Something about Spielberg

Rating: 10/10 (29 November 2014)

Steven Spielberg has always been at his best with blockbusters. Although he is a master storyteller and a peerless technician, his serious movies, while always worth watching, can undermine their pathos with an excess of sentimentalism ("James, earn this!", "Give us free!", "I could have saved more!") and an array of weak endings (Minority Report, AI, War of the Worlds...).
However, Spielberg's childlike glee and exuberance serve him well in more lighthearted fare (although the horrendous Kingdom of the Crystal Skull really gave me pause). NOBODY could craft an exciting action set-piece as well as pre-2000s Spielberg: his best efforts (Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark...) remain unparalleled in escapist cinema.
Jurassic Park, smartly adapted from Michael Crichton's novel (is there a better premise in modern science fiction?), is one of Spielberg's triumphs.
Performances are tone-perfect; Jeff Goldblum's witty Malcolm is a crowd-pleaser, but my favorite character remains Sam Neill's Alan Grant, whose evolution from sour child-hater to caring protector gives the movie some much needed humanity lacking in the sequels - see Jurassic World and Chris Pratt's tediously infallible action figure.
John Williams' soundtrack is phenomenal, conveying both awe and terror, excitement and sweetness - one of the composer's best works.
The attention to the smallest detail is palpable. See how chaos expert Malcolm and benevolent "creator" Hammond (Attenborough) are clad respectively in black and white, symbolizing disorder and order, yin and yang. It's a small touch, but few other blockbusters bother with this kind of things.
And those special effects... with a few irrelevant exceptions, it's mind-boggling how well they have aged. With their blend of practical effects and computer graphics, they still look amazing after twenty years (they have a WEIGHT, a physical presence), while today most special effects-heavy films are instantly dated, a garish slideshow of vaporous CGI.
Still, the main star here is Spielberg. Scenes like the T-Rex breakout, the jeep chase or the hide and seek with the Raptors have earned their place in the collective memory of action cinema.
Followed by four mostly worthless sequels.
10/10