Jurassic World
Universal Pictures
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril.
Running time: 123 minutes.
Two stars out of four.
It’s silly of me, right? I have this notion that a big, splashy blockbuster should provide characters and story lines that matter, that engage us, so that there are actual stakes and not just a lot of noisy stomping. Theoretically, we should care whether or not someone is going to get eaten by a genetically engineered, 50-foot-tall dinosaur. We shouldn’t be distracted by flimsy subplots, or the unlikely (and ungainly) sight of a grown woman running for her life through the jungle in high heels.
And yet, this is what “Jurassic World” gives us, in between some admittedly spectacular visuals.
I know what you’re thinking: “It’s not meant to be an Oscar winner.” “It’s a popcorn movie.” “Why can’t you just shut off your brain and have a good time?” Also: “You suck.”
All of the above are probably true. And yet, I had a hard time connecting with “Jurassic World” and its cardboard characters making poor choices over and over again. It simultaneously tries to cram in too much without giving us enough in the way of substance.
I was a big fan of director and co-writer Colin Trevorrow’s first feature, 2012’s “Safety Not Guaranteed,” an indie, sci-fi dramedy in which the time travel element actually worked. (It also made Mark Duplass surprisingly sexy for the first time.) Trevorrow is doing his best Spielberg impression here, and he creates a couple of thrilling set pieces — his pterodactyl attack, for example, is at once exciting and horrifying and a lovely little Hitchcock homage. But I’m not sure he was ready for a behemoth of a film like this just yet.
Let’s get to the plot real quickly, and a few thoughts, then call it a day. “Jurassic World” made nearly $209 million in its first weekend for the biggest domestic opening of all time. Clearly, you saw it and you know what happens. Nevertheless, let us trudge on.
A bunch of people, who didn’t learn from the travesties that occurred during the original “Jurassic Park” from 1993 and its two sequels, have developed yet another family-friendly dino playland on an island off the coast of Costa Rica under the guidance (and considerable financial support) of billionaire Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan).
Among his chief employees is velociraptor wrangler Owen (Chris Pratt), who is ruggedly confident and wears leather vests with zero irony. The one truly astonishing element of “Jurassic World” is that it manages to make Pratt boring. He’s the hottest and most charismatic star on the planet right now, and he’s on a huge roll following last year’s “The Lego Movie” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Here, he certainly rises to the physical challenges but he’s strangely understated, stuck as he is in a one-note role. It is an enormous bummer.
Pratt is also stuck in a half-baked romantic subplot with Bryce Dallas Howard, who co-stars as Claire, an all-business operations executive. (Her sleek bob says it all.) They had one date, and now he keeps trying to flirt with her. The banter in the script — from Trevorrow, “Safety Not Guaranteed” writer Derek Connolly and the husband-and-wife team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver — isn’t exactly the snappiest. And — spoiler! — when Owen and Claire finally do kiss after a sequence of great panic, it feels forced and hollow.
But Claire has been too busy for him, or for anything outside of work. Like a cliched rom-com heroine, she’s married to her job (for which her sister, played by Judy Greer, shames her). Claire is also busy on this particular day tending to her visiting nephews, sullen teenager Zach (Nick Robinson) and his perky moppet of a younger brother, Gray (Ty Simpkins). A subplot about the kids’ parents divorcing is brought up and then dropped — as if placing them in massive peril repeatedly ostensibly weren’t enough to garner our sympathy.
Then there’s another whole subplot featuring Vincent D’Onofrio as a private military contractor who wants to take Owen’s well-trained velociraptors and turn them into a lucrative fighting force. As if the humans-are-so-arrogant theme running through the whole series weren’t completely obvious yet, this really hammers it home, and it turns the formidable, versatile D’Onofrio into a swaggering, Texas stereotype.
These people and thousands of others find themselves under attack when the park’s latest attraction, a five-story-high dino hybrid known as the Indominus Rex, escapes after being raised in isolation for years. (This is incredibly violent for a PG-13 movie, by the way — something to think about if you’re pondering bringing young kids.) But the park gets a spike in attendance every time something new is developed, and under the watch of mad scientist Henry Wu (BD Wong), this is the biggest creature yet. It’s got more teeth, a brilliant mind and the ability to camouflage itself — all to “up the ‘wow’ factor,” as Claire puts it, with catastrophic consequences.
