Again!? Why did they think this was still a good idea? I mean, first, before the park even opens, the whole apparatus of the park was deactivated, and the dinosaurs went berserk. Then, they tried to build one in San Diego, on the mainland, and a T. Rex ended up rampaging through a major metropolitan area. Then, some people landed on the island, and a spinosaurus almost killed them. (Yeah, I'm really into this franchise.) Anyway, why did they think that building another park was a good idea? You know that something is going to go wrong, based off that track record, and I'm going to let you guess what happens in this film. Yep, everything goes wrong. And they had the audacity to genetically create a new dinosaur, an ultimate predator sort, and they didn't have any contingency plans for it. You know what, it probably doesn't matter. Because this is actually fairly decent a film.
Fourth in the film franchise based off the 1990 novel by the late Michael Crichton, the film follows "Jurassic World," a fulfillment of John Hammond's original vision for Jurassic Park. It is a major success, with visitors coming to see the varieties of genetically created prehistoric creatures on a daily basis. However, to increase visitors, the manager (I presume so, at least) of the park, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) was told by InGen, now under the management of Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), to create an all new Dinosaur. One which would combine all the ultimate predators (Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, Carnotaurus, Giganotosaurus, Majungasaurus, and Rugops), which also has other traits from DNA placed in it. They called it Indominus Rex (roughly translating to "Untameable king"). However, after Ms. Dearing gives Mr. Masrani a laydown of the creature, he asks that someone be able to control it. Specifically, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a former Navy seal, assigned to train the (featherless, because that isn't scary enough, supposedly) velociraptors, who is rightfully suspicious of the prospect. Meanwhile, Zach and Gray Mitchell (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins), the nephews of Dearing, come to visit the park, and their aunt. However, given that Dearing is a little too busy at the moment, so they are stuck with her assistant. They promptly ditch the assistant to explore the park a little more. After an establishment scene, showing Grady as the alpha of a pack of Velociraptors, and head of security Vic Hopkins (Vincent D'Onofrio) wanting to use them as weapons (Spoilers: that goes no where, and doesn't matter in the slightest to the precedings), he is brought to the Rex exhibit, where it disappears from its captivity, supposedly by climbing. However, when Grady and two other employees investigate, they find it is very much in its cage. Apparently, the frog DNA caused it to change its temperature enough that the thermal sensors couldn't detect it. It escapes from its confines, kills the two employees, and begins a rampage. All the while, the park is evacuated, but the two nephews, in gyroscope tour, decide to go off trail, and encounter the Rex. They barely escape it. Now, Grady and Dearing must now both find and defeat the Rex, and find the two boys, before more havoc is wrecked.
First, the dinosaurs were pretty good to look at. Yeah, they weren't scientifically accurate (I'd go back to Alan Grant's statement that the Dinosaurs were more theme park attractions in the third film), but it was fun to see them. Also, the acting is okay. Chris Pratt did pretty well in his role. Some may find him bland, but his serious demeanor was pretty well done, and proves that he could do more than be a snarky badass. He has, at this point, completely excised Andy Dwer from his system. Bryce Dallas Howard did well. Sure, their characters weren't complex, but the characters were never great in these films, so that gets a pass. The effects were good. One thing I really appreciated was the use of practical effects in some scenes. CGI has become so prevalent, that everything seems false. The use of practical effects is not only a good homage to the original, but makes the reactions of the people around the dinosaurs more believable. There was also the fact that there was a lot of suspense in the plot. The climax, I won't spoil, was very exciting to watch, and has a homage to the original that works. It is easily the best scene in the whole film.
Are you familiar with the concept of a "Mary Sue"? If not, it basically refers to a character that is very perfect in their abilities and actions. Indominus Rex is a Villain Sue. It literally is a predator so perfect that it has camoflage, ultra-intelligence, and it can even tame other creatures. That really pushed my suspension of disbelief. It really seemed implausible, even with all the genetic talk, that this creature is so perfect at being a villainous creature. I didn't much care for the two kids, and their story. The reason that I cared about the two kids in the original was that they had distinct personalities, and we got to know them well enough that we wanted to see them succeed. In this, yes, we follow the kids from the beginning, but the whole summation of their personalities are 'Gary is pedantic, and Zack is somewhat girl-crazy." I really didn't care about their stories, when they had such bland characterization. I was worried going in that this would rely heavily on nostalgia for the original. That wasn't greatly true, but the homages that were in the film were irritating. Granted, one or two of them were okay, but it just came off as overbearing. Like the director kept wanting to say "Look, I made a sequel to this influential film, and trying to recapture its glory." You know, Abrams did that with Super 8, and that was less than satisfying. The things I like about the Jurassic Park sequels was that they never tried that. They never pretended that they could easily remaster what the originals had. This one is definitely trying. But, in fairness, it doesn't come up a lot.
