Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

[AD35]

On 6/27/2018 at 12:40 AM, bannana said:

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?

Unless the next movie actually says something about her fate (slim chance I'm sure), I'm assuming she fell victim to the Indoraptor or some other carnivore that was on the loose.

[anna0852]

I'm assuming she survived, as she was pretty firmly fired before the s**t hit the fan at the auction.

[Bill1978]

Just got back from seeing this. I went in with very low expectations based upon what the trailer gave me. I walked out feeling meh. My summary I gave my friend was the same I gave The Last Jedi. As a stand alone movie it is good and worth seeing, but as part of a pre-existing franchise/story it is disappointing.

I was never a fan of the San Diego scene in The Lost World, I wasn't a fan of the Raptors as weapons in Jurassic World. The trailer showed me that the plot was revolving around those two things hence my low expectations. I really, really enjoyed the time on the island and I wish that the whole movie was focused on the saving of dinosaurs on the island. To be honest, I don't care how much it would end up being 'been there, done that'. For me these movies will always be about being stuck on an island while dinosaurs chase you, because while it is stuck on an island my brain can process that it is believable.

Bringing the dinosaurs into civilisation is just too much of a stretch for my brain to accept as believable. I'm sure the ending is meant to get me excited about the final chapter but the problem for me is that the move makes the movie 100% unbelievable as I know there aren't dinosaurs running around with humans. The franchise has now gone from science fiction to science fantasy - or something like that. I am happy to embrace the dinos are mingling with us if it means they can get all the kids back from all the previous movies. It's always bugged me that they cycle kids in and out. Although knowing this franchise, they will bring them back just to be eaten.

I caught myself a number of times groaning about the stupidity of people that set up their own deaths - even if their deaths were satisfying. I am glad Clare didn't press the emergency button, but I knew the little girl was going to release them. Quick question: if Clare had left them in the cages but opened up the emergency door could they have survived wit the fumes leaving the facility? Also when designing the mosasaur tank, why not have another wall around it. You know open door A move in, shut door A and then open door B to the enclosure. So much stuff could be prevented if they had a double door on all their enclosures.

I enjoyed the little throwbacks to JP in JW, but in this movie the throwbacks just reminded me how awesome JP actually was. The dumb waiter scene made no sense in this one as I felt the Indoraptor would have smashed the wood first go. I did notice that Clare yelled at Owen to 'RUN!' in exactly the same tone as Ellie did to Alan in JP. Speaking of the Indoraptor, can we stop with the creation of new things? There is a wealth of dinosaurs they haven't touched that they could use if they are going to insist on killing the evil dinosaur at the end of the movie. No need to make them up. I feel these creations only exist because the movies refuse to have the T-Rex or Raptors be the bad guys anymore. It takes me out of the movie when I know the dinosaur never existed. And add me to the group who does not give 2c about the Owen/Blue connection - what a load of trollop, let it go and move on franchise. Move on. Not once was I ever sad about Blue's predicament. Unlike that poor Brachiosaurus. One of the saddest moments in cinema this year.

The one thing I felt this movie did better than its direct predecessor are the set pieces. They were actually tense this time and after binging on the previous 4 I think I finally worked out my issue with JW's set pieces. In theory they have some long set pieces - the gyrosphere, the pterodactyl attack and anything with the Indominus Rex but the problem is that those scenes kept switching to scenes outside of the main set piece so the set piece loses a lot of the tension. For example in the gyrosphere, it should have just been good enough that Zach's phone was ringing, we didn't need to cut to see Clare on the phone ringing, it loses the flow and the tension. In the original JP once a dinosaur attacked we pretty much stuck with it until it ended, none ofthis jumping around. And Fallen Kingdom did that well, stuck with the set piece until in ended.

My favourite moment of the movie though came right at the start with the scrolling news banner which announced the US President wonders if dinosaurs actually ever existed. I may have laughed a little too loud at that. I;m sure I got some weird looks laughing at a news bulletin.

[Robert Lynch]

5 hours ago, Bill1978 said:

Just got back from seeing this. I went in with very low expectations based upon what the trailer gave me. I walked out feeling meh. My summary I gave my friend was the same I gave The Last Jedi. As a stand alone movie it is good and worth seeing, but as part of a pre-existing franchise/story it is disappointing.

I was never a fan of the San Diego scene in The Lost World, I wasn't a fan of the Raptors as weapons in Jurassic World. The trailer showed me that the plot was revolving around those two things hence my low expectations. I really, really enjoyed the time on the island and I wish that the whole movie was focused on the saving of dinosaurs on the island. To be honest, I don't care how much it would end up being 'been there, done that'. For me these movies will always be about being stuck on an island while dinosaurs chase you, because while it is stuck on an island my brain can process that it is believable.

Bringing the dinosaurs into civilisation is just too much of a stretch for my brain to accept as believable. I'm sure the ending is meant to get me excited about the final chapter but the problem for me is that the move makes the movie 100% unbelievable as I know there aren't dinosaurs running around with humans. The franchise has now gone from science fiction to science fantasy - or something like that. I am happy to embrace the dinos are mingling with us if it means they can get all the kids back from all the previous movies. It's always bugged me that they cycle kids in and out. Although knowing this franchise, they will bring them back just to be eaten.

