Jurassic World (June 2015)
- Thread starter ISUFan22
- Start date
Okay saw it finally. Some really good things about it, some not so good.
+ excellent first act... I thought there was no way I could suspend disbelief past The Lost World that anybody would open up a dinosaur theme park after three dinosaurs-munching-people incidents, but they managed to talk their way through it well enough to my satisfaction
+ good characters overall, good performances (save the younger kid... look scared... dammit... Tim and Lex did... BE SCARED), and the "shadowy" setup to the I. Rex in its pen and the Raptors being trained actually worked pretty well for me on the whole there
+ some rather good set pieces early into it... the escape was actually a really good, terrifying moment to establish the character of both the bad guy and Chris Pratt, I liked the gyro sequence, so, yeah, great Act I and a really strong beginning to Act II in the thing
+ the references to Jurassic Park were very present but never over-the-top, made it seem like a new plot despite being a complete rehash of the original in all ways, but never beat you over the head with it (see Star Trek into Darkness if you want the worst film ever in this regard going wayyyyyyy too overboard in reference to the original and recycling characters/a plot)
Some problems for me as the film wore on, however...
(-) this was the most over-the-top product placement I've seen outside of an Adam Sandler film, even all the more worse because they tried to be "hip" about it with the Jurassic Park t-shirt guy but ended up committing all the sins they were kind of trying to poke fun at
(-) it had a good setup to work more as a parody of current blockbusters (Pratt's great at that, there's no shortage of obvious social and commercial commentary inherent in the premise), but they never really went for it, which left the thing feeling disjointed at the end
(-) Jurassic Park was a camouflage horror film (and one of the best ever in that regard), structured like one, and shot like one with the beasts always lurking in the shadows and rarely seen... Spielberg built them up (the pounding water, shadows, etc.) excellently each and every time.... dread > lame jump scares... this had a few sequences like that (the "she escaped of **** NO SHE DIDN'T!!!" sequence was like this) but, for the most part, things were too easy
(-) Jurassic Park, and older films in general, knew that effects, particularly CG, are weapons of last resort... JP was always dark and raining to disguise effects, CG was used sparingly, and some really great practical robots, models, and sets dominated the production... this goes the CG route early, often, and too clearly, which just ends up making it look way fake
***CG has its place, and some stylized films that rely on it very heavily (Pacific Rim, Scott Pilgrim, etc.) make it work in the style, but this sort of film should be going for realism
(-) the military subplot to setup a sequel was awful... took way too much time, didn't make a ton of sense, undermined the obvious enough "we just need a bigger bite for $$$ tickets" reasoning, and reduced the role Chris Pratt was going to have in leading the film
+ Private Pyle was in the movie which was funny, but his death was awful and unsatisfying (-)
(-) oh my god that ending was terrible... no buildup to it, awful CG, two 7 ton (14,000 pound) monsters aren't going to move that fast or survive falls like that, the jaws on a T. Rex could crunch bone so no way they chomp on a neck without it being fatal...
When Bates and Falkingham used computer models to simulate T. rex’s bite, the result was “quite surprising,” Bates told us: a maximum bite force of almost 12,800 pounds, about the equiva*lent of an adult T. rex’s body weight (or 13 Steinway Model D concert grand pianos) slamming down on its prey.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scien...and-deadly-bite-37252918/#uUeQpbFjg4IXVUci.99
...it just seemed rushed, lame, badly choreographed and thought out, and inappropriate the ending of this thing would be essentially a Godzilla film... I know you need a finale and an ending, and having the I and the T go at it works just fine for me, but, seriously, awful execution
I just don't get how the Rex looked way better in 1993 than in 2015. :sad:
Promising start, started to fall apart halfway through, collapsed at the end. 5/10.
It felt like the story had a million rewrites. So many setups from the start that never payoff at the end--hence why it feels rushed and disconnected. Couldn't decide in tone if this was going to be a hilarious and fun parody of these types of films or go the pocket horror route of the original. It had good setups for its first few set pieces (the escape, the hamster ball, and even the release of the raptors, but just kind of failed entirely on its final climb at the end).
