JURASSIC WORLD - What's Behind Padlock 9? A Bad Movie

[mkaroly]

Boy...that basically looks like JURASSIC PARK I and II (with a Julianne Moore lookalike) stitched together. Nothin new here...moving on.

[TomServo]

Boy...that basically looks like JURASSIC PARK I and II (with a Julianne Moore lookalike) stitched together. Nothin new here...moving on.

Well, I mean, what do you expect? Any movie in the series will eventually involving running from dinosaurs, right? I think it's pretty neat that we'll see a fully functioning park and entire tourist population in danger from dinos on the rampage.

[Monterey Jack]

-Jurassic Park: A-

-The Lost World: C+

-Jurassic Park III: D+

The downward trend of this franchise seems irreparable at this point. Who exactly was asking for another one of these anyways?

[mkaroly]

Boy...that basically looks like JURASSIC PARK I and II (with a Julianne Moore lookalike) stitched together. Nothin new here...moving on.

Well, I mean, what do you expect? Any movie in the series will eventually involving running from dinosaurs, right? I think it's pretty neat that we'll see a fully functioning park and entire tourist population in danger from dinos on the rampage.

For me personally, there is nothing in that trailer that makes me feel like this will be something different than the other four; there was nothing "unique" about it to me. Maybe it will be a smash hit - who knows? But that entire trailer I kept thinking that I had seen these scenes in the other films. Even seeing the dinosaur leaping out of the water a la a seal or Killer Whale in Sea World (old school...lol...) didn't grab me as "unique" enough to want to see it. Maybe I don't understand why a fourth film is needed, and it isn't just the fact that people get chased by dinosaurs either - that's a given (just like people will get chased by Aliens in the ALIEN movies). As Charlton Heston said in TRUE LIES (to paraphrase), this movie trailer isn't exactly blowing wind up my skirt. Lol...something like that anyway.

Contra MJ, I enjoyed III more than II, but the first one is the best.

[AndyDursin]

MJ hates III but I think it's a huge improvement over Lost World which I'd rank as one of Spielbergs worst.

As for this one I admit tracking it with Zimmer Dark Knight whatever ruins the mood. Plus the effects appear incredibly cartoonish...add in the cast and it nearly looks like a Syfy Channel film to me. Hopefully it will be better than it appears but it's not an encouraging sign when you can't put a solid 2.5 minute trailer together.

Plus Giacchino....blech.

[Monterey Jack]

MJ hates III but I think it's a huge improvement over Lost World which I'd rank as one of Spielbergs worst.

I'll just leave this here... ("Alan...!")

[AndyDursin]

I will take JP III's lean, 90 minute running time (something you usually laud about ANY film) and obvious affection Joe Johnston has for the material over:

a. Power Rangers Raptor Scene...one of the singular worst moments in any Spielberg picture
b. Jeff Goldblum's utter fail as a leading man
c. Horrendous script with the tacked-on "Mainland" final act that felt grafted on at the last minute
d. Pete Postelthwaite's character literally announcing he was leaving the film (have never gotten over that one)
e. Preachy "environmental" BS with Attenborough being interviewed by CNN at the finale
f. Julianne Moore's total suckage as the heroine
g. Bloated running time
h. One of John Williams' most forgettable scores for a Spielberg "blockbuster"

In all honesty, Spielberg should be ashamed of THE LOST WORLD. It's an obvious precursor to the laziness of KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL in its total lack of inspiration and seeming disinterest on Spielberg's behalf. The movie is close to a mess on every level script-wise. Given that JP's script was its weakest element, how this wasn't corrected in THE LOST WORLD was, and remains, baffling to me.

Much like T3 in relation to T2, JP III is like a B-movie with A-grade effects, dumping all the pretentiousness of its predecessor and concentrating on telling a simple, straight-ahead story with solid set-pieces. The film is flawed and the very end is a fizzle, but I was thoroughly entertained by the rest of it. And Sam Neill is much better in the film than he was in the first JURASSIC PARK -- much more confident and relaxed. A much more appealing film, in every facet, than THE LOST WORLD. '

Anyway we've had the conversation before -- I'm just recapping for everyone else. lol

[mkaroly]

Lol...Andy, I wholeheartedly agree with you about TLW. It is, for my money, the worst...Spielberg...film...EVER! (in Comic Book Guy voice). I almost walked outy of the theater when the little girl did the gymnastic moves and managed to knock a Velociraptor off a tree. Ridiculous...unfortunately I was with people so I had to stay.

[AndyDursin]

Super Bowl spot gives a much clearer indication of the plot at least:

[AndyDursin]

I'm definitely going to see this, but I honestly don't have any more confidence in it than I did when it was first announced. And the more I see of Bryce Dallas Howard, she really looks out of her element here. Couldn't they have gotten anyone else?

Can't wait for Giacchino's score though, that's sure to be the ace in the hole.

[AndyDursin]

Starting to get the feeling they're trying to hide something. No critic screenings yet scheduled with the release date 2 weeks out. While not unusual, Lou Lemenick at the NY Post confirmed to me it's typical for a trailer that's not well received...

[Monterey Jack]

I have the feeling they're really pulling for the Nostalgia Factor with this one, i.e. people who are about five/ten years younger than us for whom Jurassic Park was their own personal Star Wars in terms of cultural impact. For anyone who was around 20 when the first came out, the CGI effects did have an amazing effect, but overall the film didn't have enough in terms of characterization or novelty (it was basically just a reskinned Westworld) to really generate a compelling reason for sequels aside from sheer monetary gain. The Lost World was Spielberg at his most Let Them Eat Twinkies lazy, and Jurassic Park III was horrendous, and I remember the trailers for that getting zero reaction when I saw them in theaters (aside from a kind of blasé "What, another one?" shrug, and that was only eight years removed from the original!). Truth is, you take away the novelty of the visual effects -- which truly were something that had never been done at the time -- and Jurassic Park is revealed as what it was all along...a well-oiled thrill machine with stock characterizations and a thin storyline that's just an excuse for the occasional setpiece. It's certainly no Jaws, which had characters that lived and breathed outside of the narrative devices of the plot and that you truly cared for (there's nothing in JP that comes close to the scene where Brody sees his son imitating his actions at the dinner table, or Quint's haunting Indianapolis speech). The best I'm hoping for with Jurassic World is that it offers a few decent, cheap thrills and characters who don't make me want to gouge my eyes and eardrums out like Tea Leoni in JP III.

[AndyDursin]

Here's some Michael Giacchino, presumably for the very end of the film. Predictably uses the Williams theme for several seconds before seguing into bland, boring "original material" aping LOST or any other scores he's written.

Please tell me WHAT, outside of him not being a Zimmer disciple, there is to be excited about with this guy?

[AndyDursin]

Screenings are apparently this week, but the embargo is going to be lifted on Wed the 10th, basically 1 day before it opens. Can't be a sign of confidence there. Hopefully some anonymous reviews will be up before then.

Director Colin Trevrrow has also stated he's NOT coming back for another one. Maybe we'll be thankful for that (lol)

[Monterey Jack]

I've always wondered what the point is in embargoing reviews for movies, considering that most people see the latest blockbuster sequel, prequel or remake regardless of what the critics have to say. They made eight Friday The 13th movies back in the 80's, and it didn't matter that each one was drubbed by critics...horror audiences came out in droves for all of them.