This is the first time I'm dealing with depression without you

I'm terrified.

God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates Man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs. Dinosaurs eat Man. Chris Pratt inherits the earth.

Jurassic World (2015)

7.6/10 on IMDb
70% on Rotten Tomatoes
THE PARK IS OPEN!

And actually has been for quite some time already, so our easily-bored Gen Z kids aren't really excited about it anymore. In fact, ticket sales have been steadily decreasing, and so corporate has decided that they need to up the ante and bring in a new attraction.

Bring in the Indominus Rex: a hybrid dinosaur that is not only terrifyingly terrifying, but also incredibly clever. So clever, that it, surprise surprise, outsmarts the humans and wreaks havoc on the park. I'm sure Ian Malcolm thought the same thing when he heard of the park re-opening: When will these people ever learn?

Other than the obvious, this film is pretty good. It's a good, enjoyable movie that I would say is worth the watch in theatres.

It's definitely better than Jurassic Park III, and heaps heaps better than The Lost World: Jurassic Park, but still (obviously) can't compare to the original one-and-only Jurassic Park.

In fact, if you haven't seen it already, do yourselves a favour and watch Jurassic Park on the biggest screen you can get your hands on (not a computer/laptop please; I know I always say this and I always sound like a complete grandma but come on, respect the film). Appreciate the CGI for what it was back in 1993 and appreciate how it still holds up in 2015!! Appreciate the magic of John Williams' soundtrack when you first see the dinosaurs. APPRECIATE IT!

Speaking of the magic of John Williams, this film has done the impossible: it made me disappointed when listening to the Jurassic Park Theme. It's not that the music wasn't good; I still had tingles when it reached its climax and I was still so amazed by the score, but the thing is... they completely wasted it! In Jurassic Park, the theme song comes at this magical moment where we first see the dinosaurs. It's beautiful. In Jurassic World, they played it when they were introducing the theme park, but there were no dinosaurs in sight! And it went on for so long! I thought surely it's going to come soon, the Brontosaurus and the Triceratops are going to come in and everything will be right again, but I was SO WRONG!

It was actually really disappointing.

~SPOILER: How I would change the beginning of the film
(It still includes plot arcs of the film so it falls under spoilers)

I feel like what they should have done was to just stick with the lab people in the beginning, then go straight to Jurassic World. While they introduce Jurassic World, they do it WITH THE DINOSAURS so that the epic theme has some epic scenes to accompany it. Then, while they are still introducing the theme park, they introduce the two kids, so that they are already in the theme park when we meet them. That way, we don't have to see any of these family issues and the divorce nonsense that becomes completely irrelevant. Then you can establish that Claire is their aunt through a simple phone call between her and the British chaperone.

It might be argued that the kids are not necessary, but if you look at it:
1) All Jurassic Park films have had kids in the main cast, whether for good or for bad
2) It's a family movie; it needs kids
3) They needed to show Claire's character growth, and it's a good homage to Dr Grant's in Jurassic Park
4) They needed an excuse to have some good, magical and positive scenes of the dinosaurs before the Indominus Rex becomes a killjoy

Other than that, though, the film was really enjoyable.

There have been three Jurassic Park films before, so you know what the plot is going to be like, you know how the film will play out, and you know that these people will not learn anything. However, the way they introduced some new elements was pretty good.

Chris Pratt was great in this, like you can't see him as the wise-cracking Star Lord in here and he does a really good job with his character, Owen. In fact, I can actually see him as Indiana Jones now.

Bryce Dallas Howard was great too but man oh man those heels are cray! Like in her interview with Clevver Movies, she said she had to specifically train her ankles so that she could run in heels to do this!

The kids were alright in this; they weren't amazing but they weren't terrible either. I think they did well with their characters, but unfortunately their characters were quite annoying. However, nothing beats the kids in Jurassic Park, like they are such good actors!

The special effects were great (and there is this one scene where they use an animatronic and it was so amazing!), the plot was enjoyable and it had its moments of intensities. Obviously, there were a few unconvincing plot elements, but I guess they weren't really plot holes. They just didn't convince me well enough and so the ending wasn't as great as it could have been. I also thought the ending was quite... stupid.

~SPOILER on the ending~

I was completely unconvinced at the raptors changing their allegiance. This is not How to Train your Dragon 2, you can't just change someone's Alpha like that. The Indominus Rex is not only part raptor, but it is huge and terrifyingly terrifying (and it even camouflages!!! Like that was CRAYYYYY!!). You can't have that as your Alpha and then turn on it for Chris Pratt. Like seriously, they're raptors. We learnt how terrifying they were in the first Jurassic Park. You can't negate that by making them all soft and loyal to humans and all that nonsense.

I also didn't understand that scene where they are chasing the scent of the Indominus Rex and Chris Pratt can just ride his motorcycle with them without them attacking him. Like if you are really hungry, you haven't eaten for days, and you are looking for a cow to hunt down, if a chicken is running alongside you, will you not at least CAPTURE THE CHICKEN?! You can quickly capture it and then continue hunting down the cow. Like you are not going to just let the chicken run alongside you without wanting to eat it.

Of course, this can be explained through the fact that the Indominus Rex is part raptor and so they might have realised that and were too focused on being united with another raptor. But still, they just expected that it would be okay for him to ride next to the raptors even before they realised this?!

Anyway, the part of the ending where the Mosasaurus comes and eats the Indominous Rex, like that was so stupid. I actually laughed at that because of how stupid that was. That was just ridiculous. After an epic Godzilla-like battle between the T-Rex and the Indominous Rex, I felt like we as an audience deserved better than that.

So overall, this is worth the watch in theatres. If you go in knowing that it's a sequel to Jurassic Park and thus it won't be anything spectacular, then you'll have a good time. If you expect a really great philosophical Jurassic Park-esque film, then you will be disappointed. It's not that, it's not going to be that, and you should know that by now. It's a good ole monster film with some good effects and monster moments. The only problem is that the ending is not convincing, and not spectacular.


A few side notes:

Jimmy Fallon; what a legend!

Pretty sure dinosaurs don't hatch out of the egg with their claws? I thought they used their heads?

I am so sick and tired of these InGen guys! Like how many times have we seen them!

There's this one scene where someone dies - and I won't say who or how but when you see the film you will know - anyway that scene was pretty cool

From IMDB trivia: As reference for the actors, dancers wore grey suits with fluorescent dots on them and bicycle helmets shaped like raptor heads. Can you imagine that?


Also, I saw the trailer for The Good Dinosaur, and I feel like it is going to do everything to reverse what Jurassic Park has taught us as kids.

Lastly, I’ll just briefly sum up how I felt about the other Jurassic Park films.

Jurassic Park (1993) – A classic must-see. You have the amazing music, the Ian Malcolm quotes, the water-shaking-in-the-cup scene, the raptors-in-the-kitchen scene; it’s great.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) – Critics praise this and say it’s a great sequel, but I really don’t think so. In fact, I think it’s a pretty terrible scene. Jeff Goldblum did a good job, but his character was weirdly turned from the cool guy to the boring guy. The last 30 minutes of the film were appalling. Also, none of the music fits with any of the scenes! I wouldn’t recommend watching this movie unless you are like me and want to watch everything in a series in sequential order. But if not, you really have no reason to watch it.

Jurassic Park 3 (2001) – Critics say this film derailed the franchise, but I think it did pretty good. It was enjoyable and they added some new elements into it. Of course, the raptor and helicopter scene is weird, there are several plot holes and plot conveniences, and the CGI is pretty bad, but if you liked Jurassic Park, then you can give this film a shot (because dinosaurs).

