Thoughts On Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's Super Bowl Trailer

     Okay, I know I said that I didn't want to see anymore footage from this movie after the initial trailer dropped for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom but I'd heard that there was going to be at least another teaser for the film during some big soccer game or something tonight so when it found its way online, I hummed and hawed over watching it because I felt I kinda ruined Jurassic World for myself a bit in the sense that by watching all of the trailers and TV spots, I more or less knew exactly how the movie was going to play out.  After being reassured in a Facebook group that it wasn't too spoilery, I gave it a watch.  Why am I not doing this as a video on YouTube?  Well, I wanted screenshots from the trailer to accompany this post so here we are.

     First off, if you haven't seen the trailer:

     Now that you have seen the trailer, here's what I think of it:

     -Okay, the opening sequence of this trailer had a couple of nice callbacks to the first Jurassic Park with the shadow on the wall and the sickle claw tapping on the floor.  When we get to this shot though, we see the Indoraptor reaching towards the girl (Isabella Sermon, I believe) very slowly and menacingly.  It's odd that even a hybrid dinosaur would reach out like that but I've heard rumors that this thing may have traces of human DNA mixed into it (God, I hope not).  I'm fairly certain that the up-close shot of its mouth immediately after this shot is an animatronic so points there!

     -This shot immediately reminded me of the InGen hunters arriving to Isla Sorna in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, only this time we get the large helicopter airlifting a live dinosaur off of the island while Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Franklin (Justice Smith) watch from the shores.  For a second, I thought that the dinosaur was a Spinosaurus but upon looking at it again, I doubt it.  I think this dinosaur is too small, the "sail" isn't big enough and is probably just the angle of the dinosaur's spine that's throwing me off and is more likely than not the confirmed new addition of Baryonyx, a dinosaur in the same family as Spinosaurus.

     -Hey, look!  Another shot to remind you of another iconic shot from Jurassic Park.  I said in my previous trailer review that I had no idea the Brachiosaurus was going to be in this movie until that point so I am still very happy to see them back.  Some may think that these callback shots might be trying to recapture that magic of the first film but in all honesty, that's an impossible task.  That said, this little clip gives me hope that the movie will still have some "ooh and ahh" moments, as long as the CG holds up which, for the most part, I think it looks good in this trailer.

     -I haven't seen director J.A. Bayona's horror films but the opening of this trailer as well as this shot here tells me he has a great eye for unsettling imagery.  This is the Baryonyx being back lit by some dripping lava and...damn it, it just looks cool!  I think Franklin's girly scream is a bit much when the dinosaur reveals itself but hey, I can't say I blame him either.  I just hope that his character doesn't try to cram comedic relief down our throats.

     -I really like the look of this animatronic Blue here.  In J.A. Bayona's previous film, A Monster Calls, the creature was brought to life by using animatronics that had been augmented with CGI afterwards.  Here, I'm not convinced that Blue's eye blinking is CG but probably good puppetry.  I've made it no secret that I thought Jurassic World was in dire need of more animatronics and we seem to be getting it here.  Let's just hope the story can hold up its end.

     -Okay, this shot looks cheesy but name an action/adventure movie that didn't have a cheesy moment.  My guess is that the boat is taking off without Claire, Owen and Franklin who then get into this truck and drive it off of the ramp into the back of the boat in just the nick of time before we get that shot in the previous trailer of the mercenaries looking out the back of the boat at the burning island.  Also, if you look to the left of the truck, I can't be certain but that just might be an old Jungle Explorer tour vehicle from the first film.  I know that there is one in the jungle when Owen and Blue are reunited so what's to say there aren't any others laying about?

     -I still don't know the context of this scene (GOOD).  All I know is that Owen (Chris Pratt) is far closer than I would want to be to the Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Not a Tyrannosaurus Rex, THE Tyrannosaurus Rex.  The CGI needs some work here but I think this is the only shot in the trailer that made me think that.

     -Ah, yes.  Arnim Zola himself, Tobey Jones makes an appearance in this movie.  Not sure what his role is, not bothered that I don't know, I want this movie to surprise me as much as it can, especially with that uncertain second half.  If you look on the screen behind him, you can see "Indoraptor" clear as day with different currency abbreviations next to it.  The fine text reads "Bidding Pre-Approval Required.  Online Bidding Available."  Well...this ethically questionable implication just made this more interesting.

