Not all movies are supposed to be complex mind-benders that make us contemplate life. These movies are the perfect example of fun movies to grab a bag of popcorn and some friends and go see.
The Nominees:
Ant-Man
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Vacation
If you haven’t watched Jurassic World yet, you should probably stop reading this and go check out my spoiler-free review right here: http://bit.ly/1FS46N9. If you already have seen it, you should still probably go check it out so you can see what I am basing a lot of my points on (I don’t want to write a 1000 word review restating what I just wrote, haha). Now that we have that taken care of and know what I am going off of, let’s look at some of the things that made Jurassic World a good, but not great, movie.
Like I mentioned in the spoiler-free review, the visuals were pretty great. The only real issue I noticed was when the Apatosaurus (the first dying dinosaur that Owen and Claire ran into after losing the kids) looked so fake laying there it actually hurt. It was clear that Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas-Howard were not acting with that thing in front of them because they just seemed a little off. The dialogue was strange and their hand movements seemed kind of all over the place. While it didn’t revolutionize cinema like the original movie (and you can never expect a movie to do that for you), Jurassic World was still pretty solid cinematically.
Acting wise, the big sore-thumbs that stuck out to me were Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio) and the two kids.
Hoskins was the military guy who was trying to weaponize the raptors. It was pretty obvious from the start that he was going to die via raptor. It was such a waste of D’Onofrio’s talent because he was just so cliche and one-sided. While his death was satisfying, it didn’t leave as big of an impact because we all knew it was happening 10 seconds after we met him.
The kids were pretty annoying too. Like each of the three Jurassic Park movies, kids have to be some of the main characters to add to scare factor. I am sorry, but there is no way those two are surviving this. They had multiple run-ins with the Indominus Rex and lived to tell the tale. Also, I am sorry but a high schooler and middle schooler cannot hot wire a 1990s jeep that is filled with moss and rust. Even if they did all of that, they should have been scooped up by the Pterodactyls when they were driving to the gate. This is probably the only movie where I wanted the kids to die. There have been far worse child actors, but they were just so annoying.
I did appreciate the references to the original movie, but they felt a little forced at some points. Yes, we get it, the first movie was really good and changed movies forever. Thanks for the reminder
As far as plot holes go, there were a few that stuck out to me. I am just going to kind of list them and not go too in-depth with all of it:
-How could the Indominus Rex have created all of those scratch marks on the wall without any hearing or noticing if it’s under 24/7 watch?
-I am sorry but pouring a little bit of gasoline on yourself does not prevent an animal with thermal vision from seeing you.
-While it is not as much a plot hole, I hate how Owen stopped to kiss Claire after she saved him. There are still plenty of Pterodactyls flying around killing people. It’s like Man of Steel all over again (yes, you think you stopped Zod, don’t stop and kiss Lois Lane, go save the literal hundreds of thousands of people trapped beneath bone-crushing rubble).
-In the first movie, we hear that the T-Rex can run 32 miles per hour. It would have eaten Claire and the flare before she was able to draw its attention to the Indominus.
-Using the same logic as earlier in the movie, the Indominus should have been able to roar at the raptors and have them attack Owen, Claire, and the kids again.
-The biologist mentioned that the Indominus Rex had T-Rex DNA, which means it should have been able to roar at the T-Rex in that last scene and turned it against the people.
-There were also a few scenes where it would be dark going into a certain scene and light slightly afterwards when they left. I don’t think the sky changed that much in the few minutes you were in there.
Okay, despite all of that, I actually really enjoyed the movie (a lot of the positive stuff was in the spoiler-free version). It is tough because in today’s movie age there is no middle ground. You are expected to love a movie or hate it. Instead, I am pretty set in the middle. I did like it a lot more than disliking it, however, I acknowledge there there are flaws. Jurassic World was the best of the Jurassic Park sequels. You should definitely go and watch it – just don’t expect the moon and the sun.
What did you think of Jurassic World? Did I miss something you picked up on? Make sure to comment and let me know.
While I have always tried to keep spoilers out of my reviews, I am taking a new approach with Jurassic World. I am writing both a spoiler free version for all of you who have yet to see the movie and a version with spoilers (that you can read here: http://bit.ly/1Ibd7Bu).
