alongside the Jurassic Park/World films, it’s arguably better than some of them.
One thing that the Jurassic Park/World series has flirted with for decades (ever since the finale of 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park) is trying to find a way to get the dinosaur-based action into the everyday, human world. The end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom saw the dinosaurs released into the human world … but then neither Jurassic World: Dominion nor Jurassic World Rebirth really knew what to do with that plot strand (with the plots of both films returning the action to self-contained tropical environments).
“…the central mystery is extremely satisfying…”
The problem is, as soon as a movie puts dinosaurs in a civilian area, it has to explain why the relevant miliary forces don’t immediately swoop in and kill or capture any dangerous dinosaurs, which is not always easy or satisfying. However, The End of Oak Street (an original story, written and directed by David Robert Mitchell) has found a clever way to finally crack this problem – this time, it’s not the dinosaurs that unexpectedly find themselves in a suburban neighbourhood … it’s a suburban neighbourhood that unexpectedly finds itself in a prehistoric world of dinosaurs.
I’m not going to give anything away about how or why the neighbourhood finds itself transported through time, but I will say that the way that central mystery is built up, and then ultimately resolved, was extremely satisfying. You can (if you want to) just watch The End of Oak Street as a straightforward survival adventure, but if you are interested in the more sci-fi/mystery elements, they’re very well handled (and aren’t just hand waved off to get to the dino-action).
“…builds tension & anticipation with brief glimpses of the dinosaurs…”
With no police or national guard to come save them, the film becomes very much a survival adventure for the neighbourhood’s residents. We follow the action through the eyes of the Platt family, and during the first act we get to spend enough time with them in their everyday lives that they feel like genuine, rounded characters by the time the dinosaurs first appear. Anne Hathaway is great as Denise, who’s trying to make her marriage work for the sake of her children, but who’s left feeling disconnected and unsupported by her husband, Greg. Ewan McGregor does an effective job of making Greg a three-dimensional character, whose heart is in the right place despite his (clear) flaws. Maisy Stella and Christian Convery play their teenage children, Audrey and Brian, but it’s probably fair to say that their characters are more vaguely sketched out, as the film’s focus is definitely more on the parents and their struggling marriage.
It’s also probably fair to say that the film does suffer from some characters making “stupid movie decisions” from time to time, which did annoy me in the moment. However, most of those “stupid movie decisions” end up leading to interesting plot developments or exciting set-pieces, so it’s more of a minor quibble than a major complaint.
“…combines dinosaur-based thrills, sci-fi mysteries & Amblin-esque family drama…”
The dinosaurs themselves are impressively realised, especially given that this film had a budget of less than half of the last Jurassic World movie. Necessity is the mother of invention, and the reduced budget may be why the movie is so clever in the way it builds up the tension and anticipation with brief glimpses of the dinosaurs, before they’re unleashed fully on screen. To earn its 12A rating, the film ensures that the worst of the violence happens off screen, or is obscured behind scenery – which is probably the only way the film could avoid a higher rating given its surprising high body count and its surprisingly vicious dinosaurs.
Combining dinosaur-based thrills, sci-fi mysteries, and Amblin-esque family drama, The End of Oak Street feels both timeless and modern. Carried by great performances from Anna Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, a clever script and inventive direction, this is a very enjoyable survival adventure, and proves that the Jurassic World series isn’t the only one that can provide an effective dinosaur thrill ride.