So basically, “Jurassic World” is a big-budget indictment of corporate greed, jammed with product placement for Samsung and Mercedes-Benz and Beats by Dre and Coca-Cola. But given the record-shattering opening the movie had, I’d say everyone involved had their cake, ate it too and went back for seconds.
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH YOU SUCK!!! Go see *terms of endearment” if you want “SUBSTANCES” What a Moron!
Clearly you’re on various ‘substances.’ And, be kinder to yourself, ‘Monster Movie Lover.’ You are NOT a Moron.
It’s dinosaurs that go crazy, … again. Thank you for the completely unnecessary critique. And, oh yeah, “you suck”.
thanks
Did not care for the movie fell asleep for 10 min . somewhere in the movie and went to get popcorn somewhere in the movie
I can accept that the only way for a movie like this to work is to have one of the dinosaurs escape and cause havoc but, what’s the point of putting children in peril when everybody knows there’s no way either of them will get hurt? I also agree that the pterodactyl attack scene is pretty exciting but having Pratt/Howard kiss passionately with her nephews watching while tourists are getting devoured was just ridiculous, specially since they have no chemistry whatsoever.
Sure, the movie broke all kinds of opening weekend records but I have a hard time imagining anybody going back for seconds.
I agree with you completely on this. Two things that could have completely save this movie are cut the subplots, or tie them into the one ‘main’ subplot, and let Chris Pratt be Chris Pratt, the charming goof we all love. I think the subplots just distracted from what could have been a good summer popcorn movie like pacific rim. Fun action that knows what we are there for and, for the most part, sticks to it. Also, I do think Chris Pratt can play a serious dramatic role, but in a movie like this, where it is very self-serious most of the time, and doesn’t give his character much to do, let Chris Pratt make jokes, and release some of the forced tension. Let him charm us into forgiving the many flaws of this movie, because he can. He’s Chris Pratt, let him BE Chris Pratt.
Glad I’m not the only reviewer out there that thought this movie was mostly a waste of time. Here’s mine, if you are interested in reading it. http://number9moviereviews.blogspot.com/2015/06/jurassic-world-rawr-and-stuff.html
1st I think alot of people are being highly judgemental of this movie, when they might not know the most about doinosaurs. And 2nd Most of the “rediculous things” that happen in this movie play off of other Bs, name something that happens in the movie and theres a reasonable explanation for why it happens. Keep in mind that trex had terrible eyesite and wouldve chased a flare before following Claire. Claire throws the flare at irex and Trex heads to fight because rexes are also very territorial and fought almost anything that came into its range. Also the whole idea of dinos coming back from exstiction by extracting blood from mosquitos (the original film) is pretty out there, so i dont see how anything can be that unrealistic in anybodies review regarding the new dino flick. Just saying they did what they could with not that good an idea
It’s not a matter of being realistic. It’s a matter of how effective the absurdity is at engaging the audience into the movie and helping us escape our everyday lives. Now that I have some perceptive on this movie, I think the biggest issue is that I was constantly aware of time passing, because I just wasn’t that engaged in anything! This movie could have been dumber, and even more ludicrous, and that would have been fine if it was fun and helped me escape the everyday ordinariness that is time. It just didn’t though. Plain, boring, and ultimately, it is just a forgettable movie if I’m honest
Wow…Not one of these points was what was criticized in the review. Please try again.
I haven’t seen the movie, because each trailer and clip I saw looked progressively dumber. This sounds exactly like what I expected. The clip I saw of Howard and Pratt at his character’s house was so flat that it deflated any interest I had in seeing it. It’s so disappointing that the biggest movies can’t be the best.
I cant agree more. I love the action and the graphics and the plot line, but I think everyone would have been EVEN MORE emotionally involved and even more on the edge of their seats if they had more character development.
So you wish the movie was 3 hrs long huh hah then you would complain about the length of the movie
I loved the move. You have to remember the stars are the dinosaurs. Unlike Godzilla this movie showed the monster and didn’t just hide it all the time. I came in knowing that the gene spliced T Rex was smarter than the average bear but the skills he had kept me wanting to know more. The raptor training discouraged me at first in the previews but to see how it was done in the movie made it make sense. In the last two movies you would think they would learn this just tells you how greedy humanity is. History repeats itself all the time.
