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Jurassic World |OT| WARNING! Safety Not, uh, Guaranteed | RT: 71?!%

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Jawmuncher

Member
You know aside from the mom I really did not mind the cast of JP3. Like not at al. It was more the time frame of the kid surviving that bothered me most about the film. With as long as he was there, he should have just become Tarzan of site b.
 
Well JW doesn't get the benefit of returning favorites like Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill's characters. If we are using the original as the yardstick to compare everything, then of course JW doesn't stack up in regards to character development.

It doesn't stack up to any of the other films, period. This is easily the worst characterization in any of the movies. Which is why it really needed to do what it did in the last half hour to succeed.
 

- J - D -

Member
It's interesting that the last 3 Jurassic films were all about resolving familial issues. It comprises the core drama that isn't incidentally caused (but inexplicably solved) by dinosaurs.

TLW had Ian and his daughter and his girlfriend becoming a functional family unit. JP3 had milquetoast William H. Macy, his shrill wife Tea Leoni, and their precocious hang-gliding son learning to...I don't know, be a functional family unit or whatever. And Allan Grant is just like a fifth wheel ancillary character who is there because wasn't the first movie great? Remember Alan Grant? He was the other cool guy who wasn't Ian Malcom.

By contrast, the family drama of JW works better because it just focuses on the two brothers. Also, the aunt learns the value of dinosaurs (and her nephews), and becomes a less frigid person.

There's no way anyone's going to tell me that the cast of characters of JW is worse than TLW or JP3.
 

Apdiddy

Member
I just saw the movie. It's not terrible but it's not great either. I found myself severely disliking Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard)'s character -- her mannerisms are too much like a woman I know from work. What really bugged me is
the story introduced romance when none was needed. She wouldn't like Owen -- she would view him as a the 'hired help' and would ignore him completely.
I really wanted her to get killed or for the older boy to get killed.

I don't know if it was the sound mixing but I couldn't understand anything Masrani said at first. It wasn't until half-way through the movie that I could understand him.
Then he got killed in a helicopter but there was no emotional attachment to that.

For the most part, none of the characters really distinctive.
And what would an ex-Navy guy know about animal training anyway?
 

Tiktaalik

Member
Every JP sequel (JW included) has had completely one dimensional characters with little to no character growth that you barely cared about. It's a really big problem with the series. They need to slow down the action and spend more time on story and character development. Give people real motivations, don't just introduce them and then open all the gates and let the dinosaurs lose.

The scene between Owen and Claire when Owen was fixing his motorbike was one of the few examples of characters actually interacting and having a conversation. More of this is badly needed in the series.
 

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
Just got back, omg loved it.

when this music started


Welcome To Jurassic World


tumblr_lmwqe000Gk1qzderm.gif


and nostalgia overload when

scene when they step in to that old building, referencing Jurassic Park
Park is Closed
 
By contrast, the family drama of JW works better because it just focuses on the two brothers.

But they're nothings as characters. Nothing interesting, nothing likable, nothing worth caring about. And their aunt gives about as many fucks about them as we do. Their parents seem to care, but we don't care about them, either, so they're basically just meatbags that constitute the majority of the peril. There is no real arc. I can see where it's supposed to go. But it's a dotted line at half-opacity that never actually got filled in by anything in the film proper.

The "Family drama" of JW only seems to actually apply in practice instead of theory if you're talking about Pratt & the raptors. And it's the only family drama that contains any real payoff, too. Everything else happens not because it feels organic to the characters and their problems, but because it needs to happen to shove people to the next setpiece.

All that aside, who do I care about in Jurassic World because of their actions/behaviors as a character?

Pratt
Johnson
maaaaaaaaaaybe D'Onofrio.

What about Lost World?

Malcolm
Sarah (stupid as she is)
Eddie
Tembo
Hell, I care more about Stormare's character in Lost World than I think I do anyone in Jurassic World.

Jurassic Park III

Grant
Paul
Billy (stupid as he is)
Udesky

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying these are great characters, or even good examples of above average characterization. But they do more, in their movies, to invest me as a viewer in what's going on, than almost everyone in Jurassic World. It's one of the film's biggest faults.

