With its short runtime, there’s a lot of depth missed out on when it comes to the family dynamics, the individuality of each member and the inciting incident that pushes the story into a never-ending thrill ride. With David Robert Mitchell’s direction though, the lack of the latter was not necessarily a surprise or a weakness. With consideration to his former projects, it instead just adds on to the heightened and sensational nature Oak Street becomes absorbed into.
The cast all do a solid job, but they’re never given quite enough material to fully connect with on an emotional level, it’s all just surface level elements that play into their performances. Honestly, give more time to the film and it’ll soar even higher than the pterodactyls do.
At the core, it’s a passionate letter to his childhood and his late father, Mitchell taps into that well of Spielbergian-esque energy to craft every element of this movie, for better and for worse.
If you’re going in for the dinosaurs just don’t be afraid of how tame and docile they are. Start comparing them to other dino movie material, and you’re entering a spiral of disappointment. They are all in this bunched together and there are some tiny moments to show off the awe that the characters are going through but not enough for anyone to truly feel the space-altering catalytic event that occurs.
Review by Epicz
Oh boy, here we go. In 2026 alone, I never expected to see John Cena get his ass eaten and dinosaur sex in the same year.
As a massive dinosaur nerd and someone who considers Jurassic Park one of the greatest films ever made, no dinosaur movie has come close to the magic Spielberg created in the ‘90s. So I went into End of Oak Street hopeful, and while it certainly isn’t perfect, I had a genuinely good time with it.
This is a silly film, but it’s fun silly. It’s got style, dinosaurs, big set pieces and that old-school blockbuster feeling that feels increasingly rare. It reminded me of the kind of ridiculous summer movie you’d happily go to the cinema for, grab some popcorn and just enjoy.
Anne Hathaway absolutely carries the film, delivering a convincing performance as a troubled wife dealing with serious marital issues. Ewan McGregor is much less successful, feeling slightly phoned in with an accent that became distracting, but there are plenty of enjoyable performances elsewhere.
The film does have some big problems. There isn’t a single particularly intelligent person here, with the characters making so many questionable decisions that realistically they probably wouldn’t have made it an hour. I also wanted much more of a sense of panic from the wider community. We see things happening in the background, but for something this huge, there isn’t enough of a feeling that people are actually coming together, trying to solve the problem, or even filling the streets after the time travel occurs.
But then you remember there are dinosaurs.
And the dinosaur action is a lot of fun. The violence is surprisingly vicious, the creatures have a cool, more bird-like design, and the film isn’t afraid to get nasty. The CGI is inconsistent, though, with some fantastic work mixed with some genuinely rough moments. The snake looked like a massive condom, and Greg’s death is particularly questionable visually.
The filmmaking itself is actually pretty stylish. The score clearly takes inspiration from Jurassic Park, the camera work has some great moments, and I will always appreciate a good split diopter shot even if this one might have been slightly overused.
Greg’s death also genuinely shocked me. Seeing Obi-One leg had my jaw on the floor, although I’m still trying to work out how that dinosaur survived a shotgun blast but was taken down by one swing of a baseball bat.
The ending didn’t completely land for me either. I liked the darker direction, but some of the choices felt a little too far fetched, particularly the idea of sacrificing herself and other children to get her husband back which felt like a cop out you never see main characters get killed off in dino movies and I was shocked but happy to see they made that decsion only to turn around and try give it a happy ending
Ultimately, End of Oak Street is flawed, silly and occasionally ridiculous but it’s also a lot of fun. It’s got dinosaurs, some great set pieces, plenty of style and that classic summer blockbuster spirit I genuinely miss.
It isn’t going to replace Jurassic Park, and I’ll probably forget most of it by next week, but for two hours in a cinema?
I had a bloody good time.
Review by Luke