To be honest, I really wasn’t excited to see this movie. I’m a huge fan of dinosaurs and the Jurassic Park franchise but to me this movie seemed like pointless and unnecessary add on to an already completed trilogy. But I went along, and this is what I thought …

SPOILERS!

The Good:

• Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs! There so many in this movie. I especially like the mini triceratops that the kids could ride – ala pony rides at the fair. I can not fault any of the dinosaur special effects and/or any puppeteering that may have been used. Just like the Jurassic Park movies, it looks pretty damn believable!
• The nods to the Jurassic Park movies were a nice touch – included in the music, past sets/props, character reappearance, the T-Rex smashing through the skeleton and mentioning of the park itself. I thought the movies were going to be unrelated but I like how the people were aware of the park and its failings.
• The “relationship” between Lowery and Vivian. Funny stuff!
• I enjoyed the relationship storyline of Claire and her two nephews – although a tad cliche.
• Chris Pratt is amazing! He’s all the comedic, caring and good-looking hero every movie like this needs.
• The dinosaur is smart and it camouflages. That’s kind of cool! As is the park itself. I’d visit the park if it were real. Also, nice use of holograms!

The Bad:

• It seems kind of ridiculous that Claire (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) would run around the jungle in heels throughout the movie. I understand that she may not have had a choice but it’s really difficult to walk on mud and dirt in heels – you sink. Her shoes were perfectly clean and nude towards the end of the movie. Also, you can’t tell me that if you were running for your life from a T-Rex, you wouldn’t just kick off your heels? Please. I know a lot of people can run in heels – myself included – but if I was being chased, there’s no way I’d keep my heels on!
• Also did anyone notice that when she and Owen (Chris Pratt) were running for their lives in numerous scenes that it was shot from knee up? Methinks she changed to sneakers!
• The bit about using dinosaurs as soldiers during war is such a ridiculous idea. A dinosaur can’t tell the difference between those who are good vs those who are bad. Does Hoskins (played by Vincent D’Onofrio) want Owen to be around with his light in battle? Yes, at the end of the movie we see that it kind of works – but seriously though, what a stupid idea! I’m glad he was eaten.
• No Sam Neill eye candy was a big miss for me. Sam makes the movies. The movie needed him. Instead Sam’s expertise is replaced by a “boy genius” called Gray (played by Ty Simpkins) – didn’t they try the whole “boy genius” thing in Jurassic Park III (which I actually loved, go figure). And then we have him paired up with his horny older bro (Zach – played by Nick Robinson) who would rather be off chasing tail than spending time in a lame park with his little brother. Way to hit on early girl you see when your girlfriend is waiting at home. Classy.
• Also, pretty convenient that the kids new how to fix a car that had been abandoned in the jungle 20 odd years ago.
• It’s just a tad cliche that Lowery would stay behind and be there to help when he’s needed.
• I’ve never been good with watching movies where animals kill animals – or people killing animals. I’m all for people getting killed because I think we’re not as traumatized by that when we watch movies than we are with animals. But that big bad dinosaur killing for sport really got to me. When that bronto (I think it was a bronto) lay dying, I just couldn’t watch. It was heartbreaking. I haven’t felt this emotionally connected to an animal dying since the ant in Honey I Shrunk The Kids!
• Jimmy Fallon – oh god why?!
• So they have this all powerful dinosaur and yet it dies by being eaten by the big bad dinosaur in the water. Well that’s luck for you!
• Owen sending his raptors in to fight and most of them losing their lives. That made me so sad.

Verdict:

So all up, it’s not a bad movie. In fact it does everything right. If the Jurassic Park movies hadn’t been made earlier I probably would have enjoyed this movie better. The whole concept or idea behind this movie is genetically modifying a dinosaur to be more spectacular because people are no longer surprised or wowed by living dinosaurs anymore. If you can believe that because dinosaurs are clearly awesome! I liken it to koalas. I’ve seen them hundreds of times at the zoo and yet I still get excited to see them.

It’s probably is that it just can’t live up to what Jurassic Park was and its characters. My heart belongs to someone else. This movie does a lot of things right but it also does a few things that are predictable and lame – but that’s Hollywood for you. If it were real life the kids would probably have been eaten and Claire would kick off her heels.

I liked it for what I thought I would. I disliked it for the reasons I thought I would too. If you think you’ll like it, then you probably will. If you’re not interested, then skip it =D