I caught myself a number of times groaning about the stupidity of people that set up their own deaths - even if their deaths were satisfying. I am glad Clare didn't press the emergency button, but I knew the little girl was going to release them. Quick question: if Clare had left them in the cages but opened up the emergency door could they have survived wit the fumes leaving the facility? Also when designing the mosasaur tank, why not have another wall around it. You know open door A move in, shut door A and then open door B to the enclosure. So much stuff could be prevented if they had a double door on all their enclosures.

I enjoyed the little throwbacks to JP in JW, but in this movie the throwbacks just reminded me how awesome JP actually was. The dumb waiter scene made no sense in this one as I felt the Indoraptor would have smashed the wood first go. I did notice that Clare yelled at Owen to 'RUN!' in exactly the same tone as Ellie did to Alan in JP. Speaking of the Indoraptor, can we stop with the creation of new things? There is a wealth of dinosaurs they haven't touched that they could use if they are going to insist on killing the evil dinosaur at the end of the movie. No need to make them up. I feel these creations only exist because the movies refuse to have the T-Rex or Raptors be the bad guys anymore. It takes me out of the movie when I know the dinosaur never existed. And add me to the group who does not give 2c about the Owen/Blue connection - what a load of trollop, let it go and move on franchise. Move on. Not once was I ever sad about Blue's predicament. Unlike that poor Brachiosaurus. One of the saddest moments in cinema this year.

The one thing I felt this movie did better than its direct predecessor are the set pieces. They were actually tense this time and after binging on the previous 4 I think I finally worked out my issue with JW's set pieces. In theory they have some long set pieces - the gyrosphere, the pterodactyl attack and anything with the Indominus Rex but the problem is that those scenes kept switching to scenes outside of the main set piece so the set piece loses a lot of the tension. For example in the gyrosphere, it should have just been good enough that Zach's phone was ringing, we didn't need to cut to see Clare on the phone ringing, it loses the flow and the tension. In the original JP once a dinosaur attacked we pretty much stuck with it until it ended, none ofthis jumping around. And Fallen Kingdom did that well, stuck with the set piece until in ended.

My favourite moment of the movie though came right at the start with the scrolling news banner which announced the US President wonders if dinosaurs actually ever existed. I may have laughed a little too loud at that. I;m sure I got some weird looks laughing at a news bulletin.

I saw that with the news banner and it is not just this movie, it seems like every other destructive action/heroic adventure movie that seems to go after Trump, the spoiled rich, Russians, or the Republicans. It never use to be this blatant before. 

[Raja]

3 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

I saw that with the news banner and it is not just this movie, it seems like every other destructive action/heroic adventure movie that seems to go after Trump, the spoiled rich, Russians, or the Republicans. It never use to be this blatant before. 

 Unless the story was adapted and it was obvious when the villains were changed in ethnicity  for political reasons.  Sitting leaders always took some ribbing but due to the historic nature of President Obama's racial group being in play there was an 8 years break and thus with Presidents W. Bush and Trump it becomes more noticeable 

[rmontro]

Saw this yesterday.  Thought it was better than the first Jurassic World.

This may not make sense, but I kept thinking (before the reveal) that Maisie was going to end up being the daughter of the little girl in the original Jurassic Park movie, (Lex I think her name was).  Mainly because she looked kind of like her.

I liked the ethical question of whether or not to release the dying dinosaurs.  Seems pretty certain that the answer is to let them die (even though we want to see them survive as moviegoers), but there's a little gray area there.  A tiny bit.

I wonder how the dinosaurs know the difference between the good guys and the bad guys?  Because given a choice, they always attack the bad guy.

Instead of Jurassic World 3, they should call the next one Planet of the Dinosaurs, because that seems to be the direction this is heading.

[Artsda]

Saw it last night, seemed darker than last one. 

The post credit scene was interesting, next movie will be Dinos go to Vegas? lol

[Silver Raven]

On 6/22/2018 at 8:22 PM, nilyank said:

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.

She probably isn't a registered person.  The government doesn't know she exists.

They certainly made sure to let us see Claire's shoes, didn't they?  The ending was ridiculous.  Releasing all of those predators out into the world?  Stupid.

Franklin was annoying af.  I'm very glad he disappeared for half of the movie.

I'm  little perturbed that the powers in charge didn't make more of Geraldine Chaplin being in this.

Edited July 1, 2018 by Silver Raven

[Raja]

10 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

Releasing all of those predators out into the world?  Stupid.

 

But of course we have the prejudice that they would go after a skinny surfer instead of a fat seal. Or hit the local elementary school for a food rather than being killed by a cattle rancher protecting his investment

[rmontro]

Maybe since the little girl is a clone, she empathizes more with her fellow cloned dinosaurs more so than with people.  Maybe she will become leader of the dinosaurs like Ceaser in the Planet of the Apes movies.  

I wonder if they used frog DNA to patch any holes in her gene sequences?  Maybe she'll be able to change gender at will  :)

[Steph J]

5 hours ago, Raja said:

But of course we have the prejudice that they would go after a skinny surfer instead of a fat seal. Or hit the local elementary school for a food rather than being killed by a cattle rancher protecting his investment

I think we can assume that something the size of a Mosasaurus would go after both and then go after several more things - I reckon it takes a lot to feed something that size.  As for the rancher, if he or she is trying to take down the dinosaur described as being like "a living tank," my money is on the dinosaur unless the rancher has, like, a rocket launcher or something. Besides, as we saw in the last movie, even a team of people who have been specifically trained to "take down" a dinosaur didn't actually stand a chance when the time came for them to do so.

