Jurassic World

[Todd H]

It was originally tracking for a $120 million opening but looks like it might be closer to $200 million (analysts are pegging it at around $180 right now but that may change thanks to word of mouth). Universal has a HUGE hit on their hands it would seem. Might be time to fast track some additions to the JP area of UO.

 

[PlaneJane]

I watched it yesterday. Chris Pratt is the highlight of the film. Unfortunately product placement was out of control in this movie and it was thrown at you constantly. The ending /climax was a little cheesy but I still enjoyed it worth the 5.75 I paid. I don't think it will stand the test of time like the first movie did. The theme parks could exploit the movie and refresh the Jurassic park areas

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Unfortunately product placement was out of control in this movie and it was thrown at you constantly.

You really think a successful 21st century theme park wouldn't have Starbucks or a Pandora store? What does Main Street U.S.A. have right now?

Actively seeking corporate sponsorship was part of the reason the new dino was made, and this idea was criticized within the movie itself.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

A lot of the product placement was social commentary about modern theme parks.

And I wish they would put a Winston's Chophouse in UOR.

 

[PlaneJane]

You really think a successful 21st century theme park wouldn't have Starbucks or a Pandora store? What does Main Street U.S.A. have right now?

Actively seeking corporate sponsorship was part of the reason the new dino was made, and this idea was criticized within the movie itself.

Unfortunately when I see blatant product placement in movies it take me out of the element. Its cool if its there but when the camera does a sweeping shot of your logo just to get it in the movie it breaks me from the moment.

 

[AEfx]

A lot of the product placement was social commentary about modern theme parks.

I agree, that was what was so great about it. It actually takes me out of the moment much more if they had all been fake/made up because that reminds you "oh yeah, fictional isn't that cute". Not that you are ever under any delusion it's "real", LOL - but "Burger Queen" or "Sungsam" are just needless reminders to me.

There was just so much theme park reference in there, period, it was astounding - Epcot (old school EPCOT fans should have loved the first attraction they go to when they are actually in the park), Sea World, and even Magic Kingdom - the equivalent of the "Partners" statue, for instance. But tons of EPCOT, it was really clear that someone on that team was a fan of the Disney parks.

Overall I think the movie about was about 10 minutes too long and 10 minutes too short - there were 2 scenes (you probably know what they are) that should have just been cut - crying divorce kid literally made me roll my eyes - sorry, but I wanted to smack him like Cher in Moonstruck and say "Snap out of it!", but then again I would have liked more of a look at some of the attractions. Too much time in queues and not enough in the attractions. They were trying to deepen the kid's characters but sorry, it didn't work and we don't care anyway, LOL. That was the only thing missing to me, and I hope there are some more attractions in deleted scenes, etc. on the Blu-ray.

But I was totally satisfied with the film. Glad I saw it in IMAX - the 3D wasn't the best I've ever seen (there wasn't a single pop-out that I saw, and c'mon - if any movie could justify them, it would have been this one) but it was totally worth the IMAX tax to see it projected that large and cover the whole field of view.

As far as how much I liked it, all the parks stuff, etc. - definitely a strong #2 in the series for me, and I've always felt II and III were a bit underrated. I definitely can't wait for the 3D Blu-ray. I was even shocked because I really liked Bryce Dallas Howard - and I have always thought her painfully boring. Sure she has her Faye Wray moments, but when she has her Ripley moment, I was just like...YEAH!

 

[AEfx]

The whole hybrid concept is an element from the first novel if i'm not mistaken. It's 2 weeks away and i couldnt be any more excited .

Yeah, I think there is the briefest mention of it in the first film as well (when they are going on that Hershey Tour ride when they arrive). Basically, they've always done this with the dinosaurs (filled in the missing DNA with non-extinct species) but the theme in this movie is that instead of trying to be as unobtrusive filling them with frog/reptile DNA, they were a bit more intentionally trying to make changes.

I also loved how they had the last word against the "controversy" by paleontologists who have been attacking the film for being inaccurate to currently understood Dino info (the whole feathers thing, which is relatively new to being a widespread theory) - it's perfectly explained in this film - again, they were hybrids to begin with, and instead of avian they went reptile.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Overall I think the movie about was about 10 minutes too long and 10 minutes too short - there were 2 scenes (you probably know what they are) that should have just been cut - crying divorce kid literally made me roll my eyes - sorry, but I wanted to smack him like Cher in Moonstruck and say "Snap out of it!"

That scene was so random. It came out of nowhere and was never followed up with anything. It was just awkward to sit through.

 

[AEfx]

That scene was so random. It came out of nowhere and was never followed up with anything. It was just awkward to sit through.

It almost felt like a reshoot to me - that entire scene just stopped the whole movie dead in it's tracks - even the music cut into it was confused, LOL. I think someone was like "oh no, these kids don't have enough depth" and it was like - let's add this scene to "flesh them out" and all it did was creep me out. It just made the kid look unstable and highlighted the already "quirky" nature of his personality. I think the kids did the best jobs they could with the material overall they were given in the film, though - they were charismatic and likable when they let them be.

The mistake they made was not understanding - they are kids, we are going to be scared for them anyway, we don't need backstory. In fact, as much as I like the actress who played the sister, and she did a great job with what she had, they could have eliminated the entire parents/divorce thing and just began with the kids getting off the plane to visit auntie and we wouldn't have missed it at all. I actually smell a fan-edit there, LOL.