When choosing between two Tomorrowlands, opt for the music festival

Tomorrowland (2015)

6.8/10 on IMDb
49% on Rotten Tomatoes
First things first, I was SO KEEN for this film (it was literally my most anticipated film of the year), because it was an original film that looked SO promising. Almost every 2015 film I have seen is not original (Insurgent - sequel; Cinderella - retelling; Avengers - sequel Pitch Perfect 2 - sequel; Mad Max Fury Rd - reboot), and the one original film I did see, Ex Machina, is an indie film that nobody watches. Jupiter Ascending and Chappie were original films too, but both of them were said to be quite bad, so I was so keen for finally an original, popular, and good film.

But you can see where I'm getting at... Tomorrowland was a disappointment. And I knew this going into the cinema, because I saw reviews on it that weren't that great, so I had lowered my expecatations. But, as we all know from our good friend President Snow, hope is the only thing stronger than fear. And so my hope for this film overtook my fear of it... and hope, I did. I really really hoped and wanted this to be an amazing film, but it just wasn't. And going from Mad Max: Fury Rd to this was so disappointing.

It's really hard for me to discuss this film without spoiling it, so what I will do is give a general review of the film here, and then elaborate on all my points later in the spoiler section.

So here are my concerns:

1. The opening scene was terrible, with cringe-worthy dialogue that set up the film for being an only-alright film. The dialogue throughout the film wasn't great either, but the opening was where it was worst.

2. The storyline was a bit weak and because of this, some elements of the film were confusing. The writing seemed really lazy and was lacking quality throughout. It's probably okay for a kid's film because they haven't grown to be so cynical, and they don't know what cheesy is anymore, but it was not okay for me.

3. I really did not expect the film that Tomorrowland was, and I think the main reason for this was because the trailer showed us so little. We were left to our own devices and imagination to come up with what we thought the film would be. The lack of plot information in the trailer gave us high hopes for this film, but the film took a completely different direction to what we were thinking of. The trailer, upon further reflection, almost showed us nothing. It didn't show any plot, and it showed all the good scenes that ended up being lost on us. The film becomes disappointing, not because it fails to deliver what was promised, but because it made no promises, delivers something completely random, and leaves you feeling empty.

4. Don't get me wrong, the acting was great, the directing was great too (all hail Brad Bird; please make Incredibles 2 amazing). They had some good fight scenes for a PG film. My main concern is the writing. It wasn't just weak, it was confusing. Bad confusing, not Nolan confusing. There were quite a few plot holes that detracted from the storyline. Also, the villain's reveal was really weak and didn't really make any sense to me.

5. The film felt really really long; so much was happening but nothing that happened had any real substance. It felt so long and dragged out for a two hour film; I was so tired by the end of it. I think this is also a result of the trailer not telling us what to expect.

6. The ending was soooooo in your face. Like, my face was so sore from being metaphorically punched with their preaching.

So overall, this is a kid's film. It's not really for adolescents or adults, and I wouldn't recommend watching this in cinemas unless you have a younger sibling. It's not worth buying on DVD because you won't want to watch it for a second time, so if you don't have a younger sibling, maybe catch it on TV or something. But if you miss it, then honestly don't worry, you're not missing out.

A few side notes:
–That opening Disney shot looked pretty cool, with the Tomorrowland skyline instead of Disney's traditional castle
-The music in this is pretty good
-Key from Key and Peele once again makes a cameo
-Why is Casey so cold? At one stage, I counted four layers on her and I'm pretty sure two of them were hoodies.
-"You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation, explain that one."
-Not an original quote, but I have always loved this: "There are two wolves who are always fighting. One is darkness and despair. The other is light and hope. The question is... which wolf wins? The one you feed."


~SPOILER SECTION (I'm warning you, I talk about the majority of the film here)~

1. The opening scene set us up for a mediocre ending. Throughout the film, there seemed to be almost no stakes involved because we knew they made it out alive and they solved the problem because we saw them in the beginning! The only stakes that existed were when Athena died. Also, the dialogue was just so terrible. Every time they had narration, a part of me died. Raffey Cassidy was the best of the film though, and I feel like all the good lines were given to her. She did such a great job, she's so cute!

