A suburban neighborhood and its residents find themselves fighting off a sudden incursion of toothy dinosaurs in David Robert Mitchell’s ferociously entertaining summer popcorn flick, The End of Oak Street. ROAR! CHOMP! CHEER! See It!
TW: Animal/pet & children peril/death
What would you do if you woke up to find a two-mile portion of your neighborhood suddenly transported back to the age of the dinosaurs? That’s the simple predicament, executed very well, in writer-director David Robert Mitchell’s The End of Oak Street. The Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor-led film is a fun, darkly hilarious diversion of summer popcorn entertainment.
The End of Oak Street is, in many ways, the most Spielberg movie of the year. Yes, that includes Disclosure Day. Not a dig on Disclosure Day, as I really enjoyed that film. So maybe best to say it’s a rather 80s Amblin film, fitting in the “produced-by” sort of the acclaimed director. However, Oak Street is produced by J.J. Abrams, who in turn was ushered along by Spielberg for Super 8. But it features the hallmarks of the Spielbergian: a nostalgia (1982 set) base, Michael Giacchino’s fantastic John Williams-esque score, perils of childhood, a whole bunch of reaction shots before seeing the big deal is revealed, and a sense of dangerous fun. And dinosaurs. Honestly, The End of Oak Street may be the best Jurassic Park movie since the first and perhaps the best dinosaur movie since the 1993 Best Movie of All Time. No, it’s not officially a JP movie, but it delivers on the concepts so poorly handled in the end of Lost World or across the Jurassic World movies of “dinos with humans.” Yes, it does take several sequences from that series and transports them to the suburban world. That’s what makes it work.
Sure, some aspects of The End of Oak Street are awkwardly handled. During the set-up, many lines are on the nose, very “tell the audience the dynamics here” in rather unsubtle ways, with plenty of “as you know, Bob” exposition. There are oddities in wondering the whys of specific choices and the wheres, such as “where the hell are the other people on the street right now.” The characters are sketched over depth, but the Platts at the center are just enough to feel like a real family, with the parents Denise and Greg’s strained relationship, and teens Audrey and Brian figuring out their lives and hanging with friends. However, some set-ups of plot and characters introduced at the start don’t follow through. With a tight 1h40 minute runtime, I’m betting these payoffs or further appearances were cut for story flow.
However, despite any potholes here and there, Mitchell’s film is also deliriously entertaining popcorn fun, full stop. It’s a sort of fun adventure that sets up an idea and says to run with it. Does The Twilight Zone need an explanation of why the crazy thing happens? Nope. Neither do you. Something weird has been happening with some bright lights overnight, shifting things in the neighborhood: odd plants showing up, massive piles of some large animal’s fecal matter in a grumpy neighbor’s yard. There are news bulletins of solar flares and weird science, but it’s dressing to set up the scenario. Don’t question, don’t overexplain. Just go.
And such a weird premise is handled incredibly well. Mitchell’s measured hand, used before for the deliberately paced, purposely slow beats of It Follows and the criminally underseen Under the Silver Lake, transfers well to a more frenetic scene pacing of The End of the Oak Street; it’s hard to believe it’s the same director, but glad to branch out and shift to show a different approach to filmmaking. Yeah, for versatility. Mitchell sets up his scenes, first in the teasers and later in full-on action, with fantastic, thrilling setups. He’s showing in the other films he knows how to set a shot for maximum efficiency, and whether it be sex demons, odd Lynchian mysteries of LA, or a slimy dinosaur slinking silently through a house, tension is racked up leading to effectively done payoffs to the set-pieces. And while there are some strange downtimes (perhaps originally housing those believed to be cut for time, that I mentioned), it generally flows well with increasing action, sometimes with shocking results via a just mean-enough streak in the dark humor. One had my previously roaring audience stunned to an earned silence… which was soon back to big reactions. This is a film to see with an audience, as the reactions to the action and strongly handed darker humor are to feel and twitch others. I fear The End of Oak Street might be crushed under the weight of the Spider-Man juggernaut, and that’s a shame. Filmed for IMAX, it has the largeness. Especially with the chasing, crunching, and munching.
Those dinos doing said chasing, crunching, and munching look fantastic too. ILM is the effects house, well adept at making the dinosaurs of the aforementioned dinosaur-chomping franchises. I’m not sure if anywhere practical, but either way they’re generally astounding looking, moving with grace. Some of the smaller ones look a bit iffy, but the larger monstrocitos of T-Rexes, Velociraptors (Jurassic Park sized rather than their smaller real designations), Spinosaurus, and others look damned good. And, guess what, they’re feathered! Awesome. On effects: ignore that awful AI dog podcast advertisement. Nothing of the sort in the movie itself.
Of the humans, Anne Hathaway leads the charge. Nice to have her ferociously defending her home and family from unwanted invaders for the second time in a month (The Odyssey if you just finished a ten-year boat trip this summer). This is her movie more than anyone else, giving a fully spirited go. As her husband, Ewan McGregor is a little more subdued but not bad; he clearly pegs Hathaway’s energy and is letting her take it. It works, and their chemistry, even as a couple with a fraying relationship, sells the grouping and drives the film. They and the kids feel like a real family unit. It’s been great seeing the son’s actor, Christian Convery, growing as a person and actor. From Sweet Tooth, Cocaine Bear, Frankenstein, and The Monkey, he’s getting bigger and better. He’s a natural talent, immedisnly watching abel believable. His sister is Maisy Stella of Nashville. I’ve not seen that show, but she’s solid here.
The End of Oak Street is a fantastic dino-chomping summer entertainment. It runs on the simple premise, using it highly effectively with a strong character unit at the center, an efficient and thrilling camera setup, and a wonderful score from Michael Giacchino. Even with awkward bits sprinkled throughout, the David Robert Mitchell film is a big crowd-pleaser done smartly and strongly. Take a ride down the street, but watch out for velociraptors.