Returning from Jurassic World (spoilers/spoiler free parts)

Spoiler free part

This is going to be long, so for most of you my TL;DR is "Don't really care if you read; watch the movie or don't =)"

Ok, so I went in hoping for a great movie and expecting a horrible one. Thankfully, my inner child loved every second of it, and if my inner child is happy I'm happy.

Jurassic Park is, to this day, one of my absolute favourite movies of all time and I've waited for this one for 14 long years so naturally I was really excited to watch it, and from a fan's point of view it was worth the wait.

The movie goes back to the original JP's roots and the nostalgia comes in in full force, so for a little over 2 hours I felt like an 8 year old again and was actually pouting a little when they stopped the movie for a break (there was also a collective "awww" from the rest of the movie-goers).

First of all I'd like to say the trailers did a god-awful job at promoting the movie..they chose the worse, most detached scenes in the movie, and added all the awkward Pratt scenes, which made me worried the movie was just going to be a cringe-fest...it's no secret I dislike Pratt and was completely convinced he was going to ruin the movie but he actually redeemed himself in my eyes with a really solid and enjoyable performance (aren't you happy @indzman?)

If you let yourself get lost in the magic of the dinosaur world the movie is great, but if you start analysing the details (which you probably will if you're not a huge JP fan) there will be quite a few "Why did they do that?" and "It makes no sense" moments but even those are not too hard to ignore.

Possible minor spoilers (mostly talking about what the trailers already showed)

Addressing one of the biggest fears I've heard from people these last few months, there are no tamed raptors in this movie...there aren't even trained raptors per se...just incredibly opportunistic animals that see the benefit of playing along. Pratt himself is scared shitless of them while the raptors merely tolerate his presence (like many animals in the wild tolerate the people studying them). The trailer just showed him "riding with raptors" and took the whole scene out of context, making it look a lot worse than it is. There's a bond, yes, but there's definitely no mastery over the raptors.

They also address (rather simplistically but effectively) why dinosaurs don't look like "the real ones". It was a cop out mechanism on their part but it shuts up that annoying voice in your head that keeps ruining the scenes with "where are the feathers?" and "Dilophosaurus didn't spit!". It was good enough for me.

And fear not, the soundtrack from JP is present on this one, and every time one of the old tracks hit I was back in 1993...it still packs the same punch. There are also quite a few "repeated shots" from the first movie that takes you back to the original JP...no worries though, they are not exaggerated or disruptive, mostly giving you a "this reminds me of when...in the first/third movie".

Now for the not so good...the Indominus Rex didn't convince me...the beginning was quite nice, a bit of a Godzilla "when are we going to see the whole monster?" vibe but as soon as you do you get hit by a "oh, that's it?" feeling which doesn't improve as the movie progresses and the main bad guy (bad dino?) keeps getting less and less believable. On the last third of the movie they actually explain why she is like she is but by then you already had an hour and a half of "not buying it". I-Rex is no T-Rex.

It gets really tense at points and I was actually feeling it in my stomach a few times, and the end is simply action-packed a with a lot of "yes!" moments (especially for the people who weren't happy with some of the decisions made in the previous movies...won't say what, though). On the not so bright side they make it pretty obvious early on what's going to happen with every dino as they introduce them...they are a bit too strategically placed and when you see an aerial view of the park you know how and where it's going to go down, which to be honest, by the time it actually goes down you really don't care that you guessed it...you're just along for the ride!

My biggest gripe with the movie was the fact that since this is not a reboot Jurassic Park did happen, the dinos did get free and they did kill a lot of people so what do they do with Jurassic World? They reduced the defenses from the original park...what the hell? Did these people not learn anything from JP? They make the same mistakes all over again and while I realise this is "needed" in a JP movie, I think they took it a little too far.

As far as characters go, you have a very Alan-Grant-like Owen, which is actually a plus...Chris Pratt had a very strong character to portray and he did it. Then you have a half-Ellie-Sattler-half-John-Hammond Claire who starts as annoying but grows on you as the movie goes along and finally you have 2 brothers who start as completely obnoxious but eventually become tolerable and you might even stop wishing for them to get eaten when they finally stop treating them as a plot device and make actual characters out of them (expect to hate them for the first half of the movie though).

The dinosaurs themselves are great...they actually gave them a personality instead of the eat-sleep-repeat behaviour they had in the first 3 movies. Particularly the raptors...it was fascinating to see them stop, assess the situation and making you wonder "What are you planning?"

The story? Well, it's a JP story, with just enough depth added to not feel rehashed...but..but dinos so who cares? =D

End minor spoilers

So basically, in my opinion (which is not meant to be taken as any sort of official statement as to the quality of the movie) it's definitely worth the money. In all my years of going to the movies this was the first time I've felt that I wouldn't have been able to get the same experience at home...for me going to the movies amounts to "a nice evening out" but this time I was glad I went. It's also only the third time I felt like I wanted to watch the movie again straight away.