>Let’s get to the plot real quickly, and a few thoughts, then call it a day.<
Brilliant. With that witty comment you won me over, since it encapsulates almost every Hollywood blockbuster made these days. I pity the movie reviewer today who is tasked with analyzing these kiddy flicks. Movies made by men in grey flannel suits, not by creative artists, that's darn sure.
Art is no different
I hated this movie for being so lazy. nothing was interesting. i have no idea why d’onofrio’s character was in it. they took chris pratt and made him boring. waste of time.
The first jurrasic park was hands down DOPE! Especially in the sound editing not to mention mechanics and CGI… The corny dialouge in the first one actually MADE the movie better…. However, jurassic world, was a predicable, and horrible attempt to try and generate a newer generation of jurassic fans…. The writers gave it a fair shot of making fun of themselves with the “twisty” dialogue, but the actors made it the most unbelievable shit i have seen since the last spider man movie…. No. T rex does not get to pull a terminator and become the good guy. He’s a fucking t rex. Two kids trapped, with two un certain lovers (with cheesy sexual tension) trying to save them, scientists being greedy, military jargon (thats aaaaalllll wrong mind you) for the sake of an island that is supposed to be millineums old as a theme park?????? No…. Dude you did that already…. If u wanted to do that, should’ve just done a remake. GAWBAAGE!! 100% nothing new.
Fuck all you old people being greedy with your old movies saying they are better. But in reality they aren’t better. They are old piece of shit classics. I mean some of them are good. But when it comes to our new generation movies, they are way better.
Ok, there pipsqueak, please do explain, *how* are ‘your’ movies better, exactly? Just because something is old doesn’t make it better and just because something is new doesn’t make it better (especially on some notion that new ‘belongs’ to the young- what a ridiculous concept) If you are trying to make an argument that lends any credibility to yourself as knowing your ass from your elbow, you are failing miserably.
The so-called classics become classics by having something that stands the test of time. Name one thing in this sequel that does that. It’s reheated popcorn, which everybody knows seriously sucks (Even the original largely traded on the then-new CGI, so I’m not one to even state it’s a classic).
Yes! Thank you! The sheer number of people who gave this movie positive reviews is a testament to the direction this country is heading. Ignorance is bliss. The characters were static, stereotypical, and completely predictable. The only one who made any sense at all was quickly killed off in an helicopter crash. It was completely absurd that a dinosaur following the heat signatures of the majority of people would continuously target the same 4 or 5 when there were hundreds if not thousands grouped together! Every time the main characters made a mistake that should have cost them their lives, namely stopping to watch while the dinosaurs were tearing people apart, they were rewarded with survival instead. Every good fictional movie depends on its viewer’s ability to suspend logic, and believe that what the6vre watching could really happen. This movie simply pushes that envelope too far! I was hoping for a back story as to how and why the park was reopened, and perhaps have a couple of the main characters return to express their concerns, but that would have been too much to ask for, and the way their roles would have been written would likely only lead to greater disappointment.
Scene: panicked characters running through a dino exhibit to escape a raptor, one of them hits a button on a console as he passes that brings to life a hologram of a dinosaur, momentarily confusing the raptor and allowing the characters to escape.
Scene as shot by Trevorrow: characters run, camera follows in essentially wide shot, one of them hits the button (maybe the youngest of them?) hologram comes up, raptor thrown off his game.
Scene as would have been shot by Spielberg: camera tracks characters running and then tracks the younger brother, and his hand, has he reaches for and presses the button,….characters keep running, but camera holds on the button identifying the dinosaur to be conjured, before spinning around (with music have peaked a crescendo) to show the hologram and the puzzled raptor, who thrashes a couple of times, determines it’s a mirage, and then continues its pursuit, camera now tracking it as characters have made their way outside.
Sure, the same thing happens in both versions, but Spielberg gives the audience a chance to practically participate in momentary stroke of genius and to understand who actually pushed the button. Trevorrow just wants to get to the next scene.
I’m so happy someone noticed that scene and how much it sucked. I had to go back and rewind that part to find out who hit the button it was so fast and meaningless. I suppose I surmised that the little brainiac kid was the one who hit it, but it didn’t give the audience time to participate in his thought process at all, just as you say. Similarly, when they fixed the 20-year idle jeep, it felt forced and completely unbelievable and didn’t offer us any satisfaction in the problem-solving (taking the battery out of the wrecked cart was too convenient. Why couldn’t they have fished it out of the wrecked hamster-ball? *That* would have offered a better view to the flexibility and creativity and have been less obvious.
