Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

[Raja]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Wait, what? I thought this doesn’t come out until June 22?

We are back to the tradition of America being among the last to see "big" movies 

[Bill1978]

It's being released earlier in some countries. Apparently it's opened here in Australia this weekend but its not at my local cinema so it must be a special advanced screenings on weekends only type thing for Australia anyway.

[Anela]

I want to be excited for this, but I'm not. But I was among the few who didn't like the very first Jurassic Park, because they changed so much from the book. 

[Shannon L.]

7 hours ago, Anela said:

I want to be excited for this, but I'm not. But I was among the few who didn't like the very first Jurassic Park, because they changed so much from the book. 

Hallelujah! I was beginning to think I was the only one. 

Having said that, I liked Jurassic World and will go see this one.  A number of years ago, we saw Godzilla with friends. When it was over, one of them said "That was the popcorniest of all summer popcorn movies".  Everyone has at least one that they enjoy in spite of how silly it is and I think (I hope because it's getting expensive) this year JW2 will be mine.

[Anela]

4 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

Hallelujah! I was beginning to think I was the only one. 

Having said that, I liked Jurassic World and will go see this one.  A number of years ago, we saw Godzilla with friends. When it was over, one of them said "That was the popcorniest of all summer popcorn movies".  Everyone has at least one that they enjoy in spite of how silly it is and I think (I hope because it's getting expensive) this year JW2 will be mine.

I might go and see it, I don't really get excited over much anymore. I miss that feeling of looking forward to something like that. :) It is expensive, though. I liked Jurassic world when I watched in a way that I shouldn't have *cough* a few years ago. 

[BetterButter]

[ApathyMonger]

‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ Deleted a Scene Revealing a Character Was Gay

Quote

During an interview with AOL Build, Pineda revealed that a scene was cut from the final film in which she tells Pratt’s Owen Grady she doesn’t date men. The deleted scene found Zia and Owen inside a military vehicle with a group of mercenaries when her character references her sexuality.

Probably wouldn't have helped the film much, but it would have been something interesting, I guess.

[JessePinkman]

So I'm on pretty much on record with everyone I know as hating Jurassic World. I almost walked out of it and I've been trash talking that movie for a solid 3 years now.

But this? This I kind of loved. I guess going in with low (loooow) expectations helps! This was so much better than JW. Sure lots of it still didn't make any sense (why anyone wants these monsters alive I'll never know, even if Blue is adorable) and the characters are weak (Chris Pratt's Owen is literally a video game lead) but this one felt more...fun?

And I loved the ending. Loved it. I like when movies live up to the promise of their premise. I look forward to JW3 not shitting the bed (hopefully).

[Bec]

I didn't think about what happened to the nanny, but thanks to ApathyMonger, now I do wonder. Aw, she's going to be so sad that the kid is just gone. She should have been the one to adopt her. Now the two leads have a kid in tow for the next movie? Meh. Oh well, could have been worse, at least it's one kid and not two this time. And this kid is relatively less stupid compared to the average kid in these movies.

More importantly (heh), who inherits the Lockwood fortune? Technically the kid is still the next of kin even though she's a clone, right? That's why the bad guy wanted to be her guardian, isn't it? It wasn't just because she's a science experiment?

Speaking of, it's quite a leap from dino cloning to human cloning. Human cloning opens up a whole new can of worms. This better not turn into Orphan Black levels of convoluted tangled web of conspiracies and secrets!

I'm enjoying Chris Pratt's character. Sure, there's not much depth there, but I don't expect deep characters from a summer popcorn flick. Would a typical action hero lead have scrambled away from lava in as much of a hilariously undignified fashion as he did? I loved the part where he was like "If I don't make it back... you made me come here." Every other movie might have dropped an "I love you" in there instead, I'm so glad this one didn't.

I wouldn't mind seeing the vet and the tech guy again in the next one. They were pretty funny. I don't see the tech guy agreeing to go on more adventures after this, though. But then again, how the hell did Claire convince him to go with her to a dinosaur island that's about to explode in the first place?

The Lockwood manor is gorgeous, with all the wood panels and stained glass and cast iron, and the huge library and private museum(!). That's a dream house right there. It's a nice change from the usual theme-park setting.

I dig the friendship between Owen and Blue, as much as it's a cliche of every animal movie ever, I'm a sucker for that stuff. Too bad the friendship's over. Or is it?

[afterbite]

@JessePinkman I went to see this based on your recommendation and am not sorry I did. I wasn't particularly jazzed by the previews, though the part with them going in the water looked cool. The critics didn't seem to love it, so I was even more on the fence. You'd been won over, though, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Look, parts of this movie are as hammy as they come, but other parts of it are deeply, deeply satisfying. They play with our emotions in a very obvious way, but I kind of have to give them props for it because they do it well. I'd have loved it more if someone hadn't brought their kid who made dinosaur growls back at the screen every time a dino roared, but thems the breaks. (You might read this and think it was cute, but it was not. Not at all. Imagine watching a pretty poignant scene and wanting to soak it in, only you can't because there's a kid bellowing loud enough to wake the dead like a deranged cow.)

Anyway, great action, satisfying kills, and enough to bring me back into the fold after the disappointment of the first movie.

[theredhead77]

On 12/10/2017 at 10:11 AM, theredhead77 said:

Dinosaurs fucking shit up and explosions? I'm in.

 

On 12/10/2017 at 7:50 PM, theredhead77 said:

I don't watch the Jurassic Park franchise for Oscar contending acting or storylines. Show me dinosaurs fucking shit up, shit blowing up, the bad guys getting eaten and Rexie roaring and I'm going to be happy.

I hated it. I spent most of the movie crying - it was all the things I hated about Jurassic Park 2 but for the entire movie. I should have left after the brontosaurus at the dock but I kept hoping dinosaurs were going to start fucking shit up. Instead we were treated to scenes of dinosaurs locked up, the mama stegosaurus comforting her infant, I literally was bawling. I can't handle animals being mistreated, including CGI extinct animals in a fictional movie.

[benteen]

This film was terrible.  Three years after a surprisingly good movie and this was the best they could come up with?  The story and the setting feel very small.  I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

[nilyank]

It is one thing to try and rescue the cute, not going to humans dinosaurs, but a bunch of those would feast on people like a midnight snack if given a chance. And during an active volcano exploding? Yeah, no one is that generous so everyone should have been suspicious. When they arrive at the island and saw all the mercenaries, they should have realized what was up.

Instead of selling the dinosaurs and the cloning material, he should have focused on the successful human clone project.

And how in the world can they take that little girl. They are not related to her and had just only met her.

[Stenbeck]

I prefer the first JW to this one.

The concept with the new dinosaur was interesting and the setting was gorgeous, but I wished they would've upped the ante a bit. Or maybe the final trailer gave too much away? There were hardly any surprises.

Hoping the next movie takes a different turn, besides the NEW! SUPER KILLER  DINO REX! schtick which has gotten formulaic at this point. 

As a big fan of soap opera (ATWT, I miss you!), the plot felt particularly mid 80's -90's soaps: Evil villain! Paternity/Origin secrets! Clone! Rewriting history! Henchmen!

[Jediknight]

I liked it.  The first JW was better, but I still liked this one.

Rexy continues to be Rexy, and Blue is awesome.  They build on hints of Rexy's intelligence.  The only time she is a threat to Owen, Claire, or any of the good humans is when she wakes up after taking her blood.  Every other time, she's saving them, so along with Blue there's a hint that she knows that Owen, and Claire aren't threats, don't want to do her any harm, and she'll leave them be.

That Brachiosaurus, really, did you really have to do that?  Poor thing watches it's only way off the island leave, while pretty much crying out "Please, come back for me."

That last third of the movie, that was by far a better live action Resident Evil movie, than the actual Resident Evil movies.

[theredhead77]

4 hours ago, Jediknight said:

That Brachiosaurus, really, did you really have to do that?  Poor thing watches it's only way off the island leave, while pretty much crying out "Please, come back for me."

That was the second sign this movie wasn't for me and I should have left.

[backgroundnoise]

Baby Blue is this movie's Baby Groot.  Adorbs.

[AimingforYoko]

I guess Dr. Wu (Heh, Dr. Wu. I guess somebody on the writing staff is a Steely Dan fan.) is going to keep getting away as long as these films remain profitable?

[Robert Lynch]

So is this movie really good or really bad? I was planning on seeing it this weekend, but my parents, sister, and brother are backing out due to the reviews coming out. Now I am worried.

[theredhead77]

21 hours ago, nilyank said:

And how in the world can they take that little girl. They are not related to her and had just only met her.

I wonder if she has a birth certificate or if there is any record of her existence.

24 hours removed I have some thoughts. I am still incredibly upset by the drowning dinosaurs, the poor Brachiosaurus (that was not necessary, at all, let along the prolonged suffering) and all the overall mistreatment of the dinosaurs, including the indooraptor being taunted and all the carnivorous in cages being transported across the world. Yea, I am that upset about the treatment of CGI extinct and fictional animals in movies. I don't even watch Game of Thrones because of the direwolves.
Looking past all that (and it's very hard for me to do that), I seemed the villains have never seen a Jurassic Park movie. The beginning was amazing (albeit a scene right out of the MEG novel) but quickly went to dude, have you not done your homework? I feel like I missed something, somewhere about Hammond and Lockwood - until this movie. 

Ultimately when I think about the movie the good parts are outweighed by the horrific mistreatment and I won't see the third movie until someone tells me the payoff is appropriate and the cage / abuse is minimal.

JP Fallen World betrayed my trust in the franchise - dinosaurs fuck shit up, maybe some die in dino battle but they've never gone this dark. And I like dark. Give me Battlestar Galactica and Farscape all day long. This just felt like torture porn and animal cruelty for the sake of being cruel.
 

[TobinAlbers]

Didn't love it, but didn't hate it.

Having Maisie instead of Claire be the one to release the dying dinosaurs into the wild was a bit of a cheat in that its more 'understandable' that a child make the 'mistake' of seeing the simplicity of letting the dinosaurs die being bad and freeing them to let them live being good without thinking through the consequences of how many people will end up dead because of these animals simply doing their thing and hunting, mating, and protecting their 'turf'. Claire as an adult knows the huge price allowing them out and so if she had set them free that'd be a bigger pill to swallow. Not quite sure what we were supposed to make of Claire, Owen, and Maisie just tooling along in the aftermath as if the shit hadn't hit the fan. Were they regrouping to go Dino hunting? Seems like Owen knows that's coming.

The other thing about Maisie is she, like the dinosaurs, was 'brought back from the dead' in that she was a clone of Lockwood's daughter so she may have felt a kinship with them in that neither asked to be born/brought back or exploited (which she was as she was a grieving father's replacement daughter created in a lab) although at her age she probably wouldn't be able to articulate it quite that way. All she knew was it wasn't right for them to die simply because 'they weren't supposed to be brought back'. Then again I may be overthinking this ?

Given that Maisie was a clone but also cultivated in a lab where all the scientists in these movies seem to be mad,  I totally thought that in that shot near the end when she's hugging Owen and they zoom in tight on her eyes that we were going to see something (eye color change; secondary eyelids) to indicate she had some dino DNA and was actually a Human-Dino hybrid which would be further explained in the sequel. I know, I know. Too far.

The shot of Blue escaping the exploding lab was just off from being a full on shot of her leaping directly into the camera as the inferno exploded behind her like you see in every action movie, but I still guffawed. Kinda wish they had given us that shot even if it was corny. Blue also was a badass jumping onto the Indo-raptor and sending them into a double death dive only to rotate the Indo-raptor so that it got impaled and her itty bitty self could stand atop its dead body for the signature victorious dinosaur power pose and roar. Guess that T-Rex blood she got from the transfusion was pumping hard!

Poor T-Rex became a running joke of just coming out of nowhere to chomp on other monsters and people that were baddies to the leads. On one hand unless there is an earthquake happening as she's approaching there is no way it could sneak up on anyone to catch them by surprise which she supposedly did a few times. On the other hand it was funny how many times just would roll through just to chomp conveniently and keep moving.

Blows my mind that the teeth pulling animal trafficker was the same guy that played the killer in Silence of the Lambs.

Edited June 24, 2018 by TobinAlbers

[SeanC]

2 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I wonder if she has a birth certificate or if there is any record of her existence.

I was wondering the same, actually.  You kind of got the sense that she mostly was kept around the house, and the cover story for her existence presumably wouldn't hold up at all under official documentation.

Anyway, I surprisingly liked this a fair bit.  Dumb, yes, but it's also the first sequel in this series that has done anything noticeably different with the basic premise.

[Robert Lynch]

But it did take in over $140 million so far, correct?

[afterbite]

17 hours ago, TobinAlbers said:

Poor T-Rex became a running joke of just coming out of nowhere to chomp on other monsters and people that were baddies to the leads. On one hand unless there is an earthquake happening as she's approaching there is no way it could sneak up on anyone to catch them by surprise which she supposedly did a few times. On the other hand it was funny how many times just would roll through just to chomp conveniently and keep moving.

Blows my mind that the teeth pulling animal trafficker was the same guy that played the killer in Silence of the Lambs.

Every time the T-Rex reappeared to gnash something and flex and roar, I got the sense it was like it was saying "You other guys think you're the stars of this movie, but let's be real. None of the people watching love any of you more than me."

When I finally figured out who the teeth pulling trafficker was, I just barely kept myself from saying aloud OMG! Buffalo Bill!

[raven]

21 hours ago, TobinAlbers said:

Blows my mind that the teeth pulling animal trafficker was the same guy that played the killer in Silence of the Lambs.

Thanks for the ID,  I knew he looked familiar.

So, that was a movie.  I mean, could the bad guys be more over-the-top EEEEEVUL???  We have Buffalo Bill pulling dino teeth (seriously, wtf), the guy who murders poor old James Cromwell and all the other bad guys are generic money hungry suit wearing types.  Sheesh. 

Then our good guys set the dinos free on an unsuspecting world (except the Plesiosaur, that's on the idiots in the opening scene).  Not just your herbivores, but your T-Rex, your Allosauruses, your Pterosaurs.  So any further deaths are on their heads.  I mean, Maisie ultimately pushed the BIG RED BUTTON but that wouldn't have done much if Claire hadn't opened the individual cages and let them out first. Owen just stood there and didn't say a word.  Wait, I think he did say something about "are you sure, we're not on an island" and I didn't want to see innocent (CGI) creatures die either, but it looks like the series is going full on Zoo.

I know I'm not invested in a movie when I'm thinking things like "damn this water scene is going on too long, we know neither Claire, Owen or tech guy will drown" "will tech guy lose his glasses??" (yes he did)  "isn't the new dino kind of heavy to be walking around on the staircase and upstairs?  was the house built to withstand a ton or so of animal walking around on it?"  "How did James Cromwell's character not realize that his EVUL assistant was building dino holding pens in his basement?  Didn't that take a while?  Weren't there people coming in and out?  How come MaisieClone didn't notice, she certainly seemed to be all over the house?"  "Where did Iris go after EVUL assistant fired her, that happened like 5 minutes ago, hope she is OK?"

It was pretty predictable and the shout-outs felt more like laziness or paint by the numbers than homages - like when Maisie climbs in the dumbwaiter to escape and is struggling to close it, just like Lex in the kitchen cabinet in Jurassic Park.

On 6/23/2018 at 9:18 PM, theredhead77 said:

Ultimately when I think about the movie the good parts are outweighed by the horrific mistreatment and I won't see the third movie until someone tells me the payoff is appropriate and the cage / abuse is minimal.

I didn't like the cages either and when Owen kept whistling so that one dino would crash through the wall so they could escape, I was just waiting for it to get killed and knew I would be pissed at him (I don't think it did get killed).  

The movie just wasn't a lot of fun; I thought the first was more fun.  Maisie felt pointless except there's always gotta be a kid in this movie so there she is.  People were super dumb. 

Positives - Pratt did Pratt, I liked Claire's character; baby Blue was adorable; grown up Blue was cool.  I will still probably see the 3rd one because I wonder if they will go full on "dinos destroy the world".  We don't know if there are any mating pairs, but the DNA is out there and so is Dr. Wu; that's actually kind of fun, that Wu just breezes through each movie, LOL.  I also liked that our first shot of Claire is...her heels (after all the talk about her heels in the first one).

Quote

But it did take in over $140 million so far, correct?

$150M being projected now.

[phalange]

I liked the first Jurassic World, and I liked this one just as much. Maybe more, since it switched things up and took place mostly off the island. My main criteria is always dinosaurs fucking shit up, and there was a lot of that. I appreciate all the greedy people getting their comeuppance, so the military guy and Toby Jones' character getting taken out by the Indo Raptor was good stuff. The raptor was essentially trolling that guy, making him believe it was sleeping and then it's eye opens and almost looks like it's smirking. I almost felt bad when it got impaled, like how I felt a bit bad for the I. Rex when it got eaten by the magalodon in the last movie.

It was hard seeing the dinosaurs fleeing Isla Nublar knowing they weren't going to make it since they can't swim. That poor brachiosaurus watching the boat leave made me tear up, as did seeing the baby triceratops and the mama trying to get out of the burning mansion. I don't think I could've stood there and watched innocent animals die, so I sympathize with Claire's struggle and Maisie's decision to hit the button. 

It was instantly suspicious when Lockwood kept photos of Maisie's "mother" hidden. Poor kid, having to find out that she was basically an experiment the way she did. I liked the callback to the original with her trying to close the dumbwaiter door. It was kinda obvious she was going to end up being taken in by Claire and Owen, but it's good that she ended up with people who care.

Claire got to have a lot of badass scenes this time around, like flooring the truck to get onto the boat, climbing over the T-Rex, and knocking that rich dude's head into the bars, which was immensely satisfying. The video of Owen with baby Blue was cute. Can't blame Blue for running off again at the end, though. I imagine there has to be one more movie, to explain what happens now that the dinos are loose in the real world. 

[anna0852]

 Honestly, I don't think it's going to be that big of a deal that about a dozen or so dinosaurs got turned loose. Yes there's probably going to be some damage and some deaths but it was generally only one Dino of each species which definitely limits breeding. and this is not intended as a political statement but the USA has one of the highest private gun ownership rates in the world. Somehow I don't think the smaller dinos are going to be roaming loose for very long. And quite frankly Rexy is cool but one tank shell is going to take her out. The only one I would be concerned about staying out there long-term is Blue. She's pretty good about not letting herself be sneaked up on and she's small enough to hide fairly efficiently.

[JessePinkman]

On 6/22/2018 at 7:15 PM, afterbite said:

@JessePinkman I went to see this based on your recommendation and am not sorry I did. I wasn't particularly jazzed by the previews, though the part with them going in the water looked cool. The critics didn't seem to love it, so I was even more on the fence. You'd been won over, though, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Ahhh this made me so happy! I'm glad you liked it! I've seen it twice now (had different plans with different friends, it's not that good) and I enjoyed it just as much the second time.

I don't know...I just thought Jurassic World was so lazy. It was like no one cared about the script or characterization or cinematography. They just slapped something together and it showed. Not to mention the death of Claire's assistant was one of the more sadistic deaths I've seen in a blockbuster, villains in this series don't even get that kind of treatment.

At the very least we won't have another movie of a bunch of idiots yet again going to an island full of murderous dinosaurs. Now the murderous dinosaurs will come to your front door. Progress!

1 hour ago, anna0852 said:

 Honestly, I don't think it's going to be that big of a deal that about a dozen or so dinosaurs got turned loose. Yes there's probably going to be some damage and some deaths but it was generally only one Dino of each species which definitely limits breeding.

There are also the dino (s?) that were released into the ocean. I don't think we have a good idea if it was one or more. But it looks like the one we saw is going to do some damage. And the pterodactyls at least can easily hide and get to breeding, so can the little ones (I want one of my own). 

Random bit of trivia, the guy who played Eli, the corporate baddie who was WAY underselling dinosaurs (10 million for a DINOSAUR???), played Shaun's chubby teenager co-worker in Shaun of the Dead.

[mmecorday]

I really enjoyed this movie. I didn't go in with high expectations because the critics have been pretty merciless in their assessment of this entry in the rebooted franchise, but I was entertained. I was, however, disturbed that a lot of very young children were in the audience. This is not a movie for kids under the age of 10, even with parental accompaniment.

[revbfc]

I got really pissed when the clone girl set the dinosaurs free.

Then I got angrier when my better half made an even more aggravating observation.  Had Claire kept the dinosaurs locked up, but just pressed the red button, they’d still be alive AND not roaming our world.

F this movie in the A.

Edited June 25, 2018 by revbfc

[AD35]

4 hours ago, JessePinkman said:

There are also the dino (s?) that were released into the ocean. I don't think we have a good idea if it was one or more. But it looks like the one we saw is going to do some damage.

The Mosasaur that got away during the movie and turned up again after the end credits looked like he/she was about to chow down on some surfers at a beach.  And I was expecting it to see it happen onscreen. But it didn't happen but the implication was practically screaming that something really bad was about to go down.

[theredhead77]

9 hours ago, mmecorday said:

I was, however, disturbed that a lot of very young children were in the audience. This is not a movie for kids under the age of 10, even with parental accompaniment

Hell, I'm a 40something year old and this movie was not for me. I don't watch horror movies for a reason and I'm still upset by it. I wish the trailers and commercials had had less of the awesome stuff spoiled (Blue in the bedroom, the Monosaur in the ocean, Rexie and the lion) and more of the horror - the dinosaurs drowning, the brachiosaurus burning to death, hell, even the dinosaurs in the cages (not the Indoraptor scene) would have been enough of a clue this movie wasn't going to be for me.

I know it's silly and stupid to be this upset about CGI extinct animals being mistreated in a fictional movie but I am and I'm pissed at the franchise. I hated Last Jedi but I was never this pissed about the polarizing things that happened in it.

[Robert Lynch]

4 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

Hell, I'm a 40something year old and this movie was not for me. I don't watch horror movies for a reason and I'm still upset by it. I wish the trailers and commercials had had less of the awesome stuff spoiled (Blue in the bedroom, the Monosaur in the ocean, Rexie and the lion) and more of the horror - the dinosaurs drowning, the brachiosaurus burning to death, hell, even the dinosaurs in the cages (not the Indoraptor scene) would have been enough of a clue this movie wasn't going to be for me.

I know it's silly and stupid to be this upset about CGI extinct animals being mistreated in a fictional movie but I am and I'm pissed at the franchise. I hated Last Jedi but I was never this pissed about the polarizing things that happened in it.

I must admit I was shy of my 10th birthday when I first saw Jurassic Park, but I turned out okay. However, I laugh when these parents bring their five or two years old to an R-rated film. It happened when watching Ted 2 and the little kids were asking their mom questions about the dialogue in that movie. I don't think anything will change that. There is always going to be some neglectful parent who might take their kids to an R rated film.

Edited June 25, 2018 by Robert Lynch

[Mindthinkr]

On 6/23/2018 at 12:19 AM, Stenbeck said:

As a big fan of soap opera (ATWT, I miss you!),

Be still my heart. I’m right there with you. 

Sorry for the off topic post. 

[backgroundnoise]

On 6/22/2018 at 11:19 PM, Stenbeck said:

Hoping the next movie takes a different turn,

I'd love to see a bunch of Indoraptors going through boot camp.  Military, you wanted 'em you got 'em.

[AimingforYoko]

59 minutes ago, backgroundnoise said:

I'd love to see a bunch of Indoraptors going through boot camp.

Indoraptors are so yesterday, we need some PteroIndoRaptors! (IndoRapDactyls?)

[raven]

[revbfc]

1 hour ago, backgroundnoise said:

I'd love to see a bunch of Indoraptors going through boot camp.  Military, you wanted 'em you got 'em.

Supposedly the original idea for JP4 involved a commando team of human/raptor hybrids.

We may be a few executive coke binges away from that becoming a real possibility.

[Steph J]

On 6/23/2018 at 8:29 PM, TobinAlbers said:

Blows my mind that the teeth pulling animal trafficker was the same guy that played the killer in Silence of the Lambs.

I didn't even realize that and it is hilarious to me for the sole reason that when Owen and Claire have their conversation in the bar and he says, "Your skin looks nice," my reaction to that line was that it was kind of creepy the way he said it and I immediately thought of "It rubs the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose."

I thought the movie was dumb as hell but I still enjoyed it because it was obvious from the trailers that it was going to be dumb. The point-of-view is all over the place: we're clearly supposed to be glad when some of the dinosaurs die (the "bad" ones), but we're also supposed to not want the dinosaurs to die (even the T-Rex); the film's animal rights activists want to save the dinosaurs, but now that dinosaurs are back to just roaming the world all kinds of other animals are certainly going to die (every animal in that zoo? T-Rex food now. Everything in the ocean? Mosasaurus food now); the film wants us to want the dinosaurs in the basement to be released so that they won't die, but how many people are going to be killed by the dinosaurs, some carnivorous, some simply large and destructive because of their size, that are now making their way through that neighborhood?