It's why the decision to go full monster movie is a smart one, because monster flicks can work just fine without the human beings pulling their weight.
 

rjinaz

Member
Just saw the movie. Overall I thought it was fun. I thought some of the behavior from the characters was bit silly at times. "I"m a kid and dinosaurs are trying to kill me, I should be out of my mind!" "But oh is that my Aunt? Wow she's got a cool bf" It just seems like through all the chaos there were too many calm "pause" moments. I mean I get why, to break up some of the tension with humor, but it threw me out of the flow.

But it was entertaining. Probably not something I would rush to see again though, might pick it up on vudu.
 
Saw it last night, and by the end, I wished I had watched it in IMAX 3D. For some reason,
the fight scene between the I-Rex and the T-Rex reminded me of the fight between Optimus and Megatron in the Transformers Movie.
 

- J - D -

Member
But they're nothings as characters. Nothing interesting, nothing likable, nothing worth caring about. And their aunt gives about as many fucks about them as we do. Their parents seem to care, but we don't care about them, either, so they're basically just meatbags that constitute the majority of the peril. There is no real arc. I can see where it's supposed to go. But it's a dotted line at half-opacity that never actually got filled in by anything in the film proper.

The "Family drama" of JW only seems to actually apply in practice instead of theory if you're talking about Pratt & the raptors. And it's the only family drama that contains any real payoff, too. Everything else happens not because it feels organic to the characters and their problems, but because it needs to happen to shove people to the next setpiece.

All that aside, who do I care about in Jurassic World because of their actions/behaviors as a character?

Pratt
Johnson
maaaaaaaaaaybe D'Onofrio.

What about Lost World?

Malcolm
Sarah (stupid as she is)
Eddie
Tembo
Hell, I care more about Stormare's character in Lost World than I think I do anyone in Jurassic World.

Jurassic Park III

Grant
Paul
Billy (stupid as he is)
Udesky

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying these are great characters, or even good examples of above average characterization. But they do more, in their movies, to invest me as a viewer in what's going on, than almost everyone in Jurassic World. It's one of the film's biggest faults.

It's why the decision to go full monster movie is a smart one, because monster flicks can work just fine without the human beings pulling their weight.

I don't see a real difference between how you describe the brothers in JW and Tim/Lex in the first JP. Outside of Lex's 11th hour hacking skills, they add as much to these movies as the brothers do.

As for caring about those TLW and JP3 characters, I don't feel the same way. I didn't care about any of them outside of Malcom and Grant in their respective movies. Agree to disagree.
 
Saw it last night, and by the end, I wished I had watched it in IMAX 3D. For some reason,
the fight scene between the I-Rex and the T-Rex reminded me of the fight between Optimus and Megatron in the Transformers Movie.

Lol. Perfect comparison to be honest

ONE SHALL STAND. ONE SHALL FALL.

*YOU GOT THE TOUCH! YOU GOT THE POWERRRRRRRRR*
 
I don't see a real difference between how you describe the brothers in JW and Tim/Lex in the first JP.

Tim and Lex have discernable personalities and when they're given jokes, they land them. That didn't happen in this movie save for maybe two moments. Their utility as plot devices is similar-ish, but they feel more like actual people, and make themselves ingratiating throughout the movie. These kid actors in Jurassic World might be better than the two in Jurassic Park. Probably are. But they were given less than nothing to work with, and they didn't land what they were given, really.

Tim and Lex actually seemed like kids. And were funny at times. And because of that sense of humor and vibrancy, when they got threatened, the threat carried more weight, because they'd managed to get you to invest in them as characters and not just because of their plot utility.
 
I don't see a real difference between how you describe the brothers in JW and Tim/Lex in the first JP. Outside of Lex's 11th hour hacking skills, they add as much to these movies as the brothers do.

As for caring about those TLW and JP3 characters, I don't feel the same way. I didn't care about any of them outside of Malcom and Grant in their respective movies. Agree to disagree.