The film is chock full of empty gestures just like the one you identified, and is why this film will be forgotten as soon as the novelty of another dino-flick wears off for the kids who saw it. CGI has become so good and so pervasive that directors don’t seem to know how to make good stand-alone movies anymore. I imagine a great movie would still be good even if the special effects seriously sucked.
I think you missed some plot points. Hoskins had a deal with Wu to bread the Indominus as an undetectable murdering war machine. Hoskins and Wu were the obvious villains here. Remember when Simon was on to Wu and asked questions about why the iRex could mask his temperature and camouflage? Then later Hoskins fessed up to the idea of breading smaller ones for war use.
Also, the iRex wasn’t 50ft lol. I believe it was Claire that said it would reach 50 feet when she’s fully grown.It was around Tyrannosaurus sized which puts its at around 18 feet tall and 30 feet long. You can tell by looking at it… especially during the Last fight. The Mosasaur isn’t even 50 feet.
Picky, picky, picky.
Oh shut up!! I did not go to see the movie to extract some hidden meaning, some poetic irony or to learn a life lesson! I went to see an action thriller and it certainly lived up to that. As Monster Movie Lover said, go see some boring tearjerker. I do sometimes but when it is summer I want to be entertained and this movie did that. all you others who nit pick are missing the point. Sur, the kiss was not necessary but it only lasted a few seconds. And, yes, the holographic raptor scene was not believable but, again, only a few seconds.
I am an intelligent, well read person who loves Madam Bovary, etc.. but I am also a human being who seeks escapism from time to time, And Jared, a sheer testament to where this country is headed? We don’t all live in Finland hahaha. Just wait until November and placate your need for some sappy, difficult to follow and boring move – you know, like Bordman!!
Wow, that was intelligent.
You didn’t have to read the review.
The movie was terrible. Coming to someone’s review page and telling them to shut up because you disagree with their opinion says more about you than them. As does your choice in film fare.
Here here, Carlos. I couldn’t agree with you more.
This, coming from the same person who gave “Fifty Shades of Grey” a POSITIVE review, forever disqualifying herself as having an IQ.
This. God save us of action movies with less “inteligent” plot, but bad sex movie with bad characters we cant touch that.
Ya the review is flawed. But for who gave a positive review as u said to that piece of junk, this is expected.
This movie is what summer blockbuster season is all about, ever since the late 70’s at least. Big budgets, sequels in need of scientific notation in the title, eye candy special effects, dismissing pesky science & plot holes to drive your Winnebago through. Go lock yourselves in a room with IFC if these movies aren’t your cup of meat.
For myself, I love all kinds of movies. Independent films are some of my favorites, most Oscars noms I enjoy, even the odd gore-fest from time to time.
With movie prices these days I have a pretty good idea what I’m getting myself into, prior to shelling out cash. In this case I was happy to fork over the extra clams to see “Jurassic World” in 3D and it did not disappoint me, Several times I reflexively recoiled to keep those raptors out of my Skittles.
Yet, despite a willingness to suspend my disbelief, I did have one “ugh” moment I must confess, the cheesy kiss scene, who does that in the middle of fleeing for their lives? However I was quickly scooped back up by the action, and like our fearless reviewer here, I did think it ever so slightly reminiscent of Hitchcock’s “The Birds” during part of the Pterodactyl attack. A nice touch.
I guess I couldn’t help but wonder a couple times why these 180+ I.Q.s keep making these eating machines, then supplying lots of apparently delicious, squishy humans for them to snack on. In the end it wasn’t that big of a stretch for me, simple greed outweighs common sense almost every time, we see it all around us.
In the end as far as summer blockbusters are concerned and for a evening out with my 12 yr old niece, this was a good movie. Fit the bill almost to perfection.
I completely agree with you on this Christy. Jurassic World completely failed to engage (and I’m not a difficult target). 15 minutes in I wondered how long the movie would go on. Eternity it seemed. Lame and un-engaging characters: most everyone except Pratt and the Indian CEO guy. The dino’s were good but never great (except the pterodactyls and whatever lived in the pond). The controller guy and his sidekick girl in the control room were OK. Most everyone else was completely unwatchable including the two mostly annoying kids and their annoying aunt and parents. The plot was razor thin even for an action blockbuster. Dialog and character development bordered on silly. The original Jurasic Park rocked. This episode should be stoned.
A few days ago, in a thread complaining about the people complaining about Bryce Dallas Howard’s shoes, I had written “it seemed to me like I was shrugging, ‘that’s stupid’ about every 10 or 15 minutes…” just to try and be brief!
But then, and still before reading the above review (with which you will see I whole-heartedly agree), I wrote an elaboration of the point (mostly in response to a comment that seemed to imply that the “one moment” that spoiled the movie for the commenter was the shoes) :
“It wasn’t just ‘that flaw in the writing’ (as if it was only one flaw). Too many of the characters displayed levels of hubris and lack of deference to that previous incident…(now you got me going!):
“The control room tech who wore a ‘Jurassic Park’ t-shirt (scored off eBay for $150!). Had ANY merchandise been produced in bulk for the original park? Would it not all have been destroyed after what happened EVEN BEFORE THAT PARK OPENED? Would a remaining t-shirt (possibly from that little bit of merchandise shown in the Visitor’s Center…that same building which is shown to have been left neglected and overgrown, where remnants of the old ‘When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth’ banner are shown still lying on the floor in tatters) go for as LITTLE as $150 if it had been obtained, and kept in wearable condition for all that time and then sold as a ‘collectible’?
“And not checking with Control for the location of the tracker BEFORE having unarmed “handlers” (including the Raptor Whisperer) go into the I-Rex paddock? ‘Uh, guys…she’s IN THERE WITH YOU!’ D’uh!
“Or creating more and more dangerous carnivorous creatures in the lab…and splicing their DNA in ways that also made them even more intelligent…?
“Or ‘I can fly this helicopter…NOT!’
“Or ‘Those raptors can solve your problem…NOT!’
“Or ‘Look out guys, they have a new Alpha’…but when push came to shove, the raptors responded to the human handler….pffft.
“I also noticed how, at every turn, some BLATANT thing was used to try and generate an emotional reaction from us, the audience. First and foremost being the two kids. The field of dead brachiosaurs (‘She didn’t eat them. She’s killing for sport!’ GASP!). And others, but my point is made.
“I mean…really. I’m as willing as the next SF fan to turn off my brain, ramp up the suspension-of-disbelief, and just enjoy the ride. But if you look at any of the details, too much of Jurassic World’s writing makes so little sense.
“And people are complaining about what? Bryce Dallas Howard’s SHOES? Give me a break. Those were the LEAST of the problems with the writing of Jurassic World.”
It’s try TO, not try “and.”
❤️
You may want to get down, you’re pretty high up on that horse
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I just KNEW that it was a female review in the first paragraph without looking at the name of the writer first. Why? Because of the gratuitous snarky comment about the female character wearing high heels in the jungle. Well, that and the sexist comment about how Pratt is “the hottest and most charismatic star on the planet right now.” If it were a MALE reviewer ridiculing the female character’s footwear the women would be after the guy with pitchforks and torches, which, if nothing else, illustrates the blatant double-standards in today’s society where the sexes are concerned.
I never expect much of sequels — Jurassic Park 2 and 3 were predictably putrid attempts to cash in on the amazing original. But I’m going to see it tonight anyhow. Why? Because Spielberg is involved with it and because I’m curious to see how they developed the original idea using the producer who originally came up with the idea.
>whines about double-standards
>>says some pretty sexist shit himself.
wat
You’ll live, jd.
As a chief appraiser for banks, my analytical ‘evaluators’ hat says your review was somewhat on target on many specifics. However, I go to movies and judge evaluate them primarily on; did it entertain me and did it make me forget about my real life issues? In this movie I found that to be YES! San Andreas on the other hand I felt bored…the acting, the dialogue and situations just made me too aware of the movie making process rather than feeling engaged in the movie. Jurassic World the time went by quickly.
Just goes to show women shouldn’t review action films. Just kidding! Seriously though, Jurassic World is pretty stunning. Exciting, heart stopping action, REAL character development (Bryce Dallas is really good and has a very clear character arc the author missed somehow-maybe too focused on her shoes??). The Pteranodon attack is amazing as is the finale-wow! Chris Pratt is good, as expected. Definitely a twice see!!