It's not just the predators that would be a problem though. The large herbivores would also be dangerous because even though they aren't hunting people and animals, they're going to crush a lot of them under foot just walking around.

[Raja]

But despite the tank reputation a handgun stopped Blue. If ranchers were dealing with grizzlies and not coyotes they would up gun.

[rmontro]

4 hours ago, Steph J said:

I think we can assume that something the size of a Mosasaurus would go after both and then go after several more things - I reckon it takes a lot to feed something that size.

A mosasaurus would down surfers like a blue whale downs krill!

3 hours ago, Raja said:

But despite the tank reputation a handgun stopped Blue. If ranchers were dealing with grizzlies and not coyotes they would up gun.

Raptors aren't armored though.  It was the armored ankylosaurus that was called the living tank.  That was a fairly small looking bullet that they shot Blue with, but raptors are closer to people sized.  Blue had also been hit with tranquilizer darts, so I'm not sure the handgun alone would have stopped it.  They look like they're all muscle.

[Raja]

2 hours ago, rmontro said:

A mosasaurus would down surfers like a blue whale downs krill!

Raptors aren't armored though.  It was the armored ankylosaurus that was called the living tank.  That was a fairly small looking bullet that they shot Blue with, but raptors are closer to people sized.  Blue had also been hit with tranquilizer darts, so I'm not sure the handgun alone would have stopped it.  They look like they're all muscle.

I think you are way underestimating the killing power homo sapiens can build into their machines. In most of the franchise we saw mercenaries and game wardens trying to protect their investment first. When your investment becomes your school full of your children or just a herd of cattle and life's work, that brain along with other vulnerable spots on your target will be found and a round capable of penetrating any organic skull will tear through it.

Although I guess they can change directions and use Godzilla rules and pretend that a proportionally sized round to a man killing bullet won't affect it.  But right now with Blue the veterinarian acted like she would bled out even if she had survived long enough to kill a few more of the capture team before collapsing from one bullet along with the tranquilizers.

[rmontro]

11 hours ago, Raja said:

But right now with Blue the veterinarian acted like she would bled out even if she had survived long enough to kill a few more of the capture team before collapsing from one bullet along with the tranquilizers.

That's pretty much what I was saying.  I was talking about "stopping power":  If a raptor was charging you and you fired one bullet into its leg (which was where Blue was hit, I think?), would that stop him from killing you?  I'm thinking probably not.  Beyond that, infection aside, whether or not it was fatal probably depends on whether or not it hit an artery.

But mainly I was pointing out that raptors aren't "tank" dinosaurs, and that Blue had also been hit with tranquilizer darts.  He was really down for the count when that guy shot him, which was really stupid.  If that female doctor hadn't been there, Blue might have died, and he would have lost out on a lot of money.

[SeanC]

On 2018-07-01 at 7:26 PM, rmontro said:

A mosasaurus would down surfers like a blue whale downs krill!

Something that size is probably realistically more of a threat to whales, etc., than humans, in terms of what it would focus on hunting.

[thuganomics85]

Whelp, despite being underwhelmed by Jurassic World, I gave this a go, and cautiously hoped that they would course-correct a few things.  I had hoped that at least getting a director like J.A. Boyenga onboard would be a sign they were going to shake it up, and I did think he was by far the best thing here.  The film definitely had a more distinctive look, and the action sequences were really good.  I really enjoyed the more horror like elements he added.  And that brachiosaurus scene was a true highlight, and one of the most emotional moments out of the entire franchise.

But other then that, wow, did I think it was lame.  Even by blockbuster standards, everything was just so dumb.  The story was dumb, the poor excuse for characters were dumb, and the film didn't even make the dumb stuff entertaining.  It was likely they personally took everything that I didn't care about in the first film, and amplified it.  Once again, we get the big finale being a dino hybrid, instead any of the OGs (a.k.a the dinos I actually want to see.)  Again, we get more stupid, one-note villains whose grand plan is to weaponize dinosaurs, because, I don't know, they're idiots, I guess.  Claire and Owen's romantic tension was nonexistent, filled with banter that feels like it came from a different era, so we got more of that, which somehow makes the usually likable Bryce Dallas Howard obnoxious and somehow zaps half of Chris Pratt's natural charisma.  I can't think of a couple I find more dull (interestingly, I see a few interviews with them, and they actually are fun together in real life.  Is it the writing?  Or are they just not clicking on screen for some reason?)

Seriously though, I really can't think of any redeemable human characters here.  Franklin was probably the worst excuse of a "comic relief" character, and after what felt like the 20th time he screamed and freaked out, I was hoping a dino would just put him (and me) out of his misery.  Zia fared a little better, but was still mainly one note.  And the villains were the absolute worst.  It was cringing over how badly wasted Ted Levine was here (although, I hope he had fun.)  And as much as I love James Cromwell, they might as well have called his character Diet John Hammond.  I know this isn't the most important aspect of a summer blockbuster, but give me Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm any day of the week (well, to be fair, Ian was here for maybe a minute...)

