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CinemaSins Movie Reviews
Bringing back dinosaurs and other prehistoric predators. What could possibly go wrong?
Okay, let me get the complaints out of the way right now. Firstly, Mr. Otter and I (especially Mr. Otter) love dinosaurs. I mean, we LOVE DINOSAURS. Even I, who am not nearly as steeped in their lore, know a fair amount about them, and Mr. Otter is really savvy on the subject. So we were in line to see Jurassic Park on the day it opened, which is not something we do very often. And we loved it.
The sequels? not so much, Serious Honey Jeff Goldblum notwithstanding.
When we saw that there was yet another JP movie coming out, we rolled our eyes but said, of course we’ll have to go. And we did. Okay.
Secondly, they are beating this into the ground. Granted, this one was better than JP 2 or 3, for sure. Better special effects, better writing, more humor without slapstick, cooler prehistoric beasties. But how many times can you find a reason for dinosaurs to run amuck and kill a lot of people without getting into Friday the 13th franchise land?
Thirdly, the sense of wonder is gone gone gone, just like the said prehistoric beasts. I remember what it felt like, watching JP and seeing Sam Neill and Laura Dern get out of their little car and SEE REAL DINOSAURS for the first time ever. It was one of the most amazing movie moments of my life. And in among the havoc and suspense and running and bloodshed, the sense of wonder and awe at these amazing animals was there. This is not the case in JP2, 3 or this movie.
Fourthly, my suspension of disbelief took a nosedive when I found out that the premise for this movie was that it takes place in a time after JP 1,2 and 3- so DESPITE THREE INSTANCES of resurrected dinosaurs going ballistic and killing everyone they could, the people in this movie were not only stupid enough to keep this park open, stupid enough to PAY MONEY TO COME TO IT, but also the parkgoers are so blase that attendance is declining so the scientists decide to genetically alter T-Rex to be even MORE scary and smart…again, what could possibly go wrong?
Seriously, this was ridiculous. The plot was ludicrous, there was a lot of stuff that just couldn’t happen (pterosaurs picking up people?) and we rolled our eyes all the way through it.
Having said that, it was a funny, fast moving plot and Chris Pratt is cute as a box full of puppy dogs. If that’s enough for you, go for it, you’ll love it. But we Chez Rees have higher standards.
Until they come out with the next damn Jurassic Park movie spawn…then (sigh) we’ll be there in the audience too.
theotterlimits 