Since you don’t like characters “making poor choices over and over again”, I’d suggest not watching any Jurassic Park series movies. It wouldn’t be a Jurassic Park series movie without lots of poor choices being made.
You missed the “cardboard characters” part. 😉
that movie was the worst. I want my money back.
Nice words! Couldnt describe it better. The movie is a big bag of bullshit. Never would spend money to see it in the cinema.
Now I may just be some normal person with no title to my name and no credentials or the like, but I will tell you right now that Jurassic World is one of the best movies that I have seen in a LONG time. The whole point to the story of it is human greed, and wanting more of everything. Wanting more money, wanting to be scared more, wanting to be thrilled and awed more. On that note the movie is perfect. Yes it has its flaws, but so does every other movie ever made. I love how they wrote it so that the park has already been open and has been functioning for this long. Now they did learn from the previous movies on that note until park satisfaction began to fall. So they needed a new way of bringing revenue in. In steps Indominus Rex. A genetically modified hybrid. Bred in captivity with no syblings, no socialization, and knowing only one thing. When the crane lowers I get fed. That means, like Chris Pratt stated in the movie, “animals bred in captivity with no socialization generally don’t function well.” And that’s the truth. I Rex is a highly intelligent and sophisticated dino. It’s not really the humans fault that she escaped, she just outsmarted them and made them think she escaped. And hence the rest of the story begins. Now for everyone saying that this movie is a complete bust, it’s boring, it has no taste, or whatever you want to say, I’ll just say this, I went during opening weekend to a packed theater and after the movie was over all I could hear was how great and effing awesome it was. So you obviously don’t know jack about what the people like and don’t like. This movie is awesome and everyone I know and talked to about it have said that they love it.
Agree completely with your review (except for Pratt, he couldn’t pump life into that crap script). My wife dragged me to this, in 3D no less, and I kept looking at my watch and hoping they would get to some point already.
It’s totally ridiculous that a woman in peril would keep her heels on. If you’ve never worn heels, I guess you wouldn’t understand. It’s 2015, is it too much to ask to omit boring gender stereotypes that perpetuate discrimination? I wanted to barf. At least Laura Dern in Jurassic Park was interesting and believable.
Great review – mirrors my views exactly. The high heels annoyed me so much. She’s running through jungles and rivers in the dark and they’re still on. Really?
Great review until you stated “Texas stereotype.” HOW DARE YOU INSULT THE GREAT NATION OF TEXAS?!
YOU SUCK!
A. Texas is not a “nation,” it’s a state of the United States, which is actually a nation. and B. Referring to a Texas ‘stereotype’ doesn’t insult Texas, it insults the morons who imagine the people of Texas conform to the ‘stereotype.’ Then again, if you’re from Texas, maybe the stereotype is right after all, Mr. or Ms. You Suck.
Owen kisses Claire. Still a better love story than Twilight.
Spot on review. After the original classic, this was a hot mess that tried playing to every chiche.
I’m a huge fan of the Jurassic Park franchise, and quite frankly the fourth installment was one of its best. I didn’t read all of the comments, but most were hating on the actors. First of all, don’t hate on Chris Pratt because he’s AMAZING second of all the movie was supposed to focus more on the dinosaurs than the actual humans. The modifications to the I-rex were cool…hands down. I didn’t expect much from the movie besides action and humor and there was plenty of that. JP 4 had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and I really don’t appreciate all of these negative comments. How about you all get off your scientific, plot -hole finding high horses and just appreciate the movie for what it is, a non-stop action thrill ride that was meant for audiences to enjoy, not to critique. And to those of you who say there are scientific plot holes, NEWS FLASH it’s a HOLLYWOOD MOVIE things are made up 99.9% of the time. Get over yourselves, please.
This is the first of the Jurassic movies I’ve seen. Nonetheless, off the top I knew where the story was going. They have a new dinosaur. They want to confirm their enclosure is secure enough to keep their “asset” under control. It’s going to escape. Duh. What else could happen, really? This movie is predictable, boring and lacking any kind of depth. It has lots of action and special effects but is about as exciting as any run-of-the-mill Hollywood action movie.
Between in-your-face product placement (Starbucks, anyone?) and the difficulty presented in detaching disbelief enough to just watch a movie, I feel that someone should have paid me for the time and mental anguish incurred in watching this disaster of a movie.