So if you are a JP fan, or if you like dinosaurs and aren't really worried you won't get a documentary style movie about "real dinosaurs" go watch it; hope you have fun =D

Also, if you didn't skip to the bottom and actually read this whole thing, take a cookie. It's shaped like a Triceratops.

This post will be Reserve untill I see it and will comeback to edit how the movie went.

@davillain-: There's a spoiler free section if you want to read it. Even the "spoiler" part is mostly discussing the trailers, but I understand if you want to skip that part.

In any case have fun tomorrow!

I'm glad you liked it. I too had worries that it'd turn out to be a typical action movie far from its ancestor but I trust you when you say it lives up to the JP formula.

Now I only need to convince my friends to go see this with me.

@johnd13: I won't kid myself, I know the reason why I loved it so much is because I love JP so much and that's ok; it's a movie for the fans, which I am.

Also, I think I might actually go to the movies again and re-watch it...I've never wanted to do that before. (I actually didn't watch JP 2 or 3 in the theatres)

You should watch the original Jurassic Park in 3D if they release it again. Even though I hate 3D, I took my son to see it last year since he missed it's original release, and I was blown away. Instead of having things pop out at you, what they did was took the background and made it extend backwards. It gave the entire scene depth and gave the climactic scenes new life.

@mattbbpl: That sounds awesome...this one's 3D wasn't all that amazing; for most of the movie I even forgot it was there...of course there was more attention to it during the dino-heavy scenes, but other than that it was just a plant popping out or a mosquito "flying in front of your face"

Good to note I shouldn't waste the money on it hoping for the same effect.

I'm still surprised that more 3D movies don't try to replicate that style. Maybe it's harder/more expensive to do. Maybe people who did Jurassic Park felt like they had to do it that way because there weren't any "made for 3D" scenes were stuff pops out at the audience. But regardless, it was a much more authentic, less cheesy experience.

@mattbbpl: Don't get me wrong, I feel that the extra money was worth it, especially on the last third of the movie but it wasn't an "always on" kind of thing, which is fine by me...there's too many movies doing constant 3D by blurring the background, which is very annoying to me. This movie did it when it counted and left the rest alone.

Nifty review of the movie Mr K, i'm glad you ended up liking Chris and the movie. I don't think i'll be able to see it this weekend, might 've to go for a surgery ( Frequent stomach cramps for last one week and medications from doctor didn't ease up my pain ) and same family doctor now saying me to change doctor, be hospitalised or take USG ( Ultra Sono Graphy ) ASAP, might be case of gastric uulcer or appendisitis or tumour or just plain case of bactrial infection. Nothings certain till USG/ tests are out. I'll keep you updated on my situation if i'm able to Mr K :)

I thought it was great..definitely the best of the sequels. It's hard to say if I like it more than the original just yet. I might need to go watch it again and let it settle on me

@indzman: Man, that sucks! Please do let me know as soon as you know something. Maybe it's just concentrated awesomeness giving you a stomach ache =D

@Flubbbs: Yep, I'm definitely watching it again in a few weeks...I wanted to go again today but I'm swamped for the next week...I think I still like the original better because of the wonder I felt watching it but at far as movie quality goes I think this one might actually surpass it =D

@korvus:

From that breakdown, it seems you barely liked it. So its a 6-7/10.

@PSP107: Not really, I absolutely loved it! I'm just trying to not ruin any of it which I would have to if I were to talk about what I liked in it. To me the movie is a solid 8 but my love for the franchise actually boosts it to a 9 and I'm the kind of guy who has no problems giving 3 or 4 for "meh" movies. Now of course, I'm highly biased since I've loved dinosaurs for as long as I can remember so it might be lower for other people.

@korvus: "I'm just trying to not ruin any of it which I would have to if I were to talk about what I liked in it. "

You mentioning what you didn't like sounds worse.

@PSP107:

I praised the setting, the character progression, the music, it going back to the roots, the upgrade in dino portrayal, the sense of tension, them answering questions fans have been asking for a while and put to rest the fear of tamed raptors and the sense of wonder and magic...

As bad points I said I disliked the I-Rex for the first half of the movie, that it takes a while to warm up to the characters, that the story is not mind-blowingly original (which everybody expected) and that there was some decisions that felt a bit silly.

Overall it sounds like a quite positive review to me...

I liked it. The I-Rex was scary (especially when they would show his teeth when he was sniffing and looking around close at people with his head).

First thing, gimme couple of days. Pray for me mr K :)

Was it as good as Fury Road?

@indzman: I'm an atheist but I do hope everything is ok =D

@RoboCopISJesus: Haven't watched Fury Road yet =)

Shame on you, i'll pray to Jesus for you instead XD

Kidding, don't go ban me now for religious differences HeHe

@RoboCopISJesus: Sorry, not my thing =) I'll probably watch it when it comes out on BR.

-Male

-Fury Road not your thing

Pick one :P

All I'll say is that it was alot more entertaining then Jurrassic Park 3.
Still hold the original and Lost World in higher regard however.