I also have a question for anyone able to answer it: I know that the Mosasaurus was kept inside the park by the large wall around the island (I'm not sure why the guys in the opening sequence had to open it, though; couldn't they have gotten the pod into the water from inside the park? Their cohorts were inside, so clearly there was a way to get in), but what kept the Pterodactyls on the island?

[tennisgurl]

Alright everyone, its time to cast for a Jurassic Park sequel! Is everyone here? Roll Call! 

"Smarmy businessman who is so obviously the bad guy? Asshole Great White hunter and his mercenary goons? Precocious kid? Bad guys in suites? Baby Dinosaurs? Scary Dinosaurs? Dorky comic relief tech guy? Sassy scientist chick? And someone get Jeff Goldblum in here, stat! Wait, isnt this the old casting sheet from The Lost World? Meh, screw it, just add in a few more dinosaurs and a clone."

I kid, but I thought that was a fun popcorn movie. Not as good as Jurassic World (and certainly not as good as the original) but give me Chris Pratt and some dinosaurs, and thats really all I need. I love that the dinosaurs have so much personality in the newer movies, it really makes them characters in their own right. Rexy is back and still stretching her legs, and still likes the taste of smarmy businessmen and roaring majestically, Stiggy the hard head dinosaur was adorable, and Blue is still my favorite character in the new movies. Baby blue is just the cutest thing in the world. I kind of want a spin off where its just like a Flinstones remake, but set in modern day with Owen, Claire, Maisy, and Blue as a super smart Dino. 

The new scary dinosaur was pretty cool, if underused. I love that it almost had a weird, dark sense of humor, like when Buffalo Bill was about to cut his teeth out, and he actually turned to the camera, opened an eye, and grinned, before going back to faking being knocked out. Its like he was telling the audience "yeah, you all know whats coming. Just hold on, the money shots coming". Justice for poor abandoned Brontosaurus! Oh that poor thing broke my heart! I hope shes happy in the big, forest in the sky. My heart hurts thinking of her cries, like she was yelling at them to come back! It hurt!

I kind of like how the girl letting the dinosaurs loose was played. It would be stupid if Claire did it, as she would know that setting them lose would be a mess, but the kid doing it is a bit more understandable. Still not a great idea, but I get why they wanted the dinosaurs running around instead of all dying. I wish they could just send them to a wildlife reserve or something like other animals. I want my dinosaurs to be happy damn it! But, them running around is not really shown as a good thing, as the heroes look more nervous than happy at the end. Third movie, where Blue and Owen live happily ever after at last?

[bannana]

It pissed me off so much that Claire even considered releasing them, and then Maisie actually did it.  I get that they had to be free to set up the next movie, but why not have it be accidental through a power shutdown or something like that?  Claire and Maisie literally chose to save the dinosaurs and kill countless people and other animals.  Maisie was terrorized, and yet still felt compelled to save them?

I kept wondering where the nanny was because there was no way I could imagine the character leaving Maisie, especially as she was grieving her grandfather.  If she left, as she was told to do by whatshisname, then why didn't she call the police to at least report that Sir Ben was dead, and his granddaughter was potentially being held hostage by whatshisname?

I too thought $10 million was ridiculously low for a dinosaur that could be weaponized.

Did Claire and Owen bother to notify the authorities that dinosaurs are roaming California now?

[maczero]

On 6/24/2018 at 9:21 PM, anna0852 said:

 Honestly, I don't think it's going to be that big of a deal that about a dozen or so dinosaurs got turned loose. Yes there's probably going to be some damage and some deaths but it was generally only one Dino of each species which definitely limits breeding. and this is not intended as a political statement but the USA has one of the highest private gun ownership rates in the world. Somehow I don't think the smaller dinos are going to be roaming loose for very long. And quite frankly Rexy is cool but one tank shell is going to take her out. The only one I would be concerned about staying out there long-term is Blue. She's pretty good about not letting herself be sneaked up on and she's small enough to hide fairly efficiently.

Yeah, I don't see how a few dozen loose dinos spells the end for humanity either.  Sure a few people will die but I'd put money on the military or even a well armed police department over the dinosaurs any day of the week.  Hell, humans wipe out species regularly without even trying.

That said, I could see the mososaur being a problem.  I imagine it would decimate whale and fish populations before it was put down.

On 6/25/2018 at 8:23 PM, Steph J said:

Q for anyone able to answer it: I know that the Mosasaurus was kept inside the park by the large wall around the island (I'm not sure why the guys in the opening sequence had to open it, though; couldn't they have gotten the pod into the water from inside the park? Their cohorts were inside, so clearly there was a way to get in), but what kept the Pterodactyls on the island?

I'll take a shot.  Perhaps the sub was too heavy to be air lifted to the park.  I'm assuming the copter and the sub launched from a nearby ship.

As for the pterodactyls, maybe they don't migrate.  If there's plenty of food in the area, I see no reason why they would leave familiar surroundings.

[Robert Lynch]

That is Geraldine Chaplin, correct?

