Here are my thoughts on the latest iteration of Jurassic Park.
1) The product placement is too prominent. Not Transformers prominent but still eye sore level of obvious. Did I want to buy a Ford Explorer after seeing PJ in 1993? Yes. Absolutely, but after the initial shot of the logo on the back I never thought about the car again.
2) Too many people. The movie follows two separate groups of people and none of them are interesting. Weekly Planet (link below) made a good point. In the first movie all the people were interesting and having important discussions. In Matteo Lane's podcast (link below) his co-host Nick also points out that the characters in the new movie talk about their pasts but we the audience have no connection to so I can't empathize with anything. And the family we're following, nothing likable about any of them.
3) Weird use of the song "Stand By Me" Trevor. I do not know how that added anything to the scene.
4) How did Dr. Bridgeton keep his glasses the whole time? Not possible. Missed opportunity if you ask me, could have gotten some tension out of him not being able to see things clearly.
5) This franchise is suffering from Star Wars Syndrome. Every installment has to regurgitate the iconic moments from the first movie. Be in awe of these majestic creatures, DNA abomination, and heart stopping cat and mouse hiding from a monster behind a thing being the most popular motifs. Maybe they think they're paying homage or doing a call back but really it's just lazy. Give the audience something they haven't seen before. Please.
6) Boring. All the talking about situations we have no connection with is a big part of that. There is a lot of talking but nothing is being said. Plus I think after six other movies we, like the NPCs in this movie, are used to dinosaurs now and are pretty much over them.
Conclusion: Despite what I've said, it's not a bad movie. It's just not a good movie. It's better than the last one (Dominion.) Jurassic Park is still the best one in the series. A sequel was never needed. All the rest of the iterations are a waste of studio money and our time. Trying to capture the magic of Steven Spielberg's original is simply not possible.
Here are some other opinions. I agree with most of the statements in these takes and the two podcasts are great fun.
1) The product placement is too prominent. Not Transformers prominent but still eye sore level of obvious. Did I want to buy a Ford Explorer after seeing PJ in 1993? Yes. Absolutely, but after the initial shot of the logo on the back I never thought about the car again.
2) Too many people. The movie follows two separate groups of people and none of them are interesting. Weekly Planet (link below) made a good point. In the first movie all the people were interesting and having important discussions. In Matteo Lane's podcast (link below) his co-host Nick also points out that the characters in the new movie talk about their pasts but we the audience have no connection to so I can't empathize with anything. And the family we're following, nothing likable about any of them.
3) Weird use of the song "Stand By Me" Trevor. I do not know how that added anything to the scene.
4) How did Dr. Bridgeton keep his glasses the whole time? Not possible. Missed opportunity if you ask me, could have gotten some tension out of him not being able to see things clearly.
5) This franchise is suffering from Star Wars Syndrome. Every installment has to regurgitate the iconic moments from the first movie. Be in awe of these majestic creatures, DNA abomination, and heart stopping cat and mouse hiding from a monster behind a thing being the most popular motifs. Maybe they think they're paying homage or doing a call back but really it's just lazy. Give the audience something they haven't seen before. Please.
6) Boring. All the talking about situations we have no connection with is a big part of that. There is a lot of talking but nothing is being said. Plus I think after six other movies we, like the NPCs in this movie, are used to dinosaurs now and are pretty much over them.
Conclusion: Despite what I've said, it's not a bad movie. It's just not a good movie. It's better than the last one (Dominion.) Jurassic Park is still the best one in the series. A sequel was never needed. All the rest of the iterations are a waste of studio money and our time. Trying to capture the magic of Steven Spielberg's original is simply not possible.
Here are some other opinions. I agree with most of the statements in these takes and the two podcasts are great fun.
- USA Today article - I'm done with dinosaur movies.
- Weekly Planet podcast review
- I Never Liked You podcast review - I laughed out loud several times
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