Yup. Liked these characters way more.
 

joedan

Member
Movie wasn't that great. What bothers me the most was how composed the kids were.
One minute you're in the mouth of a giant dinosaur in a glass ball and barely escape. Next instant your just chilling and walking calmly through the ruins of the old JP. Didn't ring true. Them kids would have pissed themselves and be severely traumatized.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
It was a really good movie. I saw an article about how it's sexist. I completely disagree with everything that article said.
 

Curler

Unconfirmed Member
It was a really good movie. I saw an article about how it's sexist. I completely disagree with everything that article said.

The sexist thing keeps getting knocked around a lot. Would they rather have a man in charge or something? Geeze, making a character anal does not make it sexist. I don't even have an arguement for what they could even mean.

People will find nitpicks and issues where they want, I guess.
 

Bernbaum

Member
Loved what they did with Wu in this film, there's still so much they can use from the books... especially the Lost World.

It's the first sequel that hasn't lifted any action scenes from the first book. TLW took some of the compy stuff, and the pteranadon/water sequences in JP3 were inspired by Grant's journey with the kids. There was some coversational stuff they sort of worked in (Wu and Masrani's conversation) but apart from that, the only thing it lifted from Crichton's works was related to Carnotaurus.
 

Calcium

Banned
Just got back from my second viewing. The movie holds up, but I didn't like it any better this time around. I didn't warm up to the elements of the movie I disliked over time like I thought I might. Sold out show and the crowd was just lifeless. So incredibly disappointing. I never go to late shows to avoid crowds, but I intentionally went late tonight thinking the audience would really get into it and cheer. My early Friday viewing had people clapping and cheering at all the right parts.
 
Clapping never happens in my country. The only time I've seen anyone clap was when ROTS came out and some Americans in the audience clapped at the end. It was very weird.
 

Bernbaum

Member
Just got back from my second viewing. The movie holds up, but I didn't like it any better this time around. I didn't warm up to the elements of the movie I disliked over time like I thought I might. Sold out show and the crowd was just lifeless. So incredibly disappointing. I never go to late shows to avoid crowds, but I intentionally went late tonight thinking the audience would really get into it and cheer. My early Friday viewing had people clapping and cheering at all the right parts.

Yeah, the second screening did nothing to influence my impressions of the film. The first screening had a much better audience who were more involved, and were an older crowd like me. The moment with the biggest impact was the sweeping helicopter shot over the park as the kids open the hotel window, complete with the Williams theme.

At the second screening, it was 5 minutes into the opening of the film before the projectionist turned the room lights off. I would have been furious if that happened at the premiere.
 

Calcium

Banned
Clapping never happens in my country. The only time I've seen anyone clap was when ROTS came out and some Americans in the audience clapped at the end. It was very weird.

There are very few movies where I'd want a lot of audience reactions and this is one of them. Unfortunately I didn't get it. Being in a country where audiences are silent must be pretty awesome for the majority of the time.

At the second screening, it was 5 minutes into the opening of the film before the projectionist turned the room lights off. I would have been furious if that happened at the premiere.

Ugh, I hate it when that happens.
 

- J - D -

Member
Tim and Lex have discernable personalities and when they're given jokes, they land them. That didn't happen in this movie save for maybe two moments. Their utility as plot devices is similar-ish, but they feel more like actual people, and make themselves ingratiating throughout the movie. These kid actors in Jurassic World might be better than the two in Jurassic Park. Probably are. But they were given less than nothing to work with, and they didn't land what they were given, really.

Tim and Lex actually seemed like kids. And were funny at times. And because of that sense of humor and vibrancy, when they got threatened, the threat carried more weight, because they'd managed to get you to invest in them as characters and not just because of their plot utility.

Nostalgia and affection towards the first JP automatically softens my view of Lex and Tim, but they aren't particularly interesting or likeable people, they're just kids. If nothing else, they are made more interesting by their interactions with more interesting characters, i.e. Alan Grant, who sticks with them for a large chunk of the film, sharing with them circumstance and humor.