Fury Road not my thing.

@Treflis: For me this one is almost tied with the original and above 2 and 3...It's been a while since I've watched the trilogy but I remember there was something about the 2nd that I didn't really like...think it was the whole "T-Rex in the city" thing...

Well then you will be delighted to her that the women in that movie are amazing heroes!

@RoboCopISJesus: That's great and I'm glad you enjoyed it but this thread is not about that movie =)

Fine. Is Jeff GoldBlume in this film?

@RoboCopISJesus: The only character to return is Dr. Henry Wu, the geneticist from the first JP.

To be honest, I never thought much of the original Jurassic Park films, so I won't bother with this one

@SteverXIII: That's understandable...like I said on the OP this is a movie for the fans...you probably wouldn't get much out of it if you didn't enjoy the first one. It's probably a smart choice for you to skip it =)

Saw it yesterday. Really liked it. It was better than I thought it was going to be. At least its waaaaay better than the turd it was JP3

@korvus: though the movie was ok, better than number 3 not as tense or didn't have the same magic as 1 and 2 could be nostalgia talking there.

But when the orignal theme played on the first view of the park, I got goosebumps :) wow still got them now.

Characters annoyed me in the film, the two whiney kids were unlikable, so was aunt Claire and the guy obsessed with using the raptors as an army.

@magicalclick: I hope you ejoy it. I was also expecting a crappy movie and I was very pleasantly surprised.

@Vatusus:Glad you liked it. =D

@thehig1: Yep, when the park theme hit I think I had a grin so big the movie was reflected on my teeth XD

I just saw the movie and it was garbage

predictable shit, rehashing the older movies story and filled with cliches.

@Korvus Man I totally underestimate Jurassic World big time. What the movie did right and not the first one was to treat it as an actual park meaning open to the public and the first one was just a test demo with a few people. I'm cool with the Dinos not having feathers at all, the action made up for it. I loved it. The tension was great and the trained raptors didn't bother me as much as I thought they would. The near ending battle was my favorite part of the movie and the movie did left out one plot hole setting up for a possible sequel and this new Jurassic is by far the darkest movie yet.

Jurassic Park>Jurassic World>Jurassic Park 3>Lost World: Jurassic Park.

This movie was good. But I feel like Bryce and Chris weren't strong enough leads. The ending was some what anti climacted. Borderline lame.

Also am I the only thank felt like the violence in this movie was toned down compared to the other movies. Like in Lost world there were two t-Rex who split a guy in half. We saw nothing like that in Jurassic world.

Just came back from watching it again; my first time ever going to the theatres twice for the same movie and one of the few times I've rewatched a movie, period. This time I tried watching the movie like less of a giddy 8 year old and more like a 30yo pretending to be an adult and the movie was still solid =D

@k--m--k: I'm sorry you didn't like it but if you had a problem with rehash why would you go watch a movie about dinosaurs escaping containment in an attraction park? What were you excepting the movie to be about? =P

@davillain-: Glad you liked it =D That is my order for the movies as well although I'll probably re-watch the trilogy in the next few days. Where did you see a possible next movie? (Use spoiler tags please +D) I thought they covered their angles pretty well to make sure there wouldn't be a next one with stuff like "If we evacuate the park we will never reopen again" unless you don't think it'll be a park next time. Also I think they explained well enough why there were no feathers, Wu said that the reason why they don't look like the real deal is because of them having to fill the gaps with other animals' DNA and because they were engineered to look more menacing.

@helwa1988: I was fine with them in the lead, also I quite liked the ending battle...made me feel all vindicated from a certain other JP movie =P As for the violence I think it was far more violent than previous movies, just less gory...I don't think those mean the same thing.

@Motokid6: That's good to know; didn't expect that someone who's not a dino-fan would still enjoy the movies...maybe you'll like this one too =)

JP1>JW>TLW>JP3 IMO.

@mitu123: Does that mean you liked JW or did you just absolutely hate JP2/3? =P

Both, I liked JW quite a bit while I didn't like TLW much and just hated JP3, one of the most pointless movies ever.

Interesting analysis.

It was a solid film. I can understand and see the gripes but I was still very much entertained. The I-Rex bummed me for the sole reason that we as an audience (thanks to the trailers and toys) were all aware of what it looked like and that there really wasn't any more to it besides its very under used IMO camo. My main fear however was Chris Pratt giving a 'silly' performance which was not the case. He was funny but I felt it mostly had purpose and bolstered the character.

saw it this afternoon. enjoyed it a lot. there were a few parts that were just ridiculous but i'll let them slide. had to see it in 3d which i didn't want but it was mostly what was playing at my theater. i'm not sure if it was the 3d or just the way some of the shots were but some scenes felt incredibly fake or things didn't look like they were to proper scale.

in any case, definitely the best of the sequels imo.

I don't know if posting a relevant, though, out of context clip from "Old School" requires spoilers or not, but if you've seen the movie you'll know: