[Imperial]

What is there to say: Casting disaster. Absolutely horridly mismatches some places.
The animatronics is just about 1000 times better than say anything we've ever seen.

But one thing is very clear. The story has some very evident holes. Suddenly the story goes into turtle mode and you can't help but thinking...
What happened here? They lost the original tapes and did a sordid re-take? what?

It is so bad it is like a b, no C, no D no E-film some places, absolutely horrid scripting!!!
Especially the raptors move totally perfect. Absolutely magic!!!

Maybe I need to see it 5 times to start to like it. But, seriously... Directed by Colin Trevorrow... never heard the name before and I'm thinking...
James Cameron, I would have LOVED to see his version of this really good film. But it's just that. It's found wanting... really...see it, you'll know what I mean!

Imperial

[MttBsh]

So you love it - I mean you HATE it - I mean you kinda love it but hate it more - or is it the other way around?

[Imperial]

It is a weird sort of : Wow finally they made a new dino movie... 14 years. A long wait!!!
aaargh, it is just too bland...

The director did not know how to make it "live" it sort of just "is" the next in the n-iology of the Jurassic series.. not worthy, I think... sadly

That sort of like, that, yeah that would be aptly described...

And I do love red heads!!! My current female asset is one...

By the way... Yes I will by it on Blue-Ray or 4/8K sure, it's a visual masterpiece... But it could have been an artistic masterpiece as well. It is not..

[JackD201]

Predictable eye candy. My kids loved it though. I thought it was a reboot but learned early in the film it is indeed a sequel of sorts.

It just might take the movie product placement award. 

[Rob Babcock]

On the whole I very much liked it.  Pratt is really superb- I dare say the movie wouldn't have worked without him.  He and Howard have decent but not epic chemistry.  The effects were very good overall, with the raptor stuff being excellent.  The Mosasaur was hilariously bad.  I really only have two complaints.  First, the story is pretty much just a retread of previous installments.  Parts feel more like a reboot than a sequel.  Second the subplot with the kids was really weak and forced.  It was a kludge to make them the nephews of Howard's character but I guess it was necessary in order to shoehorn them into the plot (at which point they just replace the siblings from the first film- the plot is exactly the same there).  The family drama was just unnecessary baggage that dragged along adding nothing to the story.

The last forty five minutes are pure magic though!  I think the finale was fantastic. Some think the film is sexist but I disagree.  Bryce Dallas Howard's character did evolve from a cold and distant career woman to someone with empathy and the ability to engage with others, but she was hardly a stock damsel in distress.  She shows a lot of courage and resourcefulness, and it's far to say she was instrumental in the resolution.  Her performance is excellent!  I hope we see more of her in the future.  And Pratt shows that GotG was no fluke- he's a major star.

Not a classic like the first one but well worth a viewing!

[zybar]

Saw it with my 13 and 11 year old sons this past weekend in a packed theatre.

While it didn't have a great story or great acting, it did have incredible effects (especially when compared to Jurassic Park of 1993).

It was an entertaining couple of hours and worth our time.

If you liked any of the previous Jurassic Park movies, I can't see how you wouldn't enjoy this one.

George

[Shakeydeal]

While it didn't have a great story or great acting, it did have incredible effects

That pretty much sums up most of the so called "action" movies today. I have walked out on my fair share of "Transformers" and "Cowboys and Aliens", etc......

My time is worth more to me than sitting through a bunch of crap.

Shakey

[zybar]

That pretty much sums up most of the so called "action" movies today. I have walked out on my fair share of "Transformers" and "Cowboys and Aliens", etc......

My time is worth more to me than sitting through a bunch of crap.

Shakey

So why do you even go?   

For crap I don't want to see but the kids do, my wife is kind enough to bring the boys.

George

[mcgsxr]

My girls have caught up on the first 3 of the series, and showcase some interest in this flick, but are concerned it may be too loud at the theatre for them (they found Guardians of the Galaxy overwhelmingly loud at times).

We may wait to watch it at home, but I am sure we will end up seeing it.

[Shakeydeal]

So why do you even go?   

For crap I don't want to see but the kids do, my wife is kind enough to bring the boys.

George

Well this was years ago, and I had never seen a Transformers movie. Learned my lesson there.

Cowboys + Aliens showed promise from the trailer and I like Daniel Craig. I think I lasted about 30 minutes into that one.


Shakey

[bladesmith]

this movie had a lot of potential, I thought. I mean they could have taken there script in any direction and got some big stars to play in it. I haven't seen it, but so far, the reviews haven't been as good as I hoped for..

V..

(but, i'll still watch it when it goes to red box.)

[ajzepp]

So why do you even go?   

For crap I don't want to see but the kids do, my wife is kind enough to bring the boys.

George

lol, that's always my first thought when I see someone (not specifically referring to you, Shakey...promise!) stating how little they enjoyed something. I don't particularly care for English period pieces...so guess what...I don't WATCH them     

[Letitroll98]

I went expecting to see dinosaurs chase people, and that's what I got.  If I was expecting a transcendent cinema experience I might have been disappointed.  It was good as a summer escape, a lot of fun and reasonably well made, the cg was very well done, the script a little disjointed, but I had a good time and wasn't disappointed.  Lots of people got eaten by dinosaurs in predictable ways.

[wushuliu]

They got really lucky with the release date. This is such a dead summer for movies people were ready for anything fun and if a familiar franchise then all the better.

[Folsom]

It was pretty weak.

The best part was when the merc shot the flying dino on their way in. However I'd like to say even a smart dino would get slaughtered by mercs that knew they were going to face one. There's just no way the threat would be approached with flea ammo.

The editing and suspense was pathetic compared to the original. Even in 3D, it didn't do squat.

[wushuliu]

I thought Jurassic World was GREAT.

First off it is *pointless* to compare it to the original. The original was a cultural milestone. There is no way to recapture that. There is no way to see dinosaurs rendered with such realism AGAIN for the first time. Jurassic World itself says this explicitly. The movie openly makes a meta statement about the franchise and ALL franchises in this new age of movies. They tried to make a 'cooler, 'bigger', more amazing dinosaur and knowing that audiences are now desensitized to the original the park now has to find a way to give consumers MORE.

And in doing so things go horribly wrong. So right there Jurassic World shows a lot of intelligence in the foundation of the plot.

Second, let's get some things straight. The original is a 'classic' but far from perfect. The chaos theory nonsense Goldblum yammers on about is forced and incongruent in the way that many movies from the 90s were when they have an extended cameo scientist/nerd type who shows up and tries to do some cliffs notes of whatever prevailing theory made its way to the cover of Time that year. The kids were annoying as all hell, the family/Sam Neill deep down needs kids shtick was eye-rollingly bad, and there were lots of wasted scenes that just kind of dragged on.

But the dinosaurs were awesome and the raptors stole the movie. So let's not get too rose-colored about the original. It was good, sometimes great, but not one of Spielberg's best. What made Jurassic Park special were the effects and the subsequent surge of interest in all things dino.

Jurassic World makes no attempt to create a better experience than the original. That's not the point. What it does and does well is take the ideas from the original and follow them through to the next logical level. The raptors for instance. They way they are handled is a very clever twist to the original. But they are still dangerous, they are still the menace they were. The T-Rex, again, VERY clever twist, but in a way that is still consistent with the original. BD Wong's role as well, ties into the original in a way that makes this movie the true sequel to Jurassic Park.

Actually I think there are a few areas where Jurassic World is actually BETTER than the original.

1) The kids are not annoying. They are older, more mature, and the dynamic between the brothers is far more real than the saccharine picket fence bright-eyed wonder of the ones in the original. Jurassic World also made a point of not spending too much time with them. I came for the action not for Nickelodeon hour.

2) No Spielbergy family schmaltz. Jurassic Park was the turning point for Spielberg going mushy on all cylinders. He created the template of balancing family dynamics and high concept blockbuster stories but lost his way in the 90s. Jurassic World restores that balance with small moments of insight woven into the overall story, not drawn out cutesy crap.

As for performances, Chris Pratt does an outstanding job. Especially considering he was a ditzy lovable lug on Parks and Rec until his recent ascension to stardom. He grounds the movie and definitely has a Harrison Ford vibe about him (more on that below). Bryce Dallas Howard does a great job as well. Unfortunately the biggest problem with JW has to do with her character. Plus terrific moments from Jake Johnson and IRRFAN Khan. D'Onofrio cashed a paycheck, tamped down the weirdness, otherwise unremarkable.