By the way it ended, I was left thinking there will be yet another destruction-fest under the same name down the road. Truly a good example of “sequel-itis.” Next time, I’m saving my money.
God I hated this movie so much
it’s a movie all this critique stuff is a waste of good time just go watch the movie for god sakes!
Oh my god you need to lighten up a bit ! product placements seriously , you think thats all that this film is about ? this is 2015 where are you going to get a non branded jeep without people going Oh thats definitely a Mercedes or whatever ? This film was made to excite audiences, to make them sit at the edge of their seats, the CGI in this film I thought was fantastic and the acting was superb, this is the best film that I have seen in cinemas in a long time!!
the biggest flaw I saw in the movie was how could the kid’s matches work after jumping in the river!
I completely agree with your review–and by the way, I think you should just not post the folks who say “you suck”–that’s insulting and personal and shows a lack of intelligence as well. The writers here have no sense of how to develop a character. In fact, they have scenes that only make sense if there were earlier character development scenes that had been cut out. Take, for example, the scene where Gray says “he can’t jump”–there’s nothing that’s come before to establish that he has a fear of heights, yet when he jumps and the brothers have a quiet moment, Zach says “you jumped!” with joy and amazement and the brothers have a bonding moment, but it’s completely hollow since the film never bothered to establish that this was an issue for Gray that Zach knew about, in the first place! This is just screenwriting 101 and yet here’s a 200 million dollar picture written by a team of writers who don’t seem to get this fundamental idea. Claire’s character was completely revealed in the 90 second trailer and nothing happens in the entire movie that wasn’t predictable based on her very first scene. Same for Mr. Pratt’s character, too. The only halfway interesting character in this movie is the billionaire played by Irrfan Khan, who brings to the role with more depth than the script allows, but who is killed off in a very uninteresting fashion, halfway through the flick.
And there’s really very little advance in the special effects here. The new IRex doesn’t really look scarier than the TRex and they don’t even do a good job of highlighting it’s differences–how about a line about the fact that the forearms are now giant raptor claws rather than useless shrivelled tree limbs–like the TRex. TRex lasted for 300 million years with those useless forearms, but the amusement park industry decided they needed to improve on evolution. And, yes, Mr. D’Onofrio is completely wasted here, which isn’t an easy thing to do, frankly.
Thanks, David, but there’s actually far more insulting (and misogynistic, and profane) stuff that commenters post all the time that I don’t approve. The internet is such a civilized place!
Product placement is the world we live in now a days… if you don’t like it, maybe you shouldn’t be paid to review movies, especially ones that attract a big audience. Stick to critiquing your daughters shitty plays.
Actually, I have a son.
Ever been to Disney? Every ride IS sponsored by some company or other. So yeah, the film wouldn’t have been realistic otherwise.
Could not disagree with you more, Christy. Loved every unbelievable aspect of this movie. Great fun on a hot, humid day. For two hours we blissfully reveled in the world jurassic.
Did Owen (Chris Pratt) really think he could blast the iRex with that puny gun? Hahahaha.
Was Owen really the alpha male? Hahahahahahaha
Could he really “talk to the animals”? Hahahahahaha
Could Owen be pining for Claire (Bryce DH) after only one date? Puh-leaze! Hahahahaha
Could Owen really escape being eaten by dosing himself with motor oil? Hahahahhahaha
Simon and his helicopter piloting. Hahahahahahahaha
Jake Johnson with his glasses and dinosaur collection. Homage to the disgruntled techie in Jurassic Park who unleashed the first terror. Hahahaha
A boatload of sophisticated weapons they couldn’t contain the iRex. Hahahahahaha
Kids in the bubble. RUN RUN RUNnnnnnnnn. Loved it!
Only one plot point was thought-provoking: Using Raptors as war weapons. Kinda makes ya’ think maybe in some mad world a scientist could invent something as lethal. Imagine a team of iRexes unleashed on a population. Yipes!
I did not see this movie after seeing a trailer of it where an adult says to two kids “Remember if a dinosaur is chasing you run”, with a smile on her face. To make light of something that horrific turned me off completely, it was as though the filmmakers were saying here’s another pile of crap we are going to give you enjoy while we make millions. When are people going to stop believing that to enjoy an entertaining movie you have to turn your brain off and be mindless zombies? Movies should be thought provoking as well as entertaining no matter what the genre is. Thank you Christy.