Blue is still awesome.  I would be perfectly fine if the third was just her with subtitles.  Rexy can be there too.  They just be wrecking stuff, while making fun of how dumb the humans are.

But, hey, it's already made over $900 million worldwide, so what the hell do I know?  Clearly, they'll keep putting these half-ass, "Syfy quality with an A-list budget" products, as long as they keep printing money.  At least there will always be the first Jurassic Park.

[anna0852]

4 hours ago, SeanC said:

Something that size is probably realistically more of a threat to whales, etc., than humans, in terms of what it would focus on hunting.

I was thinking the same thing. In terms of threats to the Ecology of the planet the Mosasaurus needs to be dealt with the quickest. That thing will decimate ocean life very quickly. As far as land issues go, I hate to say it but they're going to need to deal with Rexy first. they might have turned her into a hero but she's going to Chomp people eventually. Ideally the dinos that got loose would eventually be rounded back up and put into Zoo exhibits the way they were before. I think trying to put them into some sort of an isolated preserve is too risky. You're going to have problems with people trying to sneak in to see them and getting hurt or killed in the process. Plus these animals are simply too dangerous to allowed to roam unmonitored. There need to be eyes on Rexy and Blue to ensure that they are not currently sampling their way through the human population.

[rmontro]

21 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Once again, we get the big finale being a dino hybrid, instead any of the OGs (a.k.a the dinos I actually want to see.)

Agreed.  Real nature is rich and varied enough that there are plenty of actual dinosaurs that are fascinating to watch and that people want to see.  There's no need to manufacture more.  At least here, there was more of a reason for it:  they used the genetic modifications to make them more willing to take direction (supposedly) as weapons.  But yeah, not a fan.

I think you're being a little rough calling this a Syfy quality flick.  I don't think I've ever seen any movies as bad as Syfy's movies.

18 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I was thinking the same thing. In terms of threats to the Ecology of the planet the Mosasaurus needs to be dealt with the quickest. That thing will decimate ocean life very quickly.

Good point, but it's also likely to be the hardest one to take out.  Talk about your invasive species!  I'm not sure anyone would even be able to find it, if it weren't for those tracking monitors installed in all the dinos.  And if it's reproduced, the game is probably over.

[anna0852]

 There are modern navies and submarines that already know how to effectively track whales and sharks for research purposes. I don't think it'll be that hard to take out the mosasaurus but they do need to do it quickly because that thing will kill far too many of what are already endangered species.

[Lantern7]

Saw this today. I liked it, though I probably need to go to theaters for movies that aren't in a franchise. Also, my mother wasn't pleased by the five seconds of Viva Las Pterodactyl (or whatever). There needs to be a ratings system for stingers . . . so people could avoid stuff like that, the goofy monster in Thor: The Dark World, Steve Rodgers all but trolling the audience in Spider-Man: Homecoming, etc.

I liked the dinosaur with the eggy head. She just loved headbutting. I get how Blue and the Indoraptor gets the attention, but there is this aggressive gal, sending auction-goers flying. And they're bidding for dinosaurs, so they're more than likely assholes and bitches.

Yeah, the people were mostly 2-D or less developed. Forgot that was BD Wong because I'm used to him playing Dr. Hugo Strange on Gotham, where he's basically 80 percent ham. I do like the idea of Maisie being a clone. Hey, that's the next step, right? And she was made with dino DNA? And yeah, we basically moved from blockbuster scene to blockbuster scene. It was still good, though. Have there been any recent movies with magma and lava?

[KaveDweller]

I just saw this. I thought it was a fun movie, but thought the end was dumb.  And I wish we'd spent more time on the island than in that estate. Taking the dinosaurs out of nature just seemed like they want the franchise to go in a whole different direction. 

But I was confused at one thing at the end...didn't they specifically show Claire not letting the T-Rex out of it's cage at the end? But then that was the T-Rex at the end with the lion, so was she actually dumb enough to free it?

[methodwriter85]

I really thought Maisy was going to be Laura Dern's daughter. I was not expecting her to a clone.

[benteen]

If they wanted more of a connection to Richard Attenborough instead of an unheard of partner (a talented actor whom they wasted) maybe they could have brought back the actors who played his grandchildren.  I know the actor who played his grandson is still acting....he was on Justified a few years ago.

[Shannon L.]

I liked the first one better.  This was ok, but there were way too many scenes of dinosaurs in peril for me to really enjoy it.  It's stupid because they aren't real, but damn if I wasn't fretting over them most of the time. 

[Mabinogia]

19 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

It's stupid because they aren't real, but damn if I wasn't fretting over them most of the time. 

I was very worried about Blue the whole time.

[theredhead77]

9 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I was very worried about Blue the whole time.

If they kill Blue (or Rexy) I'm going to riot.