     -Seeing as how this is a sequel to Jurassic World, it only makes sense that there be callbacks to that film as well.  This shot of Owen freezing with the shadow of the Indoraptor crossing his face reminds me of the shot of Grey (Ty Simpkins) hiding in the merch booth as the shadow of the Indominus Rex crossed his face.  I should point out that anyone who may be rolling their eyes at the idea of another hybrid dinosaur after the last one worked so well (#sarcasm), I'm not crazy about it either but to be fair, Vic Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio) did set this idea up in the last movie before the Velociraptor Delta killed him so it's not like it totally came out of left field.

     -Blue facing off against the Indoraptor.  I'm glad that we don't see the thing fully revealed in this trailer and I hope they don't show it in any trailers or TV spots until the movie is released.  I'm sure the toy from Mattel will be out before the film is but the toys aren't always 100% accurate, anyway.

     -Judging from the environment and the footage I saw from that behind the scenes featurette that was released the day before the first trailer, it looks like we're getting the Tyrannosaurus Rex on the mainland.  There's something in the back of my mind telling me that this original T. Rex is probably going to die in this movie but as far as plot structure goes, I'm hoping that the transition from island to mainland is smoother than it was in The Lost World since this was their goal from the beginning and not a mid-production change.  Also, I'm pretty sure this scene is recycling the unused ending from the original film where the Tyrannosaurus attempts to pull down the escape helicopter as the survivors leave the island but the Jurassic Park series has a history of recycling unused bits in later films so why would that change now?

     -Okay, this guy has got an Allosaurus (I assume) to his left, a Styracosaurus and Ankylosaurus to his right and a Triceratops charging up from behind...yep, he's screwed.  I can't help but think: who is letting the dinosaurs out?  Is it Owen and Claire?  Is that why Owen is in the container with the Tyrannosaurus?  If this is happening on the mainland, is it because the dinosaurs are getting auctioned off?  Yeah, I know that they're pushing for dinosaur rights but wouldn't unleashing these things into the local ecosystem have potentially disastrous results?  This is probably going to be something of a callback to the dinosaurs being let loose in the hunter's camp in The Lost World but I hope this implication doesn't set up Jurassic Park 6 as some sort of "dinosaurs taking over the Earth" movie.  That's purely speculation but I'm just throwing it out there.

     -The final shot of the trailer featuring the Indoraptor snatching up some unsuspecting mercenary.  Some people take issue with this scene saying that it feels more like a monster movie, which Jurassic Park was not.  Fair enough but like I said, recapturing the magic of the original is just not going to happen and I don't mind scenes like this as long as they're not all the movie has to offer, which is not the feeling I'm getting from Fallen Kingdom...I hope.  There's a part of me that hopes the mercenary in question is a character featured prominently in the movie that treats everyone else and maybe even some of the dinosaurs like garbage so that this can build up to a satisfying character death like Dieter Stark's in The Lost World.  On the other hand, there's a part of me that hopes this mercenary is just some nameless hired goon so that a "major" character death isn't spoiled in the trailer, kind of like the blonde love interest in Aliens vs Predator: Requiem where you saw her die in the red band trailer so when watching the movie, you're just waiting for her to get killed.  Granted, you're also just begging for the movie to end because you're watching Aliens vs Predator: Requiem but you know what I mean.

     As for any outright problems I had with the trailer?  I didn't mention it in my review of the first trailer but I'll admit, that trailer kinda jumps around a bit and doesn't have a smooth flow to it.  The same can be said for this one.  Personally, I think the trailer's final shot should've been the Indoraptor approaching the girl's bed but hey, I'm obviously not in charge of editing this thing.  I'm still looking forward to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom but I also need to acknowledge that this movie and its premise could totally blow up in our faces.  While I didn't hate Colin Trevorrow's previously penned and directed film Book Of Henry (I thought it was just okay), I couldn't shake the feeling that those two overlapping plots of a super genius boy trying to help his immature mother grow up and his classmate being sexually abused by her stepfather felt like they would've served better as their own separate movies.  Granted, I've only seen a grand total of maybe five minutes of footage from this film but I'm putting up those barriers just in case.  Maybe Fallen Kingdom will fare better or maybe Fallen Kingdom will dethrone Jurassic Park III as the worst of the series.  It's all "maybe" at this point and it will continue to be until Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom hits theatres June 22.  I will not be watching anymore trailers, TV spots or clips after this.

     Let me know down below what you thought of this trailer.  In the mean time, I'll be working on additions to my Etsy store while keeping this movie on my mind, repeating, "Please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck."  As always folks, thank you so much for reading and if you like what you see on this blog, you be sure to nudge that "Follow" button and stay cynical!