The brothers in JW by contrast don't really get that benefit, and they have the unfortunate burden of having more of the film resting on their shoulders alone and on their own rather than being integrated into the ensemble as a whole until the third act. And with that in mind I think the car repair scene is very affecting, as are the small moments where the older brother fails to console his younger brother. That makes me more invested in them more than Lex/Tim. I say that, but I mean it in the most tenuous kind of connection to either pair of siblings.

You're right that the two sibling pairs are similar-ish. Lex and Zach are both initially standoffish and disinterested in dinosaurs. Both have a talent that gets themselves and others out of a jam (hacking vs. car repair). Tim and Gray are practically the same character. Encyclopedic knowledge of dinosaurs. They even both have a reluctance to "jump" moment. The difference to me is that the two brothers in JW actually felt like siblings. Sure, their family issues are more in the forefront of the film than any tensions between Tim/Lex, but it gives us more about them to be attached to, to sympathize with. I don't want to argue about intangible things like which pair felt more like "real kids", because that's a very subjective thing.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
The sexist thing keeps getting knocked around a lot. Would they rather have a man in charge or something? Geeze, making a character anal does not make it sexist. I don't even have an arguement for what they could even mean.

People will find nitpicks and issues where they want, I guess.
We have billions of people in the world. That happened from people banging. The movie consistently drove at the common theme of us getting caught up in our ideas (
corporation, spectacle, military, personal hangups
) and overlooking the ultimately undeniable realities of nature, outside of us and also in us/what we and our weaknesses are. That is the consistent theme of the movie, and the archetypes are built off of that ground, not really about the social dynamics of gender relations.

She signified one height of this in one angle, the one running on
market perspective of cost rather than natural costs, things like respect for life and unrelenting nature that will be our demise the moment we forget it. So she wasn't learning to submit to maternal roles, she was learning to respect life in general, and yes that does include family building in some capacity, but that is not sexist when you are discussing the nature of beings. She didn't even think much of the people dying till she watched a dinosaur die. The fact is, she never chose some kind of heteronormative domestic life over a career
and if you are seeing that, you're reading it into the movie.

And he
isn't the role of the cool guy with his act together who loosens her up. He is a wrangler type who only knows what is plain to his physical senses. His isn't purely to make him cool, it is to make him the flip side of everyone else. His blindness to non-primal things isn't a virtue until the situation is primal. And I'm certain that if the roles were reversed, they'd complain that the man was the boss character, and the wild woman playing to the boss type (like he did to her) was a different sexist trope. But it was about being attuned to instincts, not accepting gendered social models. She wasn't "fixed" by him, but they completed perspective for each other.

Aside from this, we also have the ingen guy giving another angle of lost perspective,
too much respect for the raw power and competition of nature and not enough on the living aspects. Inasmuch, he overlooked that which would ensure his own survival, because he was resting on the laurels of mankind's achievement as a false sense of security when the facts of living are actually far more immediate, and without the constructs of our controls secure, we are very vulnerable. He should have seen this from his men dying, but he was too busy marveling at the power. This is how war tends to destroy us, not purely in the fighting, but the loss of controls and constructs that protect people.

The kids also demonstrate their own angle,
one from innocence and one from sheer preoccupation. Their learning about nature has little to do with false sense of safety from controls, and more from pure ignorance, coming into knowledge of the values of belonging and cooperation that always protected them that they never really saw before because they were taken for granted.

The article I mentioned commented on Joss Whedon's tweet a while back, and I can only assume the person watched the whole movie looking for it, because their perspective was so twisted and narrow and missing a very blatant point the movie repeated over and over again as the main concept. I really think if you're seeing that, you're mentally putting it into the movie where it is not.

On all the comparisons to the old films:
They are all dumb action movies. JP1 had a special quirkiness the others don't, and JP2 has an issue with severely boring patches. Aside from that, I would say they are all generally on the same level. I feel like overly praising the old JP is like overly praising old Batman films. Things can be iconic because they were the first to do the concepts, and we can appreciate that quality, but let's be real about what they were.
 