[revbfc]

Why did the Mosasaurus enclosure even have a gate that opened to the ocean?

[Raja]

20 hours ago, bannana said:

 

I too thought $10 million was ridiculously low for a dinosaur that could be weaponized.

 

I haven't read the rest of the thread. I case someone else mentioned this"

It was even more ridiculous that the businessmen and governmental representatives at the auction where cheering the Russians having the highest bid. I was expecting the CIA to swoop in and say "oh hell no" and confiscate the weapons for America.

[tennisgurl]

I love that apparently one of the rich people was just looking for a baby triceratops for his kid. In the midst of all these obvious Bond villains is some guy planning an AWESOME theme party for his daughter. 

[Proclone]

I just got back from seeing it and I am firmly on the meh side of the fence.  There were things I liked better than JW and things I didn't like.   One of the things I continue to dislike about these movies is the disconnect between how Owen's actions are presented and how Claire's actions are presented.  I will continue to give these movie's credit that Claire is neither whiney nor ever really the damsel in distress.  That being said, Owen's actions are almost always framed in a big damn hero sort of way, which is fine he is the hero of an action movie.  Claire, on the other hand, is actually generally more badass and impressive, but her actions aren't often framed that way or at least aren't commented on.  Owen jumps between the Rex's teeth to save himself, it's "Did you see that?"  Claire climbs up God only knows how far with a hole in her leg to save Owen and the girl and it's never commented on.  Also once again children are drawn to Owen despite never seeing him before in their lives and having no reason to think he's more capable than Claire.  The girl runs to and hugs Owen instead of Claire (whom she'd at least seen before and knew wanted to save the dinosaurs) when they find her.  Not to overly harp on this, but I help teach a sport to small children and in my experience, they don't tend to latch on to men they don't know.  If a kid is hurt or scared, they won't come to a male in the class, they will come to me, a woman.  I'm sure it's that kids are socialized to see unknown women as less dangerous than men, but my point stands.  It just seems like a way to make Owen seem even more heroic without having to have him do anything.  Even kids that don't know him can tell he's a hero that will protect them.  And on a slightly random note, the close up of Claire's boots (proving she wasn't wearing high heels this time) really irked me for some reason.  As if the character was ever presented as stupid enough to run around in high heels in the jungle if she had a choice (it's not like she had time to find new footwear in JW).  It would be the equivalent of zooming in on John McClane's feet in Die Hard 2 to show he had shoes on.

I'm also not thrilled that Owen is presented as the protagonist when it's really Claire's story that drives the narrative.  I couldn't really care less about Owen and Blue.  He never really shows that he cares for the animal that much or that his bond with her is any stronger than say a dog (it actually may be less than most people and their dog's) he used to have.  The fact that their supposed bond keeps being a plot point is annoying to me.  Claire's arc of first seeing the animals as commodities in JW to feeling responsible for them and their existence seems like a more compelling story, or at least it would be if they explored it.  The original Jurassic Park was willing to be a bit talkier and let characters have real conversations about the implications of the existence of dinosaurs, these movies just want to get to the explosions and dinosaurs eating people.  They only give the briefest of sound bites to make it all seem more philosophical than it really is.  Having some downtime between set pieces to have the characters have real conversations would have been nice.

I bemoaned that Jurassic World wasn't at all scary like Jurassic Park was, when I first saw it.  This one certainly tried to be scarier, but it still didn't manage to invoke any fear or nervousness in me for these characters.  It's not because I just don't believe that any of the characters I like will die (though it is true that I don't), I've seen the original probably twenty times and there's still tension in the scene in the kitchen for example despite knowing what happens.  I feel those kids' fear of being stalked by the nigh-unstoppable killing machines that are the Raptors.  I never felt fear on behalf of any of the characters in either JW or this one.  I think it's because they're all just by the number's characters.  Chris Pratt is a good actor and I enjoy him, but there's nothing about Owen that sets him apart from any other wise-cracking character Pratt's ever played.  He managed to make me feel emotions as Starlord in both in the Guardians movies and Infinity Wars, but there's nothing compelling about Owen.  Claire is much the same.  I think her character has more potential, but they don't do enough with her to really make me care.  There are few character moments for either of them and nothing that particularly endears them to me, outside of them being the "good guys."  Grant, Malcolm, Hammond, and even Ellie were interesting compelling character that seemed like real people, I can't say the same for Owen or Claire.

This movie also seemed almost completely bloodless compared to Jurassic Park.  A man gets his arm ripped off and there a spot of blood on the Indoraptors teeth.  Not one drop on the guy who got his arm ripped off or the floor though.  I remember there being more blood in JP when the dinos ate someone.  There was even the scene where the stream turns red with Nedry's blood IIRC.  It seems an odd step back in what can be shown in a PG-13 movie. 