2. When I say the writing seemed lazy and lacked, it wasn't just the opening that was bad. The whole film just seemed so... weak. For example, the most magical moment was when she first touched the pin, as we saw in the trailer, but in the film, this moment is lost on us because we had already seen Tomorrowland through Frank's childhood! We saw quite a bit of it actually! So there's no point having a tone of mystery and wonder (with a Wizard of Oz-esque shot) when Casey first touches it because, whilst she is seeing this world for the first time, we are not. The magic is lost on us.

I reckon they should have put all that stuff of Frank seeing Tomorrowland only after Casey first sees it. That way, the tone of mystery and wonder is actually relevant, and then they can start feeding us with bits of what Tomorrowland looks like.

3. So I don't know about you, but I really expected to see a lot of Tomorrowland. Like, a huge amount of this amazing futuristic and incredible world where anything is possible. But instead we got a flashback of it, a commercial for it, and then this bleak and desolate Tomorrowland that didn't live up to expectations. It would have been fantastic if they wrote the plot to incorporate more of heyday Tomorrowland.

4. As I said, the acting was great, particularly with Raffey Cassidy, she was so sassy for a robot (or rather, an Audio-Animatronic). But when I talk about writing being confusing... I'm still very confused as to what Tomorrowland actually is. Like, what is it? Is it the future? Well, no, it can't be because it's sold as an alternate universe. But then, is it an alternate universe? Well, it can't be, because then how do you explain why Tomorrowland is all grey and desolate? Why is it no longer in it's heyday? They imply that Frank's got something to do with it, but I don't understand how modern day Earth has anything to do with Tomorrowland.

At first I thought it was the future, because of it being destroyed, but then Hugh Laurie's character comes in and says he doesn't care about humanity wiping itself out and being destroyed. So it most definitely can't be the future, because if humanity wiped itself out, Tomorrowland would cease to exist. But then why is Tomorrowland not the utopia it once was? Did they explain it and I just missed it? It's very confusing.

Speaking of Hugh Laurie, his plan was not a great plan. I still don't know what his motive for being the villain is. He explained that he didn't want to continue saving mankind because they failed to want to save themselves, but here comes Casey, a girl who is the epitome of wanting to save humanity, and he doesn't care. Not only does he not care, he deliberately tries to stop her from saving humanity, but he doesn't explain why he is so against humanity.

5. (Pretty much self-explanatory there)

6. About the ending... like wow, we get it. Climate change sucks and it's real. And we can do something about it. The kids of today are the leaders of tomorrow(land). Yeah, we get it. No need to keep hammering it in. That entire speech was so preachy, I felt like I was in church. If they wrote the film better (once again, going back to the writers), it wouldn't have to seem so forced. I honestly walked out thinking, "Okay, so did Al Gore somehow manage to write the script for this? Did he look at An Inconvenient Truth and just go, "Hmmm... how do I translate this for kids?"" Because that's honestly what it feels like: An Inconvenient Truth for children.


A few more side notes (that fall under spoilers):
-I seriously thought he was going to just stay with Athena and get blown up together
-They were treading on some really thin ice in that part; there was some real dangerous territory the film could have gone into just before Athena died
-Her finding out how to arm the ball by looking at her future self in two seconds is completely cheating. Writers, you can do better than that, I know you can. Brad Bird, you wrote The Incredibles, pick yourself up.
-Athena's first dress is so cool; futuristic, yet vintage (and yes, I count anything with Athena as a spoiler because she's a surprise character)
-The surprise of Athena's character was so much better than the surprise of Matt Damon in Interstellar
-I like how her name was Athena; I know from my Greek Mythology class at uni that Athena is the goddess of tactile war and the divine protectress of heroes, so I liked that touch
-"I've figured out why you couldn't make me laugh." "Why's that?" "You're not funny." Boom. Was not expecting that.