     -The Cynic

Passengers (2016) Review (Minor Spoilers)

     Passengers is a space drama directed by Morten Tyldum and stars Jennifer Lawrence & Chris Pratt as two people (out of 5000) aboard a spacecraft in the future that is en route to a new colony on another planet.  Easy enough but the trouble is the voyage is supposed to take 120 years; Jim Preston (Pratt) and Aurora Jane (Lawrence) have been awakened from their stasis pods 90 years early.

     I remember watching the trailer for this one when it hit the web in September and to be honest, I wasn't sure what to think of it.  It didn't look bad but I wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to see it, even if it did have star power like Katniss Darkholme and Peter Grady.  I kept it in the back of my mind as one to look at once it hit rental (this opened the same weekend as Rogue One so our priorities were elsewhere) and now that it has done so, I plunked down and gave it a watch.  I'm not going to try and get too specific but I do need to address a couple of events that might be considered minor spoilers.

     Jim checking his map, making sure he isn't on the Sulaco.

     The first (and best) thing I noticed with Passengers is the score, which I absolutely loved.  Composer Thomas Newman loves his piano apparently as he fills the softer and more awe-inspiring scenes with a piano-focused but a touch of electronica score that I could not help but compare to the score from Bioware's Mass Effect series while also keeping that more traditional action scene music handy for when things really go wrong but even then, he can't keep the piano and electronica out of those.  The soundtrack here can be beautiful and ominous all at once and it is absolutely great, well worth a listen.

     

     Unfortunately, that's all I can say that I undeniably loved about this movie as the rest of it is something of a mixed bag.  I like the leads of Lawrence and Pratt and they do have some pretty good chemistry and charisma onscreen together.  Even though Lawrence is top billed, this is very much Pratt's movie as his character awakens first and it was interesting to see him go through something along the lines of the Kubler-Ross Five Stages Of Grief Model.  In fact, I wish that this could've gone on longer (or have just been the whole movie) because I thought that when Jim considers suicide via air-lock 24 minutes into the film, it felt too premature.  At this point in the story, he's been on his own (unless you count Michael Sheen's android bartender Arthur) for just over a year and I get why Jim would want to try this but it didn't feel like it had been a year.  Since the movie isn't interested in being Cast Away IINNN SPAAAAACCEEE, Aurora is introduced shortly after this scene and then the movie felt like it picked up in pace, rushing through the highs and lows of their relationship.

     Looking over my notes again, it becomes clear that once Jim and Aurora's relationship tanks the movie doesn't offer a whole lot in terms of substance.  It's not like Jim goes all psycho over the fact that he's alone again despite not being the only person awake on the ship or Aurora finds something that Jim hasn't tried to reactivate their pods, they just sort of...exist.  Another character gets introduced at the 1hr 12min mark but they're only around for, what, literally ten minutes?  I would wonder why the movie even bothered introducing this character but obviously its for plot convenience so the story can attempt to build up suspense and tension for a finale on the exterior of the ship that probably sounds cool when you hear it but lacks that sense of peril in execution.

     As far as other technical things go, the only thing that stood out was that I was not overly impressed by the CGI in this movie.  There were a few dodgy green screen moments as well as CG effects that were not very convincing and these damaged the sense of immersion that I usually feel when watching a movie.  I will give credit though to the Zero Gravity Pool sequence though, where the onboard gravity malfunctions while Aurora is swimming and she gets trapped in a floating bubble of water.  Not only did the CGI look the best here but in order to really sell Aurora's predicament, Jennifer Lawrence was tied down in a water tank for authenticity.  Method acting for the win!

"Go for a swim," I said.  "It'll be relaxing," I said...

     In the end, Passengers is a movie that I'm glad I didn't see in theatres because I feel like I would feel more bitter towards it if I had.  The quality starts to dip after the first twenty minutes or so and that's a shame.  There are moments where you think the plot is going to go a certain way but then it goes a far less interesting route and it does that a few times leading up to an ending that doesn't so much feel like an ending but an abrupt stop that'll make you say, "That's it?"  Do I hate this movie?  No, I don't feel like I want the 110min runtime of my life back but I'm not in any rush to revisit the Avalon any time soon.  I liked Pratt, Lawrence and the score but the rest of it overall is pretty "Meh," and with that I'm giving Passengers the ranking of Indifferent.

 Yeah, that happened.

     What did you guys think of Passengers?  Good, bad or meh, let me know down in the comments below.  Thanks for reading and if you like what you see on the blog, be sure to nudge that "Follow" button and stay cynical!

