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Jurassic Games
USA 2018
produced by Ryan Bellgardt, Josh McKamie, Andy Swanson, Chris Hoyt, Jessi Sanfilippo, Harry C. Wolohon IV, Galen Christy (executive) for High Octane Pictures
directed by Ryan Bellgardt
starring Ryan Merriman, Perrey Reeves, Adam Hampton, Katie Burgess, Cate Jones, Luke Wyckoff, Erika Daly, Kyle Penington, Rett Terrell, Tiger Sheu, Gary Frazier, Sidney Flack, Raychelle McDonald, Lucas Ross, J. Alan Davidson, Lance West, Abby Miner, Alex Payne, Cami Grindal, Daniel Barton, Bruce Davis, Ron Clemons, Keely Sanchez, Kenny Pitts, Steve Grant, Kaye Brownlee-France
story by Galen Christy, screenplay by Ryan Bellgardt, music by David Stone Hamilton, stunt coordination by Jon Bielich, Kent Shelton, visual effects by Ryan Bellgardt/Boiling Point Media, Matthew Gardocki/Gardocki Digital, Ryan Staples Scott/Ryit Creative, Elephant Treehouse, lead dinosaur modeler: Vlad Konstantinov
review by Mike Haberfelner
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In the not too distant future, even executions are turned into reality
TV shows - with the most popular of them being The Jurassic Games,
where 10 contestants/convicts have to make their way through a jurassic
landscape under constant threat of being attacked by dinosaurs - and maybe
even worse by one another, as of the 10 participants, only the one who
masters all the challenges first is allowed to go free while the others
are all executed. And what makes this worse, they're all convicted to
death for their devilish crimes, and none of them hesitate to kill again,
just to make it out again. And while they fight their fights in virtual
reality, their pain, injuries and deaths are real ... This season
promises to be especially rewarding for the audience, as the cast has
everything from righteous father and husband Tucker (Adam Hampton), whom
many believe to be innocent, to crazy as shit teen Joy (Katie Burgess),
who has killed for much less than her own survival. But even behind the
scenes everything's not as rosey as it ought to be: while the series'
producer (Perrey Reeves) and host (Ryan Merriman) will to everything for
ratings, and even bend the rules a bit to have the right participants die
or reach the finale just for the audience's pleasure, there's a growing
opposition against the show - and some of the protesters are said to have
infiltrated the production company ... Now ok, I of course have
to address the elephant in the room first, especially since this movie's
title already suggests as much, as does its story: Of course, The
Jurassic Games is a mash-up of the Jurassic Park and Hunger
Games franchises, with a bit of Maze Runner thrown
in for good measure, and on the downside, the movie makes little out of
the satirical potential the premise holds in droves - but then again, on
the upside, it's also a really good action thriller, one that not only
lives from dino attacks but also features plenty of suspense sequences,
good character constellations that create tension pretty much by
themselves, and loads of fights, shoot-outs and the like, almost never
stopping to let one catch one's breath. So basically, as long as you
don't expect a beacon of originality let alone a masterpiece in its own
right, you'll be well entertained!
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