“The End of Oak Street” follows the Platt family, who must stick together for survival after their neighborhood is transported from suburbia to someplace unknown.
The end of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” promised humans coexisting with dinosaurs. While that franchise instead decided to focus on giant locusts, there’s a new dino movie on the block to fill the untapped potential: “The End of Oak Street.”
For a few brief moments, writer-director David Robert Mitchell keeps the prehistoric animals obscured. But it’s very brief. After only a few scenes just showcasing claws and tails, the dinosaurs are put on full display. Ravaging through a residential neighborhood turned primordial jungle, “The End of Oak Street” is CGI-heavy, yet it all looks real. Mitchell adds depth to the creatures by placing them in darkness, but he also isn’t afraid to let the sun shine. In both settings, their integration into the environment is largely seamless. Director of photography Mike Gioulakis plays a role in this as well, often maintaining wide-angle shots that include all of the action. As characters huddle in the foreground, dinosaurs quietly creep up behind them or linger around corners. This framing keeps a constant sense of tension.
The film also pushes its PG-13 rating to the max. While extreme gore isn’t showcased, there is still bloodshed. As limbs are ravaged or corpses are eaten, Mitchell delivers the sense of fear that’s been missing from recent “Jurassic” entries.
Rather than sending just any ordinary family back in time, “The End of Oak Street” puts its focus on a dysfunctional one. On the brink of divorce, Denise and Greg’s issues literally transcend time. Because of this, the film almost functions as a family drama. Before actually moving into the sci-fi creature feature narrative, a considerable amount of time is spent focusing on these characters. As events transpire, this leads to a number of surprisingly emotional moments.
Anne Hathaway (Denise) is always at the center of these scenes. While her character seems almost detached from reality in the beginning, she goes full “protective mom” as the 99-minute runtime progresses. Whether she’s viciously stabbing dinosaurs or screaming in anger, it’s a performance that elevates everyone around her. Rounding out the central cast are Ewan McGregor (Greg), Maisy Stella (Audrey) and Christian Convery (Brian). While Hathaway’s character is logical, McGregor’s is more hopeful. His lighter delivery clashes with Hathaway’s assertiveness, which makes their marriage issues feel real. Brisket the dog, who is named Starbuck in the movie, also deserves mention.
“The End of Oak Street” has no desire to further examine its sci-fi lore. The screenplay has a tendency to over-explain what happened initially, yet it doesn’t explain the “why?” behind it. This allows it to not get bogged down by exposition, but it also leaves the conclusion feeling rather hollow.
Viewers will also be required to suspend plenty of disbelief. The obvious reason is the basic premise — a neighborhood being teleported to the prehistoric age is unrealistic. But also… the structural integrity of these homes is astounding. While the film succeeds at making the dinosaurs threatening to humans, there are caveats that come along with this. As characters hide behind support beams or closed doors, large dinosaurs somehow aren’t able to break through. It’s in these moments that you’ll have to decide whether to sigh or chuckle.
The latter is often the case, as “The End of Oak Street” is surprisingly funny. Playing out as more of a cheesy B-movie, it embraces a mixture of comedy and horror. Characters themselves are laughing one moment before fighting for their lives the next.
“Holy sh-t, they’re doin’ it.”
Humans and dinosaurs can’t coexist after all; who would’ve thought? “The End of Oak Street” mixes family drama with creature feature while making the prehistoric animals scary again.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