It was okay. To some extend, it meet my expectations. It was never going to be as good as the first and second, but it's good on its own. If you want to see a Jurassic Park sequel, or just interested, I say watch this (I definitely prefered this to the Third Jurassic park.) If you dislike the films, this one isn't going to convince you otherwise. Next week, Pixar!
Fourth in the film franchise based off the 1990 novel by the late Michael Crichton, the film follows "Jurassic World," a fulfillment of John Hammond's original vision for Jurassic Park. It is a major success, with visitors coming to see the varieties of genetically created prehistoric creatures on a daily basis. However, to increase visitors, the manager (I presume so, at least) of the park, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) was told by InGen, now under the management of Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), to create an all new Dinosaur. One which would combine all the ultimate predators (Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, Carnotaurus, Giganotosaurus, Majungasaurus, and Rugops), which also has other traits from DNA placed in it. They called it Indominus Rex (roughly translating to "Untameable king"). However, after Ms. Dearing gives Mr. Masrani a laydown of the creature, he asks that someone be able to control it. Specifically, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a former Navy seal, assigned to train the (featherless, because that isn't scary enough, supposedly) velociraptors, who is rightfully suspicious of the prospect. Meanwhile, Zach and Gray Mitchell (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins), the nephews of Dearing, come to visit the park, and their aunt. However, given that Dearing is a little too busy at the moment, so they are stuck with her assistant. They promptly ditch the assistant to explore the park a little more. After an establishment scene, showing Grady as the alpha of a pack of Velociraptors, and head of security Vic Hopkins (Vincent D'Onofrio) wanting to use them as weapons (Spoilers: that goes no where, and doesn't matter in the slightest to the precedings), he is brought to the Rex exhibit, where it disappears from its captivity, supposedly by climbing. However, when Grady and two other employees investigate, they find it is very much in its cage. Apparently, the frog DNA caused it to change its temperature enough that the thermal sensors couldn't detect it. It escapes from its confines, kills the two employees, and begins a rampage. All the while, the park is evacuated, but the two nephews, in gyroscope tour, decide to go off trail, and encounter the Rex. They barely escape it. Now, Grady and Dearing must now both find and defeat the Rex, and find the two boys, before more havoc is wrecked.
First, the dinosaurs were pretty good to look at. Yeah, they weren't scientifically accurate (I'd go back to Alan Grant's statement that the Dinosaurs were more theme park attractions in the third film), but it was fun to see them. Also, the acting is okay. Chris Pratt did pretty well in his role. Some may find him bland, but his serious demeanor was pretty well done, and proves that he could do more than be a snarky badass. He has, at this point, completely excised Andy Dwer from his system. Bryce Dallas Howard did well. Sure, their characters weren't complex, but the characters were never great in these films, so that gets a pass. The effects were good. One thing I really appreciated was the use of practical effects in some scenes. CGI has become so prevalent, that everything seems false. The use of practical effects is not only a good homage to the original, but makes the reactions of the people around the dinosaurs more believable. There was also the fact that there was a lot of suspense in the plot. The climax, I won't spoil, was very exciting to watch, and has a homage to the original that works. It is easily the best scene in the whole film.
Are you familiar with the concept of a "Mary Sue"? If not, it basically refers to a character that is very perfect in their abilities and actions. Indominus Rex is a Villain Sue. It literally is a predator so perfect that it has camoflage, ultra-intelligence, and it can even tame other creatures. That really pushed my suspension of disbelief. It really seemed implausible, even with all the genetic talk, that this creature is so perfect at being a villainous creature. I didn't much care for the two kids, and their story. The reason that I cared about the two kids in the original was that they had distinct personalities, and we got to know them well enough that we wanted to see them succeed. In this, yes, we follow the kids from the beginning, but the whole summation of their personalities are 'Gary is pedantic, and Zack is somewhat girl-crazy." I really didn't care about their stories, when they had such bland characterization. I was worried going in that this would rely heavily on nostalgia for the original. That wasn't greatly true, but the homages that were in the film were irritating. Granted, one or two of them were okay, but it just came off as overbearing. Like the director kept wanting to say "Look, I made a sequel to this influential film, and trying to recapture its glory." You know, Abrams did that with Super 8, and that was less than satisfying. The things I like about the Jurassic Park sequels was that they never tried that. They never pretended that they could easily remaster what the originals had. This one is definitely trying. But, in fairness, it doesn't come up a lot.
It was okay. To some extend, it meet my expectations. It was never going to be as good as the first and second, but it's good on its own. If you want to see a Jurassic Park sequel, or just interested, I say watch this (I definitely prefered this to the Third Jurassic park.) If you dislike the films, this one isn't going to convince you otherwise. Next week, Pixar!
