17th Jan2019

‘Jurassic Galaxy’ Review

by Alain Elliott

Stars: Ryan Budds, Doug Burch, Eric Paul Erickson, Jonathan Nation, Frankie Ray, Tamara Stayer, Madison West | Written by Jacoby Bancroft, Eric Paul Erickson | Directed by James Kondelik, Jon Kondelik

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Sharknado, Jurassic Games, Atomic Shark, Dragon Wars, Ghostquake….. I could go on. I do have a fondness for these films and many many more. They usually have ridiculous and/or eye-catching titles and awesome/really bad-looking DVD covers. But in truth it had been a little while since I had watched one. Therefore I jumped at the chance to view Jurassic Galaxy.

On the face of things, Jurassic Galaxy doesn’t offer too much original. Characters lost in a land they are unfamiliar with, characters not trusting each other, characters that seem nice turn out anything but, double-crosses happen, some people die, some survive, etc, etc. Well, in its most simple terms anyway. But like with many of this type of movie, you know this is what you are going to get and it’s other things that will keep you entertained.

In Jurassic Galaxy I was hoping this entertainment would come from the dinosaurs. These are what the cover would suggest the movie is all about (as well as the title) but unfortunately there’s not enough of the dinosaurs on screen for me personally. I know it’s difficult for the filmmakers, show too much and it gets kind of repetitive and boring, don’t show enough and people are disappointed. And when the dinosaurs are about, the scenes are always entertaining. That said, the CGI goes from really bad to actually decent enough. It really does vary! Obviously I expected bad CGI, like many things, this type of SyFy film is almost guaranteed to include cheap effects. There are a couple of moments, such as the T-Rex chase, where things look alright. It’s not Jurassic Park but it’s good enough. But there are other moments, usually when someone or something has to physically interactive with the dinosaurs, then it generally looks bad. That said, I have seen much worse and it didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the film.

There is, however, plenty of mediocrity in Jurassic Galaxy. Acting is fine, the music is generic but fine, the script is fine. Nothing really stands out in excellence. The performances are decent enough but the actors don’t have a whole lot to work with really. Perhaps the highlight of the acting were the fight scenes which looked more realistic than I expected.

You can tell what kind of character everyone is immediately and in truth, the film doesn’t try to take you by surprise. It’s clear who is good and who is bad and who is somewhere in the middle. What Jurassic Galaxy does do that maybe other films like this don’t is opt for a less than happy ending. It could have easily gone for a more ‘Hollywood’ climax. One other thing that stood out was the brutality and gore that happened with the dinosaur attacks. I was expecting an almost family-friendly movie but when that first head is bitten off and CGI red stuff goes everywhere, you seen realise this isn’t that.

So who is Jurassic Galaxy aimed at? As I’ve said, not children and families – too much gore. Not any serious film-lovers because, well, you know… But if you’re an adult who loves dinosaur movies or any kind of SyFy CGI-fest or maybe just likes an entertaining movie to watch in the background while you’re doing stuff, then this might be a good pick. I’m not going to say this should be winning any Oscars but it’s a fun, easy way to spend seventy minutes.

Jurassic Galaxy is released on DVD on 11th February 2019, courtesy of High Fliers Films.

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