[TVSpectator]

I saw this movie on opening weekend but I held back on posting my thoughts here about this film (until now) and about the direction where I see this franchise going. First I want to say that I absolutely loved Jurassic Park and it was one of the major films that shaped my childhood and I still seeing on on rewatches. Now, I am not going on a Star Wars diatribe here but overall, I have seen all 5 films in the franchise and this film is ranked second to the bottom for me (even lower than Jurassic Park III and The Lost World) but I didn't absolutely hated it but just that the way the film was written made the entire movie so dumb, in my opinion, to watch. Although I did have a better time watching this movie than Jurassic World (which is at the bottom of my list and my least favorite JP movie) only because they toned down, Owen, there was really no annoying nephews to rescue but they did have a clone girl, and also didn't have a character death like Zara's (Claire's assistant who got mercilessly murdered by the Mosasaur and also got tossed around by the Pterosaurs) in the movie. 

 

What is really striking is that I am surprised that they made everyone acted so dumb in the movie and got away with it. Mills was dumb, Lockwood was dumb, even Owen and Claire was dumb, but the dumbest one was the guy who was the lead hunter (the man hired by Mills and was played by the same actor who played Leeland on Monk and Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs) who just decided to try to take a souvenir tooth from that IndoRaptur. Also, why did they stick with the stupid idea of using dinosaurs as weapons? Overall, the movie was so dumb and I feel like each movie addition just brings the franchise down. 

 

Also, they totally overhyped Jeff Goldblum in this film because he was in it for like 2 minutes and that was it. 

[kitmerlot1213]

On 6/30/2018 at 10:37 PM, Silver Raven said:

 The ending was ridiculous.  Releasing all of those predators out into the world?  Stupid.

THIS!  So everyone is okay with the T-rex destroying buildings and bridges willy-nilly?  And all of the other dinos eating whatever people/animals or trees/bushes that it feels like?  Alrighty then :)  And what about moving the dinosaurs from soon to be destroyed by lava Isla Nublar to site b Isla Sonar that has it's own dinosaur population?

A very strange movies for a summer block-buster.

[dmeets]

I was wondering as well why they didn't just move what they could to Isla Sorna. It's been a while since I've seen JP III, they didn't destroy Site B at the end did they? I could've sworn I heard Mills mention Sorna during his proposition to Claire in the beginning of the movie but then he went on to show her a model of some other island.

And yeah, I was rolling my eyes at the ending. And at pretty much anything the little girl did. So many dumb decisions (hitting the button; running away from a killer dinosaur by jumping into your bed in the attic; outdoing even Lex Hammond in the "hey dinos, I'm over here!" screaming department) that I wondered if maybe she was a clone of a clone, like in Multiplicity.

[Bruinsfan]

The mososaurus is pretty big compared to a T-rex, but it's only the size of an adult gray whale and mostly preyed on smaller aquatic animals in coastal waters. I think the whale population would be safe; surfers less so.

Edited July 12, 2018 by Bruinsfan

[Raja]

8 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

The mososaurus is pretty big compared to a T-rex, but it's only the size of an adult gray whale and mostly preyed on smaller aquatic animals in coastal waters. I think the whale population would be safe; surfers less so.

It may be that size but the behavior we watched made it look more like a orca or great white shark in feeding habits and not a grey whale, blue whale or whale shark

[Bruinsfan]

Right, I'm not saying that it's a passive balleen feeder, just that it's not likely to attack animals its own size when it's much less risky to go after smaller prey.

It's also just one animal. Sharks managed to survive just fine when the oceans were full of those things, so I don't think it would be having a drastic ecological impact (not so comforting for anything it happens to run across in the water, though).

[Robert Lynch]

Is the ending suggesting another Planet of The Apes moment or something?

[Raja]

38 minutes ago, Robert Lynch said:

Is the ending suggesting another Planet of The Apes moment or something?

That seemed to be the intent to me.

[Black Knight]

On 6/27/2018 at 9:20 PM, Proclone said:

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.

She couldn't help that she was wearing heels, but all she needed to do was break the heels off, effectively turning her shoes into flats. It would have taken five seconds. After Owen's criticism she took the time to fix her clothes but not her shoes? No. That was ridiculous. In the mid-90s on the soap Another World, a couple in fancy dress were kidnapped and left in a forest to die. The woman briefly tried to walk in her high heels and realized she'd break an ankle quickly, so they knocked the heels off her shoes. Soap opera. In the mid-90s. So yeah, I expect more intelligence in regards to this point even in a silly popcorn flick, and I was amused by the shot of Claire's boots here, a meta acknowledgment of the mistake in the previous film.

Having just come back from seeing the movie, my verdict is also "meh." I enjoyed JW a lot more, and of course the original JP is still the best. I will give the third a try though. I do understand why they have to move on from the park, although the house setting didn't feel entirely successful as a viable replacement. Maybe watching dinos tear up Vegas will be different.

[Proclone]

53 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

She couldn't help that she was wearing heels, but all she needed to do was break the heels off, effectively turning her shoes into flats. It would have taken five seconds. After Owen's criticism she took the time to fix her clothes but not her shoes? No. That was ridiculous. In the mid-90s on the soap Another World, a couple in fancy dress were kidnapped and left in a forest to die. The woman briefly tried to walk in her high heels and realized she'd break an ankle quickly, so they knocked the heels off her shoes. Soap opera. In the mid-90s. So yeah, I expect more intelligence in regards to this point even in a silly popcorn flick, and I was amused by the shot of Claire's boots here, a meta acknowledgment of the mistake in the previous film.