Movie wasn't that great. What bothers me the most was how composed the kids were.
One minute you're in the mouth of a giant dinosaur in a glass ball and barely escape. Next instant your just chilling and walking calmly through the ruins of the old JP. Didn't ring true. Them kids would have pissed themselves and be severely traumatized.
Every time I come in here I have another reason to say "Oh, so like the original?" Sleeping and making jokes in the trees so quaintly.
 
Forgot to mention how fun the
dilophosaurus hologram
was.

If only the dinosaur itself would come back. Was always my favorite from JP when I was a kid, and both sequels seemingly forgot about it.
 

linkboy

Member
I just saw the movie. It's not terrible but it's not great either. I found myself severely disliking Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard)'s character -- her mannerisms are too much like a woman I know from work. What really bugged me is
the story introduced romance when none was needed. She wouldn't like Owen -- she would view him as a the 'hired help' and would ignore him completely.
I really wanted her to get killed or for the older boy to get killed.

I don't know if it was the sound mixing but I couldn't understand anything Masrani said at first. It wasn't until half-way through the movie that I could understand him.
Then he got killed in a helicopter but there was no emotional attachment to that.

For the most part, none of the characters really distinctive.
And what would an ex-Navy guy know about animal training anyway?

The Navy has a program where they train dolphins and sea lions doing things like mine detection.
 
Forgot to mention how fun the
dilophosaurus hologram
was.

If only the dinosaur itself would come back. Was always my favorite from JP when I was a kid, and both sequels seemingly forgot about it.

Maybe they started to think that a dinosaur spitting venom was too cheesy lol

I liked it though.
 
Anyone else think the CGI of the
TRex
looked off? Like it was the only dinosaur in the movie that actually looked like straight up CGI and looked very cartoon-ish. Which is weird, since it never looked that way in JP1-3.
 

- J - D -

Member
Anyone else think the CGI of the
TRex
looked off? Like it was the only dinosaur in the movie that actually looked like straight up CGI and looked very cartoon-ish. Which is weird, since it never looked that way in JP1-3.

Yeah, I thought it looked somewhat more stylized compared to the T-Rex in earlier JP films.

That said, I wasn't that impressed by the cgi dinos in JW outside of the raptors.
 
The more I think about this movie the more I dislike it, I think. I wouldn't consider it a dinosaur movie at all. It's just a flat out monster movie seemingly made by Jurassic Park fanboys. And I really mean that last part--the rapid attempts at nostalgia and fan-cred were groan inducing at times.
The Tyrannosaurus destroying the Spinosaurus skeleton was something I had a bad feeling was going to happen, and boy did it happen. "Haha, take that, Spinosaurus, the king is back!" Groan.

EDIT: I definitely feel the
Tyrannosaurus
was the worst looking CG creature in the film.
She felt... overanimated. She didn't move at all like the tyrannosaurs in the other films, and comes across as cartoony and off-model. Like, the final shot with her roaring over the island, she sprays a bunch of very visible spit when she roars. That wasn't necessary. Less is more in animation sometimes.
 

chiimisu

Member
I'm just back from the screening. I've only watched JP1 for the first time yesterday, and didn't like it THAT much. So I didn't have any special expectations for this one. But maan. This movie. THIS FUCKING MOVIE.

I'll probably write all of my thoughts later when at home. But I already can give summary: it was a mile better than I expected.
 

Jawmuncher

Member
Word of mouth especially on those final 20 minutes seems to be killing it in terms of getting more asses in seats. On top of everything else.
 

Mariolee

Member
I'm just back from the screening. I've only watched JP1 for the first time yesterday, and didn't like it THAT much. So I didn't have any special expectations for this one. But maan. This movie. THIS FUCKING MOVIE.

I'll probably write all of my thoughts later when at home. But I already can give summary: it was a mile better than I expected.

RG0BS1U.gif
 
Just came back from the theater. Super fun film! So many nods to the original movie, hit me right in the feels, and they were put in thoughtfully too. Dat original theme song...sogood.gif. Indominus Rex was flat out badass, what a killing machine. Liked the ending a lot, though
I'm curious where they'll take it now. They left it quite open.

If I had to rate it'd be JP1>JW>2>3
 
Maybe they started to think that a dinosaur spitting venom was too cheesy lol

I liked it though.

