Freeze Frame: “Jurassic World Dominion” (PG-13), “Hustle” (R)

The “Jurassic Park” films have raked in over $5 billion at the worldwide box office. Naturally, Hollywood is as interested in resurrecting the franchise as the evil corporations are in resurrecting those aggressive dinosaurs. “Jurassic World Dominion” is the sixth film in the series, and it offers more of the same, an abundance of action, adventure, and cool CGI dinosaurs. It may, however, be too much of the same.

The dinosaurs are now found everywhere around the world and a corporate giant is exploiting them in a scheme to dominate agriculture. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are back from the “Jurassic World” films as are Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, and Sam Neill from the original “Jurassic Park” movie. The visual effects are spectacular, but in some ways the scenes all play like a revival of Jurassic Park’s greatest hits. It’s hard for a film to retain tension when the beats of each scene are so repetitive. But the real problem is length. There’s a good hour-and-a-half adventure movie buried in this two-and-a-half-hour adventure movie. Ah well, while flawed “Jurassic World Dominion” is still more believable than the “Fast and the Furious” franchise.

Many elements of the Netflix drama ‘Hustle’ are straight from the ‘inspirational sports movie’ playbook, but in this case, they work. Adam Sandler plays Stanley Sugarman, a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers. While observing a street game in Spain, he discovers a talented amateur whom he takes under his wing, a move that ultimately costs him his job. Utah Jazz big man Juancho Hernangómez gives a strong performance as the greenhorn player. While it’s no “Rocky,” “Hustle” is still an engaging gamer that once again shows that, when he wants to, Adam Sandler can be a fine actor.

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