Ok, so what didn't work for me? Bryce Dallas Howard's character. Joss Whedon was right when he ripped the movie a new one when the trailer first came out - there's no excuse in 2015 for a cold, stuck up, sexless powerful female as a character. it's ridiculous. I mean they even have her dressed in white. They should have just named her character Ice Queen. To add insult to injury her story arc is realizing that she needs a man to complete her and maybe some kids too. Totally asinine. I guess that was their way of shoehorning the family dynamics shtick but they blew it. Waste of a good actress.

There were no signature sequences like the original but UNLIKE the original I actually felt scared for the characters. Jurassic World was violent and menacing in a way that upped the fear factor for me. Editing was also well-paced.

And you gotta love the quick cut of the visitor grabbing his drinks as terror fell from the skies. So many little moments like that commented on how we the audience as consumers react now to these films.

Smart movie. Pratt was great. Better than it has any right to be for a fourth-quel.

Oh, and the Pratt = Harrison Ford thing?

Notice Indiana Jones 5 has just been announced?

I don't think that's a coincidence. I think Spielberg found his man.
 

[munosmario]

Well...what can be said? Brilliant, insightful testimonial...made me toss away negative preconceptions and I am ready to go and watch it (youngest daughter glad to watch it again and keep me company). Thanks

[threshold t-50]

Great fun for a couple of hours. As far as the Howard character; if that was a cold, heartless, white male, corporate  executive, the PC Hollywood critic wouldn't have said a word. I wonder what he would of thought of Lenny Bruce or if Blazing Saddles was released today. These people need to get a life everything offends them. This was a fun summer escapist movie. Not some Bergman movie w/deep dark hidden meanings. Just enjoy the show folks.

[kingdeezie]

Great fun for a couple of hours. As far as the Howard character; if that was a cold, heartless, white male, corporate  executive, the PC Hollywood critic wouldn't have said a word. I wonder what he would of thought of Lenny Bruce or if Blazing Saddles was released today. These people need to get a life everything offends them. This was a fun summer escapist movie. Not some Bergman movie w/deep dark hidden meanings. Just enjoy the show folks.

Except, its hard to escape, when the writing is so bad, and the story is littered with so many plot holes, that you could drive a genetically mutated hybrid dinosaur through it.

SPOILERS AHEAD:




Accepting the fact that the movie is about dinosaurs living in 2015, and that someone allowed them to reopen the park after the catastrophic events of the last three movies happened, are we seriously to believe that the characters populating this movie are all smart enough to have gotten to this point in time, but are so stupid to make so many mistakes?

Here we have a park full of futuristic technology, with inventions that won't exist for decades, and creatures that might never be capable of being created, yet every scientist, engineer, dinosaur ranger, etc, etc, is completely brainless when the dino dookie hits the fan.

You create two raptor, toad, lizard, t-rex, hybrid killing machines, where already one was eaten by the other, and you have ZERO FAIL SAFES to stop the mayhem from occurring?

You implant ONE tracking/paralyzing device in the creature, where it apparently can easily reach it with its stubby T-rex arms? Huh? The world's smartest scientists came up with this plan?

You have ZERO way to lock down the different park quadrants, so in the rare event where your ONE fail safe fails, you are completely screwed. The world's best engineers came up with this plan?

You have no immediate way to get everyone off the island? No ships to remove everyone from danger immediately? Really? Again?

You have NO lethal methods to kill the wild dinosaurs, except a gatling gun which you bolt onto a passenger helicopter? A passenger helicopter that you only have ONE pilot for, who goes missing at just the right time, so that the owner has to fly the helicopter?

Then, you attach this gun to the helicopter, and the two army rangers that you have in the copter, can't hit a 70 foot monster, but instead, funnel him into a dome full of man eating flying dinosaurs?

Flying dinosaurs, which wouldn't have escaped, if the geniuses in the helicopter, didn't shot a hole in the damn roof.

Its like, every single plot point was a hollow excuse to move onto the next major blockbuster scene.

Dino escapes, one fail safe fails, everyone makes awful decisions, and the worlds best everything running the park, are actually complete morons who just keep making things worse.

The movie was fun for sure, but it didn't make any sense at all.

If it was trying to be satirical, it missed the mark, because satire is supposed to be clever and subtle, this was just bad.

[threshold t-50]

Action movies always have unrealistic scenes. How many times have you seen ten or twenty guys firing automatic weapons at the hero and never hitting him. Or if he's against 10 men and they fight him one at a time. That's why one of my favorite scenes is when Harrison Ford in the first Indiana Jones movie shoots the swordsman. In the movies you have to suspend reality or the good guy wouldn't last 5 minutes.