Haha I guess that must be it...or too unscientific maybe? Either way it's a JP icon!

Anyone else think the CGI of the
TRex
looked off? Like it was the only dinosaur in the movie that actually looked like straight up CGI and looked very cartoon-ish. Which is weird, since it never looked that way in JP1-3.

Yeah I said something similar about it being off model. I thought it looked fine technically, but it didn't look like the
same dinosaur anymore. Also I could be wrong, but I don't remember it doing its "full" roar (the one that lasts a few seconds).
 
Saw it today, thought it was pretty lame overall tbh.

I guess it did it's job as a big dumb nostalgic summer monster movie (I'll admit that the classic musical cues/lemotifs were really nice to hear), but man...could they have at least written less-wooden unappealing human characters?

Bryce Dallas Howard could have been replaced with a toaster in a red wig and heels halfway through the film and no one would known the difference; she was an absolute non-entity and the whole "pretty little uptight workaholic business lady doesn't have time for the kids!" subplot was so underdeveloped, forgettable, and just plain unnecessary. Why did we need it when they already set up the "pretty little uptight workaholic business lady needs connect with the animals and face nature!" subplot?
Chris Pratt was charming as always, but Jurassic Pratt was an incredibly underdeveloped cartoonishly heroic version of Muldoon; I honestly never believed that he was in any real danger because he always seemed to conveniently know about everything that came at him. Plus I didn't really understand why he even cared so much about the fakeosaurs...
Was he an animal expert? A paleotologist? A biologist? His respect for the animals monsters felt much more forced and under cooked than that of Grant's or Muldoon's.
And the kids...oh the damn kids were bad. The little boy was wholly forgettable, and I wanted the older brother to get eaten by the serial killer mutant.
Everyone else...they were about as forgettable as the younger brother; they all just existed to check off boxes.

The storytelling overall was trite, poorly paced, and rehashed from the first film.
Like, it was basically JP1 with really hokey poorly thought-out poorly used B-movie level elements like Darth holyshitit'saserialkillasauras and that ridiculous pterosaur flying bat eagle lizard monster scene that took me right out of the movie.
The militarization element was so moronic and cliche...why would anybody want non-human flesh and blood creatures on the battlefield? Why hasn't the military in this universe's world tried to militarize Lions or something if they think that's a good idea? They're just as fast, powerful, and smart. Plus they're easier to get to, and they can even open doors.
It just makes no real sense why anything is happening in this film.

Also on the subject of the flying bat eagle lizard monster attack
the death of that assistant lady was ridiculously mean spirited. The flying bat eagle lizard monsters diving into the tank to continue attack her was ridiculously unnecessary.

At the end of the day guess it's a step up from the previous sequels...but that's not saying much.

Edit: Honestly I don't understand how this basically has a C on Rotten when it's a D + at it's best.
 
Why hasn't the military in this universe's world tried to militarize Lions or something if they think that's a good idea? They're just as fast, powerful, and smart. Plus they're easier to get to, and they can even open doors.
It just makes no real sense why anything is happening in this film.[/SPOILER]
Lol, are you serious? Just as fast? Don't think they sprint up to 50MPH and they're sure as shit not as smart, or powerful. Come on now, cats aren't really the most intelligent creatures at all, lions or no. Velociraptors are described in the films as smarter than primates.
 
The storytelling overall was trite, poorly paced, and rehashed from the first film.
Like, it was basically JP1 with really hokey poorly thought-out poorly used B-movie level elements like Darth holyshitit'saserialkillasauras and that ridiculous pterosaur flying bat eagle lizard monster scene that took me right out of the movie.
The militarization element was so moronic and cliche...why would anybody want non-human flesh and blood creatures on the battlefield? Why hasn't the military in this universe's world tried to militarize Lions or something if they think that's a good idea? They're just as fast, powerful, and smart. Plus they're easier to get to, and they can even open doors.
It just makes no real sense why anything is happening in this film.
Raptors in this world are as smart as primates. That's why. It's still ridiculous, but hey the Navy today trains dolphins and sea lions for military use
 
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