Having just come back from seeing the movie, my verdict is also "meh." I enjoyed JW a lot more, and of course the original JP is still the best. I will give the third a try though. I do understand why they have to move on from the park, although the house setting didn't feel entirely successful as a viable replacement. Maybe watching dinos tear up Vegas will be different.

That's not really how most high heeled shoes work, they're designed to have a heel.  Breaking the heel off would make them more awkward to walk around in, not less, at least in my experience.  And walking around barefoot in the jungle or even in the park (where I'm sure there were broken glass and other debris) isn't really an option or at least not a good one .  She happened to be wearing heels when all hell broke loose, she kept them on and got around perfectly fine.  The fact that it was made such an issue annoys me in general, and I find it more than a little sexist.  

Who cares what was on her feet?  Was it hindering her in any way?  Was she whining about them?  No, the answer is no.  I know plenty of women who wear heels daily and actually find them more comfortable than flats, so Claire being able to run around in heels doesn't seem unrealistic (and the shoes she were wearing weren't exactly four-inch stilettos).  Why do the conversations about her have to be about what was on her feet, and not what she did?  Why don't we talk about how brave it is to let a T-Rex chase you, rather than she did it in heels?  In a movie about dinosaurs running amuck and the government wanting to use dangerous predators as soldiers, a woman running in heels is what is beyond the pale in terms of being unrealistic? I walked out of JW with a ton of nit-picky problems, Claire's shoes were not in the top ten of them. And for the record obviously, Bryce Dallas Howard actually did run in heels (She wasn't CGI in the shot) albeit without the T-Rex, so it's obviously not impossible.

The shot of her boots has shades of, "At least she's not dumb enough to wear heels this time," which I found irksome, YMMV.  If they were going to address it I would have preferred if Claire herself making a joke, "At least I'm not stuck wearing heels this time, do you have any idea the kind of blisters I got?" or something to that effect.

[Black Knight]

14 hours ago, Proclone said:

That's not really how most high heeled shoes work, they're designed to have a heel.  Breaking the heel off would make them more awkward to walk around in, not less, at least in my experience.  And walking around barefoot in the jungle or even in the park (where I'm sure there were broken glass and other debris) isn't really an option or at least not a good one .  She happened to be wearing heels when all hell broke loose, she kept them on and got around perfectly fine.  The fact that it was made such an issue annoys me in general, and I find it more than a little sexist.  

Who cares what was on her feet?  Was it hindering her in any way?  Was she whining about them?  No, the answer is no.  I know plenty of women who wear heels daily and actually find them more comfortable than flats, so Claire being able to run around in heels doesn't seem unrealistic (and the shoes she were wearing weren't exactly four-inch stilettos).  Why do the conversations about her have to be about what was on her feet, and not what she did?  Why don't we talk about how brave it is to let a T-Rex chase you, rather than she did it in heels?  In a movie about dinosaurs running amuck and the government wanting to use dangerous predators as soldiers, a woman running in heels is what is beyond the pale in terms of being unrealistic? I walked out of JW with a ton of nit-picky problems, Claire's shoes were not in the top ten of them. And for the record obviously, Bryce Dallas Howard actually did run in heels (She wasn't CGI in the shot) albeit without the T-Rex, so it's obviously not impossible.

Because she was in the forest. It's dumb. If all the scenes of her after the crisis started had taken place strictly in the buildings/streets of the theme park where the ground was always flat, then I wouldn't have had a problem with it. In that type of surroundings, women can certainly run in high heels, so the later T-Rex scene wasn't an issue for me. She was running on concrete there. But people can easily roll, sprain or break their ankles in the woods even when walking at a leisurely pace on at least somewhat defined trails in more appropriate footgear. The fact that she didn't while needing to scramble around the woods off-trail was eye-rolling, when the only reason they had her keep her heels as heels for the woods was because they wanted to objectify Claire sexually. It's much like when fictional women warriors are made to wear skimpy armor that provides no real protection, just to provide eye candy. Bryce Dallas Howard is an attractive woman. They don't need to make the Claire character wear heels in the woods for her to be attractive. It's the (thankfully somewhat fading) attitude that they'll allow a woman to be badass only if she still fits into stereotypical or bimbo-y feminine wear while doing so.

I didn't see the shot of her boots in this movie as a direct attack on Claire as you do; I saw it as an attack on the previous film's decisionmakers who chose to have her keep her heels as heels in the woods because of a mentality that women have to wear high heels to be attractive. I wear high heels infrequently, but other women do regularly and are quite skilled in moving around and that's fine (except for when they overwear them - what you said about some finding high heels more comfortable than flats is actually a bad sign of over-wearing, because it means they've worn high heels so much that their tendons have tightened up to the point that they can no longer stretch to a normal length. That's going to create issues when they're older and develop the typical balance issues of the elderly, which will preclude them continuing to wear high heels). But no matter how good someone is at wearing high heels they are not and never will be something that you can wear outside in a frigging forest. Anyone who has spent time hiking in a forest would know that a high-heel-converted-to-flat, even if still somewhat awkward since it wasn't designed to be a flat, is still better than wearing a shoe that tapers to a point on one end.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Black Knight

[Proclone]