+ excellent first act... I thought there was no way I could suspend disbelief past The Lost World that anybody would open up a dinosaur theme park after three dinosaurs-munching-people incidents, but they managed to talk their way through it well enough to my satisfaction
+ good characters overall, good performances (save the younger kid... look scared... dammit... Tim and Lex did... BE SCARED), and the "shadowy" setup to the I. Rex in its pen and the Raptors being trained actually worked pretty well for me on the whole there
+ some rather good set pieces early into it... the escape was actually a really good, terrifying moment to establish the character of both the bad guy and Chris Pratt, I liked the gyro sequence, so, yeah, great Act I and a really strong beginning to Act II in the thing
+ the references to Jurassic Park were very present but never over-the-top, made it seem like a new plot despite being a complete rehash of the original in all ways, but never beat you over the head with it (see Star Trek into Darkness if you want the worst film ever in this regard going wayyyyyyy too overboard in reference to the original and recycling characters/a plot)
Some problems for me as the film wore on, however...
(-) this was the most over-the-top product placement I've seen outside of an Adam Sandler film, even all the more worse because they tried to be "hip" about it with the Jurassic Park t-shirt guy but ended up committing all the sins they were kind of trying to poke fun at
(-) it had a good setup to work more as a parody of current blockbusters (Pratt's great at that, there's no shortage of obvious social and commercial commentary inherent in the premise), but they never really went for it, which left the thing feeling disjointed at the end
(-) Jurassic Park was a camouflage horror film (and one of the best ever in that regard), structured like one, and shot like one with the beasts always lurking in the shadows and rarely seen... Spielberg built them up (the pounding water, shadows, etc.) excellently each and every time.... dread > lame jump scares... this had a few sequences like that (the "she escaped of **** NO SHE DIDN'T!!!" sequence was like this) but, for the most part, things were too easy
(-) Jurassic Park, and older films in general, knew that effects, particularly CG, are weapons of last resort... JP was always dark and raining to disguise effects, CG was used sparingly, and some really great practical robots, models, and sets dominated the production... this goes the CG route early, often, and too clearly, which just ends up making it look way fake
***CG has its place, and some stylized films that rely on it very heavily (Pacific Rim, Scott Pilgrim, etc.) make it work in the style, but this sort of film should be going for realism
(-) the military subplot to setup a sequel was awful... took way too much time, didn't make a ton of sense, undermined the obvious enough "we just need a bigger bite for $$$ tickets" reasoning, and reduced the role Chris Pratt was going to have in leading the film
+ Private Pyle was in the movie which was funny, but his death was awful and unsatisfying (-)
(-) oh my god that ending was terrible... no buildup to it, awful CG, two 7 ton (14,000 pound) monsters aren't going to move that fast or survive falls like that, the jaws on a T. Rex could crunch bone so no way they chomp on a neck without it being fatal...
When Bates and Falkingham used computer models to simulate T. rex’s bite, the result was “quite surprising,” Bates told us: a maximum bite force of almost 12,800 pounds, about the equiva*lent of an adult T. rex’s body weight (or 13 Steinway Model D concert grand pianos) slamming down on its prey.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scien...and-deadly-bite-37252918/#uUeQpbFjg4IXVUci.99
...it just seemed rushed, lame, badly choreographed and thought out, and inappropriate the ending of this thing would be essentially a Godzilla film... I know you need a finale and an ending, and having the I and the T go at it works just fine for me, but, seriously, awful execution
I just don't get how the Rex looked way better in 1993 than in 2015. :sad:
Promising start, started to fall apart halfway through, collapsed at the end. 5/10.
It felt like the story had a million rewrites. So many setups from the start that never payoff at the end--hence why it feels rushed and disconnected. Couldn't decide in tone if this was going to be a hilarious and fun parody of these types of films or go the pocket horror route of the original. It had good setups for its first few set pieces (the escape, the hamster ball, and even the release of the raptors, but just kind of failed entirely on its final climb at the end).
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The ending alone took it from a really good movie to me to an alright movie. Absolutely awful ending. Totally a Spielberg ending though.
I just watched it and thought it was bad.
Awful dialogue, lame jokes and the nefarious plot to use the dinosaurs as weapons. I still think the raptor/human relationship idea was completely idiotic. I somehow made it through the whole thing. I am shocked at how well it has done.
A 10 minute scene of that annoying kid being systematically disemboweled by the raptors might have saved it.
Awful dialogue, lame jokes and the nefarious plot to use the dinosaurs as weapons. I still think the raptor/human relationship idea was completely idiotic. I somehow made it through the whole thing. I am shocked at how well it has done.
A 10 minute scene of that annoying kid being systematically disemboweled by the raptors might have saved it.
