johnspringer-95440

After a typical but reasonably promising start, Jurassic Park VII devolves into a bland remix of memorable scenes and images from the first three movies of the franchise, plus a dollop of the conspiratorial genetic modification mumbo-jumbo that dominated the latter three; then it devolves further into a mindless monster movie. It only partially succeeds as dumb fun because the fun is often undercut by a quartet of superfluous characters, a family of cloying idiots who drag down the proceedings whenever they're on screen. It doesn't have the bite, the scares or the thrills to make much of an impression. As popcorn spectacle it's competent but nothing more.

Death of A Unicorn is theoretically a horror-comedy underpinned by thematic denunciations of greed and environmental exploitation. The horror is essentially non-existent, the comedy is trite and predictable, and the thematic moralizing is as deep as a puddle. This isn't overtly bad or insulting; but it is stale and flaccid. The movie's one saving grace, such as it is, is a likeable cast that includes Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter and Tea Leoni. They all seem to be trying hard to make something out of a script that didn't merit their talents, and their charisma makes you want to like the movie more than it deserves.

Based on a series of Danish novels, this streaming series changes the setting to Scotland but retains most of the tropes associated with Nordic noir. A brilliant but misanthropic cop with a disastrous personal life gets tasked with unraveling a twisty crime that has its roots in the half-forgotten past. There's a brutal sadist pulling the strings, of course; false starts and red herrings abound; and some developments are either a bit too convenient or never given their proper due. This series is nevertheless a cut above the standard genre entry thanks to good performances, likeable supporting characters and a reasonably satisfying conclusion to the main mystery.

The season's biggest flaw is that there's also a secondary, unrelated mystery which is arguably more interesting than the main one. The secondary mystery gets investigated and breakthroughs are repeatedly teased, but it never actually gets resolved. Evidently they're saving that for Season 2, which seems both presumptuous and risky given Netflix's inconsistency in renewing shows.