That just reminded me of the other thing that I felt the director missed - I got what he was trying to do (subvert expectations) but this isn't high art - I wanted that dang scene from the trailer of the overhead entry into the Jurassic World gates. The moment I saw the trailer I was like - "I must see that in IMAX!" - and it wasn't in the dang movie! They did that weird side shot - I totally get why he did it, it was just a dumb decision in my opinion. It totally killed what could have been the first cheer moment.

Overall, the directing was really the weakest thing about the film - which is better than a well-directed bad film, LOL. I'm not usually a huge critic of directors because it's not always obvious what is their hand and what is not, but there were quite a few times where I felt he was trying not to give us what we wanted to see without ever paying it off. It was very "this is my first big movie so I'm not going to do what's expected" when in truth - unless you have some truly genius different way to do it, in a film like this - you need to get your directing textbook out and do it by the book if you can't revolutionize it. Moments like that felt as though he was trying to just be 'different' for the sake of it.

Again, though - it didn't wreck the film at all, I was still totally satisfied - but I could have been totally blown away if some really simple stuff had just been done differently, and of course, we got more "inside attractions" footage.

BTW, I know going to a movie website is so 1998, but the Jurassic World one is pretty cool - it's set up like the ultimate theme park site, with attraction info, times schedules, etc. It's quite well done - if only Disney or Universal had websites like these!!!

 

[lostpro9het]

Jurassic World Magic Band

 

[ProfSavage]

I also loved how they had the last word against the "controversy" by paleontologists who have been attacking the film for being inaccurate to currently understood Dino info (the whole feathers thing, which is relatively new to being a widespread theory) - it's perfectly explained in this film - again, they were hybrids to begin with, and instead of avian they went reptile.

That was my favorite part and I love how self-aware/hanging a lantern on that scene was.

 

[BuddyThomas]

I watched it yesterday. Chris Pratt is the highlight of the film. Unfortunately product placement was out of control in this movie and it was thrown at you constantly. The ending /climax was a little cheesy but I still enjoyed it worth the 5.75 I paid. I don't think it will stand the test of time like the first movie did. The theme parks could exploit the movie and refresh the Jurassic park areas

Your ticket was $5.75????? I wanna live where you live. My ticket was $18.00!!

PS - I loved every minute of it!

 

[ProfSavage]

Your ticket was $5.75????? I wanna live where you live. My ticket was $18.00!!

PS - I loved every minute of it!

Yeah I went to a matinee showing and paid the same in my town. Also treated my dad. Paid $11.50 for the both of us,

 

[Dead2009]

Saw this on sunday, was by far worth the money.

 

[fractal]

Saw it. A fun, summer popcorn flick! To me, much more enjoyable than Ultron. Any fan of Jurassic Park has always in their head envisioned how it would have looked when open. This film gives you that. The comparisons to WDW and Seaworld are evident and satisfying.

The plot is full of holes, but overall it works. Some of the dialog is awkward as mentioned. I liked the CEO/helicopter pilot (Irrfan Khan) , not so much the military guy (Vincent D'Onfrio) as he was so one dimensional.

I thought Chris Pratt was great and was the glue that kept the film from becoming completely unrealistic and campy. It felt every time JW was about to fall into "B movie horror flick" status, Pratt pulled it back from the depths.
I liked Bryce Dallas Howard more so by the end of the movie - not only because of her character but also her acting. My biggest gripe was the lack of tension and fear between dinosaur attacks - especially with the boys. Once they escaped from certain death it was like a normal stroll through the woods. A few funny moments at the end in the control room I enjoyed.

Overall - the movie gives you what it promised and maybe a bit more.

 

[Jahona]

Very cool video on the making of some of the practical effects dinosaurs for Jurassic World. Mainly the Apatosaurus.

 

[DocMcHulk]

I really enjoyed it. They are some nice call backs to the original without it feeling too forced.

What amazed me was that compared to the original, the dinos didn't look any more real than the original. That isn't a slight to this movie, but an amazing compliment to the original. JP NAILED the CG and practical effects so well that 20 years later, they cant do much better.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

I finally saw 'Jurassic World' on its second weekend of release. There was a lot to like about it, but also a lot to dislike, too. What I liked: the nostalgic call-backs to the first film (and there were plenty), the fantastic visual effects, and the action. What I didn't like: Chris Pratt was wasted in the role and didn't really need to be in it, Bryce Dallas Howard's character was beyond annoying, all of the human characters were cardboard and one-dimensional (and I simply didn't care about them), and the plot was as thin as could be (anything you would think was going to happen, did). So how was it in comparison to the previous 2 sequels? I'd put it ahead of 'Jurassic Park III' by quite a bit (simply because it didn't have the awful Tea Leoni in it), but maybe on par with 'The Lost World'.

 

[216bruce]

Good mindless fun. Agree totally with the above about one-dimensional characters. Chris Pratt was fun and Bryce Dallas Howard is very easy to look at (but what an annoying character!). Apart from that...great dino fights and forgotten about ten minutes after I saw it. Nowhere near as good as the first one and better than the others.

 

[erasure fan1]

I really enjoyed it. They are some nice call backs to the original without it feeling too forced.

What amazed me was that compared to the original, the dinos didn't look any more real than the original. That isn't a slight to this movie, but an amazing compliment to the original. JP NAILED the CG and practical effects so well that 20 years later, they cant do much better.

Agreed. The original set the standard and none of the movies took it further.

I really liked the movie. Of course I am a sucker for Dinosaurs running around causing mayhem. The biggest problem for me was the fact that nothing really shocked you. You had pretty much seen every Dino surprise in one of the other movies. You knew when they were hiding by the Jeep after the kids left and Indominus left, that it would bust through and attack. Of course even though you knew most of what was coming, it was still fun to watch it unfold.