For those of you who have been living under a rock and don’t know much about this movie, it essentially takes place 20ish years after the first Jurassic Park movie. After the original founder, John Hammond, passes away, he leaves his idea to his successor who is able to create the island resort Jurassic World. We join the action about 10 years after the park opened and learn that (somehow) people are getting bored of dinosaurs. The new attractions aren’t bringing in as much attention and, while still doing extremely well financially, the board of directors is looking to find something to inject new life into the park’s profits. The special lab technicians from InGen are able to use gene splicing to create the world’s first artificial dinosaurs. Enter the Indominus Rex. When this bad boy breaks loose, all hell is unleashed upon Isla Nubar (which, like I said earlier, is a fully operation resort park housing over 20,000 visitors).
Let me preface all of this by saying that I really enjoyed Jurassic World. It is not a perfect movie; however, I still enjoyed watching it so much (despite a crazy storm knocking the power out for 15 minutes right as it was starting). The movie boldly tried a few new things, some of which worked and some of which didn’t. Without giving anything away, here is my take on Jurassic World.
The first thing that is obvious is the revamped special effects. While the original absolutely blew people away by introducing advanced CGI for the first time (seriously check this out, the effects still hold up 20 years later by today’s standard: http://bit.ly/YT60yk), today’s advancements in technology have led to even bigger and better effects. Although I think there are a few scenes with a little unnecessary CGI, this movie’s visuals are amazing. From the first time you get a glimpse of the park to the ending credits, your eyes in for a cinematic feast .
While the two main actors, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas-Howard, do a great job in the movie, a lot of the secondary characters do come off as a little one dimensional and cliche. Also, thirty minutes into the film you already have a pretty solid idea of who is going to live and who is going to die. Pratt and Dallas-Howard, however, showed why they were the top-billed talent in this movie. Nobody thought that Chris Pratt could break the lovable simpleton mold from Parks and Rec, but this is back-to-back summers with Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World that he has shown his acting range is a lot larger than initially anticipated. While Dallas-Howard got off to a bit of a stale start in the first half hour or so, she really turned it around and did a great job as Claire, the park administrator. She had been in two other movies which ruined a franchise in Spider-Man 3 and Terminator Salvation, so I am glad that it didn’t happen again with Jurassic World.
The movie had a few minor plot holes which I will go into more detail in with my spoiler review, but all-in-all, Jurassic World was a good movie that thoroughly enjoyed.
Comment and let me know what you thought of Jurassic World.
2015 is loaded with blockbusters so strap yourself in and get ready for the Top 5 Most Anticipated Movies of 2015.
#5: The Fantastic Four
Up until the release of the trailer, almost everybody thought this reboot was doomed to fail. Rumors of it being a found footage film didn’t help it’s case. Everybody exhaled a collective sigh of relief earlier this month when the trailer actually looked pretty good. Kate Mara (House of Cards), Miles Teller (Whiplash), Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle), and Jamie Bell (The Adventures of Tintin) all star as the younger version of the superheroes. I can’t wait to see more trailers as we get closer to the release date in August.
#4: Spectre
The next installment of the James Bond franchise will definitely be a great one. Daniel Craig’s performance in Skyfall was phenomenal, and I cannot wait to see how they incorporate bringing back SPECTRE from the old Bond movies. Scheduled to come out in early December, I wish I could already buy my tickets to see Spectre.
#3: Jurassic World
When the trailer for Jurassic World dropped, fans around the world remember the excitement from the first three movies. Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) will play the leading role as he is forced to hunt a genetically modified dinosaur that is loose on the island. Plus let’s be honest, there is no scene cooler than that Kronosaurus leaping out of the water to eat the shark.
#2: Avengers 2: Age of Ultron
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has entered their second phase and Age of Ultron will give them a huge boost. Who isn’t excited for the movie after seeing the Hulk and Iron Man going toe-to-toe in the streets. Movie theaters around America are going to be absolutely packed for weeks upon weeks when this movie comes out.
#1: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
I remember visiting my aunt and uncle’s house over Thanksgiving break when the new Star Wars trailer was released online. It had something like 10 million views less than a day after it published and now has well over 50 million. From Stephen Colbert’s defense of the new lightsaber to a dozen fan-made “George Lucas trailers,” everybody was surrounded by the new Star Wars movie. Let’s see how long until people are camped outside the movie theaters for the December 18th release date.
CinemaStickler 