45 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

Because she was in the forest. It's dumb. If all the scenes of her after the crisis started had taken place strictly in the buildings/streets of the theme park where the ground was always flat, then I wouldn't have had a problem with it. In that type of surroundings, women can certainly run in high heels, so the later T-Rex scene wasn't an issue for me. She was running on concrete there. But people can easily roll, sprain or break their ankles in the woods even when walking at a leisurely pace on at least somewhat defined trails in more appropriate footgear. The fact that she didn't while needing to scramble around the woods off-trail was eye-rolling, when the only reason they had her keep her heels as heels for the woods was because they wanted to objectify Claire sexually. It's much like when fictional women warriors are made to wear skimpy armor that provides no real protection, just to provide eye candy. Bryce Dallas Howard is an attractive woman. They don't need to make the Claire character wear heels in the woods for her to be attractive. It's the (thankfully somewhat fading) attitude that they'll allow a woman to be badass only if she still fits into stereotypical or bimbo-y feminine wear while doing so.

I didn't see the shot of her boots in this movie as a direct attack on Claire as you do; I saw it as an attack on the previous film's decisionmakers who chose to have her keep her heels as heels in the woods because of a mentality that women have to wear high heels to be attractive. I wear high heels infrequently, but other women do regularly and are quite skilled in moving around and that's fine (except for when they overwear them - what you said about some finding high heels more comfortable than flats is actually a bad sign of over-wearing, because it means they've worn high heels so much that their tendons have tightened up to the point that they can no longer stretch to a normal length. That's going to create issues when they're older and develop the typical balance issues of the elderly, which will preclude them continuing to wear high heels). But no matter how good someone is at wearing high heels they are not and never will be something that you can wear outside in a frigging forest. Anyone who has spent time hiking in a forest would know that a high-heel-converted-to-flat, even if still somewhat awkward since it wasn't designed to be a flat, is still better than wearing a shoe that tapers to a point on one end.

4

YMMV, but I'd find it dumber if she ran around the jungle barefoot was wound up with her feet unscathed.  I didn't get the vibe that Claire was being objectified from the first one.  She seemed like she was dressed like someone who worked in the corporate world and happened to be dressed for work when everything went to crap.  As I said she's not wearing four-inch stilettos.   The reaction to how she was dressed, on the other hand, I found very sexist generally.  It's not that I think running around in heels is super practical or realistic, it's that there are a hundred other bigger issues with JW and people like to fixate on a tiny aspect of a female character, that I find to be rather sexist.  I don't hear a whole lot of commentary on how Owen realistic it would be for an animal behaviorist to also be a former Navy Seal.  Especially given Owen's age and how long it takes to become a Seal and how much schooling he would need to become an animal behaviorist working for a major corporation.  There are huge nits to be picked with both of these movies, the fact that Claire's footwear is the one that gets brought up the most makes me roll my eyes.  

I would buy the shot of the boots as a shot at the previous movie's decision makers if they weren't generally the same people in charge of this movie.  Trevorrow didn't direct but he was a producer, and I believe involved in the script (or at least the story).  I also think it bothers me because it's essentially the same shot that introduced Claire in JW.  So the implication is that they are showing how the character is different or has grown from the first one, and I don't know what they were actually trying to say by that, but what I took was, "Hey, look she's smarter this time, no heels."  Even if it is meant to be meta-commentary on the first one, I still think it's playing to those people who focused on the issue in the first place.

Some of my biggest issues with JW and even more so in this one is the disconnect between what Claire actually does and how she's presented, of which the whole shoe thing is just a symptom.  She doesn't generally do stupid things, but she's kind of presented as a character that you assume is going to do stupid things.  I didn't mind in the first one as much because it served to subvert expectations about her character.  You assume the woman running around in heels in the jungle is going to be useless, but she's not.  In this movie, on the other hand, we already know she's not useless or stupid your not subverting anything, you're just telling us what we already know.  Which makes it unnecessary in my book at best.  It also frustrates me that they wrote at least a potentially (I think the characterization of all character is lacking in these movies) interesting, female character who smart, capable and brave, but they don't actually treat her like she is smart, capable or brave.

And yes for the record, I do realize that if you are more comfortable in heels than flats you have shortened your Achilles tendon.  That doesn't mean it's uncommon in women who wear heels daily.  And as someone who can barely walk in heels on a good day, I still don't think I would want to walk around anywhere in heels that have been converted to flats by breaking the heel off.  Depending on how flexible the sole was you'd have to wind up walking on the balls of your feet anyway (or walk with your toes flexed) only without the heel to support you.

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 6/22/2018 at 9:50 PM, theredhead77 said:

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

This is why I watch these movies.

On 6/22/2018 at 9:50 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

Agree. But I call her Queenie!

On 6/22/2018 at 9:50 PM, theredhead77 said:

 

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.

I was tense and also cried--even for the monstrous dinosaurs. This was NOT the movie I expected to see and whoever the fuck wrote and directed it, can just FUCK OFF.

Went to see it last night with my brother, and we both agreed that the beginning, with the volcano erupting and everyone trying to escape, running, looked more like it should have been the END of the movie instead of the beginning.

Franklin annoyed me. Here he is, telling Claire that he believes in saving these beings, yet all he can do during most of the movie is asking hopefully if Queenie is dead. Or that he's so scared (understandable), but he doesn't act like he cares if they live.