That being said, I didn't hate the movie.  And I did think it did a few things better than JW.  Dinosaurs being something that Russian organized crime would be interested in buying seems more plausible than the US Army having a Raptor division like JW seemed to think would happen.  The secondary characters I liked better in this one and they were some actual risk to them, though I honestly never felt any fear for them either.  The little girl was much less annoying than either of the boys from JW.  I'm of two minds about making her a clone, while it does seem to be a natural progression of the technology, it seems such a sharp turn away from what all these movies have been about prior, YMMV.  That being said, she looked maybe ten.  The original JP was made over twenty years ago, and assuming twenty years have passed in the movie's timeline, how many failed clones were there?  If Lockwood and Hammond had a falling out over human cloning it stands to reason Lockwood was trying to clone his daughter over twenty years ago, so why is the girl only ten or so?

I did like that it while it as it starts out it seems like it'll be a bit of re-tread of Lost World it really does do it own thing.  That being said there was one call back to the original annoyed me.  The girl in this one was running away from the Indoraptor and jumps in the dumbwaiter, she then holds the door open and yells for no reason before closing it at the last moment for the Raptor to slam into the door.  This is obviously a call back to the kitchen scene in JP, where Lexie holds the door open to the cabinet she's trying to hide in and yells.  But in JP she was yelling to distract the Raptor away from her brother, while in this one there is no reason for the girl not to just close the door the second she gets in.  Its little things like that, that are the failings of both JW and this movie.  They want things that look cool and maybe call back to something iconic, but they don't really think about how that fits into the story they want to tell.  Actually, I don't think there's much thought about the story they want to tell at all.  It just seems like they throw things that sound cool at a wall and see what sticks.  Then sprinkle in just enough JP nostalgia and pseudo-philosophical sounding lines to make it seem like they having something to say, instead of it being a big dumb movie where dinosaurs destroy stuff.

Edited June 28, 2018 by Proclone

[Yokosmom]

Agree with many of the postings here. The death of the dinosaur on the docks was heartbreaking (and the only really emotional part of the movie for me), no idea what is going to happen to Maisie, as the courts are (no doubt) going to swoop in and appoint her a guardian that is not Claire or Owen, and what the hell happened to the governess?

My favorite dinosaur was the little guy that broke through the wall and proceeded to toss most of the folks at the auction hither and yon. I was disappointed that they didn't show him escaping.

I want the Lockwood mansion. 

Did anyone else think of the real Hawaii eruption that is going on now when watching the volcano scenes?

Quote

 But in JP she was yelling to distract the Raptor away from her brother, while in this one there is no reason for the girl not to just close the door the second she gets in. 

The door was stuck, that's why she couldn't shut it right away.  She was frantically pulling on it.  I was totally confused by the girl's accent, which wandered between British and American. The governess at one point corrected her pronunciation of "bath".  Why?  She isn't living in England.  If she goes back and forth between the UK and the States I could see it, but there wasn't any reference to that.  I do realize that getting bugged by something like that in a movie where nothing is true to life is a bit ridiculous.

I knew that Maisie was going to set the dinos loose halfway through the scene.

Only plot surprise for me was the fact that Lockwood didn't realize what was going on (in his own house!)  I was sure that he was going to be the head evil profiteer.

The larger dinosaurs, even the pterodactyls could be easily taken out, though I think that the herbivores, at least, might be snapped up by zoos.  The one in the ocean, though might be more tricky.  Its the little chicken sized ones that are probably the most dangerous.  Much harder to find in the wild and there were enough of them to have a breeding population.  However, most of the herbivores are probably going to die since the plants that are around now aren't the same as during the Jurassic period.

I put it in the category of "ok for a popcorn movie" but then, I didn't go in with major expectations.

[Proclone]

4 hours ago, Yokosmom said:

The door was stuck, that's why she couldn't shut it right away.  She was frantically pulling on it.  I was totally confused by the girl's accent, which wandered between British and American. The governess at one point corrected her pronunciation of "bath".  Why?  She isn't living in England.  If she goes back and forth between the UK and the States I could see it, but there wasn't any reference to that.  I do realize that getting bugged by something like that in a movie where nothing is true to life is a bit ridiculous.

YMMV, I didn't really see her struggling with it, she certainly had her hands on the door in the scene though but she didn't seem to frantically doing anything but screaming to me.  She also had no problem popping in and out of those dumbwaiter doors up until that point.  They should have set something like up by having one stick earlier so it would be a payoff to a set up instead of, "Of course it sticks the one time it's a life or death situation."  As it's presented it's just a callback to original for the sake of having a callback.  This movie in generally over used the call backs in my opinion.  Some of them worked liked the scenes with the Brontosaurus island as the first dinosaur they encounter and the scene where it assumes the iconic pose it took in the original as it's overwhelmed by the volcano as it highlighted the end of Isla Nubar.  They others were mostly just there so you could say, "Hey that looks like that scene from Jurassic Park."

I actually didn't mind Maisie speaking with a British accent.  She's being raised people with British accents and it didn't appear that she left the estate to go to school.  I don't think it's that unusual for those that speak with a British accent to want their children to also speak with one, even if living abroad.  Emily Blunt often jokes in interviews how she hates that her daughters have taken to saying "water" in an American accent and how she would prefer them to speak with her accent as opposed to her husband's.  So as far as that goes it seems pretty true to life.

[Yokosmom]

I didn't have any problem with the British accent (love them)--it was the inconsistency that bugged.