The End of Oak Street has killer dinos and plenty of Amblin-like fun

It's no surprise that The End of Oak Street is set in 1982. The movie very much feels like a Spielberg movie of that era, without Speilberg actually behind the camera. There's a level of Amblin-like adventure, wonder, and yes, even cheesiness to the movie that makes it one hell of an entertaining popcorn movie, a sugary rush that fits so well with summer. Oh, and there's dinosaurs, plenty of dinos, in fact, that chomp and maul humans.

The movie follows the Platt family in their suburban neighborhood. On the surface, everything seems fine. After all, the family lives in a nice house, but there's tension brewing. The marriage between Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) is strained and one crisis away from crumbling. Meanwhile, Greg delivers pizzas in the evening and doesn't tell his wife because she finds it embarrassing. It's obvious the couple has more financial hardship than they're letting on, and their kids, Brian (Christian Convery) and Audrey (Maisy Stella), certainly sense that something is wrong, as kids often do. They fear their parents are one argument away from the dreaded d word.

However, marital woes and financial headaches become rather miniscule when a cosmic event causes the entire neighborhood to shift back to the prehistoric era. Suddenly, the Platt family and neighbors have to survive against all kinds of dinosaurs. There are raptors, pterodactyls, a stegosaurus or two, and all kinds of threats. This forces the Platt family, Denise and Greg especially, to come together and survive.

This movie is a heck of a lot of fun. Yes, it's silly, and the plot, specifically the wormhole/cosmic event, is rather absurd, but that doesn't make the movie any less entertaining. There's also plenty of high-tension moments, including a sequence where a massive white eel (at least I think it's a prehistoric eel), slithers into the family home and poses yet another major challenge. As a whole, this movie is a wild creature feature that never feels dull or boring. The dinosaurs also look really, really good.

Amid all the dino rampage, there's a bit of a story, though not one with great depth. Dinosaurs aside, this is a movie about a family unit that's not at all on stable ground. Hathaway and McGregor turn in solid performances, though their characters deserved a little more. He's forever the optimist, while she pleads with him to see the reality of the situation. Meanwhile, he sneaks sips of whiskey on the side, but this tension could have been explored more.

As for the 1980s setting, it's fun, but it's unclear why the movie is set in that time period, other than the obvious nods to Spielberg and Amblin's heyday. The movie could have been set in the 21st Century and worked just as well, but still, the movie does suck viewers into the era of Walkmen, MTV, and tube socks. It certainly feels like a love letter to a very specific era and the blockbusters of that time period.

The movie does have one glaring plot hole that comes late in the film. It won't be spoiled here, but what transpires negates a major moment that occurs earlier, thus lowering the overall stakes. Some of these points in the script, along with the characterization, needed a little more smoothing out, but this is a movie that elevates action over everything else. Still, the plot hole I'm referring to will frustrate some viewers and also makes little sense.

Writer/director David Robert Mitchell made a name for himself with It Follows more than a decade ago. It's great to see him tackle a project that's so different than his debut and so enjoyable as well. The End of Oak Street has blemishes in terms of its script, but it's still a great time at the movies, loaded with big dumb dino action.

The End of Oak Street is now playing in theaters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oB9AxspVow