This was more like a horror movie than a dinosaur movie. And it was only in a few spots that the dinosaurs fucked shit up. I didn't care for the slimy businessman being a murderer of another stoopid hooman, Even if I like James Cameron. RETCON CITY!

Though I should have posted this first, but here it goes: QUEENIE TO THE RESCUE!!!!! Not once, but twice here! You can always depend on Queenie. But that begs the question, since this new iteration is supposed to be in the same universe as the original, where are Papa T-Rex and Baby T-Rex from The Lost World? You know, how Queenie and Papa shoved and pushed that trailer/RV over the cliff for hurting their baby? I don't recall seeing Papa or baby dying, and I just rewatched the first three on cable.

For me, the first one will ALWAYS be the BEST. Followed by the second, even if Sam Neill wasn't in it. But the third? The one with Willliam Macy and Tea? And where Sam returned? Is the WORST. Followed closely by this one.

Only Queenie and the one who butted its head allowing Owen and Claire to escape, and yes, the Indoraptor faking being trank'd provided the only time I actually laughed.

Watching the lava pour down and kill the ones left on the island made me cry and rage. And it also reminded me of that film I saw in school--the one whose title I still can't remember. I do remember the end of that film showing how the dinosaurs became extinct and died--the Earth got really hot, water was scarce, they all fell down in the sand, while lava poured down. Was that in Fantasia? Or just the T-Rex and Stego fight? I still haven't heard back from my teacher whose class I was in about the title. Dammit.

[Mabinogia]

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Watching the lava pour down and kill the ones left on the island made me cry and rage.

If that had been the ending of the movie I would have had to sit in my seat embarrassingly wiping snot and tears off my face because I was a wreck. I have a soft spot for animals humans have screwed around with for our amusement. We bring these poor things back to life only to leave them to go extinct all over again. (only we did save some to be used as weapons.)

I could have done without the weapon storyline and just had it be Claire and Owen and their little team trying to get someone to care enough about the dinos to save them from the impending volcano with evil humanity asking "what is in it for us?" With the above scene as the end scene I would have been gutted but in a good, powerful way. Instead I left thinking "fuck people, they suck. I hope the next movie is the dino's extincting our asses."

[dmeets]

5 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Though I should have posted this first, but here it goes: QUEENIE TO THE RESCUE!!!!! Not once, but twice here! You can always depend on Queenie. But that begs the question, since this new iteration is supposed to be in the same universe as the original, where are Papa T-Rex and Baby T-Rex from The Lost World? You know, how Queenie and Papa shoved and pushed that trailer/RV over the cliff for hurting their baby? I don't recall seeing Papa or baby dying, and I just rewatched the first three on cable.

While Jurassic Park and Jurassic World take place on one island (Isla Nublar), Lost World and JP3 took place on Site B (Isla Sorna), so those were different dinos including Mama. As far as I recall there was no island transferring of the animals, so the T-Rex from the original movie wasn't seen again until Jurassic World. I don't think there was an explanation given in the past two movies on what became of Sorna and its inhabitants, or if there was then I missed it.

[BetterButter]

[Lantern7]

Well, when Epic Voice Guy puts it like that . . . yeah, it was a dumb movie.

Heh. “Billy Quizboy.”

[Bill1978]

That Honest Trailer reminded me of all the eye rolls I performed while watching this movie And I didn't eye roll once in the previous four. That's when I knew this movie wasn't the Jurassic movies I loved.

Edited September 20, 2018 by Bill1978

[HunterHunted]

[Morrigan2575]

5 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Well, when Epic Voice Guy puts it like that . . . yeah, it was a dumb movie.

Heh. “Billy Quizboy.”

Hishe did a great recap of the stupid plot too.

ETA just noticed @HunterHunted beat me to it.

Edited September 18, 2018 by Morrigan2575

[Anela]

On 7/30/2018 at 12:22 PM, Mabinogia said:

If that had been the ending of the movie I would have had to sit in my seat embarrassingly wiping snot and tears off my face because I was a wreck. I have a soft spot for animals humans have screwed around with for our amusement. We bring these poor things back to life only to leave them to go extinct all over again. (only we did save some to be used as weapons.)

I could have done without the weapon storyline and just had it be Claire and Owen and their little team trying to get someone to care enough about the dinos to save them from the impending volcano with evil humanity asking "what is in it for us?" With the above scene as the end scene I would have been gutted but in a good, powerful way. Instead I left thinking "fuck people, they suck. I hope the next movie is the dino's extincting our asses."

A friend of mine watched the movie, over the weekend, and she posted on FB that she didn't like it, that it was too upsetting. I still haven't seen it, but I remembered the posts here, when I saw hers.

[WritinMan]

Well, that was a big, loud, repetitive bag of meh.

If they are making another one, they need to do something different with this franchise. I'm hoping the released dinosaurs leads to some sort of a dinosaurs-in-charge/post-apocalyptic sort of thing.

[Lugal]

I remember reading a book many years ago that was a sequel to Conan-Doyle's Lost World, where they brought back so many dinosaurs from South America that every two bit circus has one to the point that dinosaurs were just part of the world and everyone was bored with them.

Which is kind of how this franchise is going.