     -The Cynic

Jurassic World review

     You knew this was coming.  After 14 years since the last Jurassic Park film and 18 years since the last good Jurassic Park film, the franchise finally was able to return to the theatres with original content in the Steven Spielberg produced and Colin Trevorrow directed Jurassic World.  My son and I caught a 3D showing last night, seeing as how we weren't going to be able to make it to the theatre in time for the 2D showing.  I know I said I wanted to watch the movie twice before giving a verdict but outside circumstances have axed those plans so one viewing will have to do.  Now that I've slept on it, let's answer the question: was it worth the wait?

     Taking place 22 years after the original groundbreaking film, Jurassic World sees John Hammond's dream come true.  Tourists from all over the world can come to Isla Nublar and visit Jurassic World, the fully functional theme park where the past comes alive for the wonder and amusement of the people.  Except there's just one little thing: the people aren't in wonder from these animals anymore.  Or at least the park's focus groups say so, despite there's a total of 22,216 people in attendance in the film.  Taking into consideration that less interest equals less profit, the park's team of geneticists take it upon themselves to create a new badass dinosaur from scratch.  Naturally, since this is a Jurassic Park film, it doesn't quite pan out the way they want it to.

"'Create a new dinosaur,' they said.  'Up the wow factor,' they said.  'We got this,' they said."

     I'm going to come right out and say it: Jurassic World is not what I would consider a terrible movie.  However, as a whole, there are things that prevent it from being a great movie like Jurassic Park or even a really good movie like The Lost World: Jurassic Park (haters be damned).  In case you were wondering, yes, this one is better than Jurassic Park III, even if that's not a terribly difficult claim to make.

     Let's discuss the positive bits first.  At a run time of approximately 124 minutes, Jurassic World does take some time to show off the now open park a bit and allows us to spend some time with the characters so that we at the very least give a little bit of a shit about them before throwing them into the fray.  Maybe not enough but more on that later.

     One thing that kind of surprised me was that there was a nice injection of humor into the film, I think even more so than any previous Jurassic entry.  A lot of this comes from Irrfan Kahn as new owner of the park Simon Masrani and Jake Johnson (alumni of Trevorrow's previous effort Safety Not Guaranteed) as cynical control room operator Lowery.  Not to say that the rest of the cast doesn't get a moment or two to add some levity but I found that Masrani and Lowery did provide the majority of it.

     I made it no secret that I was not entirely sold on the idea of a genetically modified dinosaur.  I understand why they went this route though because if they just brought in a different dinosaur from the fossil record with a selling point of "bigger than a T-Rex," it'd just be Jurassic Park III with an operational resort and uh, yeah, no.  Thankfully, the Indominus Rex not only looks great in motion but works as a character in her own right and I was able to set my skepticism aside and have fun with her, particularly the scene where she hands the Asset Containment Unit team's (basically Animal Control) asses to them.

 Honestly, I think this guy got off pretty easy.

     Now, we all know there's two sides to every coin so let's head on over to the more negative side of things.  First off, the 3D isn't overwhelming by any means but it doesn't really add anything to the movie either.  When a dinosaur charges, it's not projecting enough that it feels like it is charging at you.  I know the movie was shot for 3D but it honestly just feels like its there to add an extra $3 per ticket to up its box office numbers.

    For the record, I like the cast of this movie.  I do not feel that Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D'Onofrio or anyone else phoned it in.  After sleeping on it, I do however think that some of the dialogue and story structure needed work.  Not that Jurassic World rushes into things but we only get just enough time with the main characters to know basically whether to root for them or not.  The film could've used more time developing why Claire (Howard) is so obsessed with work and profits that she can't remember how old her nephews are or why Vic Hoskins (D'Onofrio, who while may not be playing the most original character is having so much fun) is so gun-ho in his own agendas (I won't spoil it here unlike other reviews) instead of just, "'MURICA," or why Dr. Wu seems so much more mad-scientist than before just as a few immediate examples.  The problem isn't the actors but rather what they had to work with.

     If anyone is hoping for mass park casualties amongst the patrons, you might want to calm your expectations.  If you ever looked at the Jurassic World website, you can see the various rides and attractions as well as what animals are in the park so you can start spinning your imagination as to what kind of mishaps could ensue with these creatures in these sections.  Sadly, what you see in the trailers is more or less what you get: the Pteranodons and Dimorphodons swooping down on a packed Main Street.  For example, wanna see a Suchomimus flip a kayak in the Cretaceous Cruise?  Too bad, as that creature is not in the movie (people would've probably just thought it was the Spinosaurus anyway) and that ride is only featured in the film in the same shot that was in the trailer.  Just seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity in this department.

     Earlier I had spoke highly of the Indominus Rex but there was something that happened with her about 100 minutes in that was just dumb.  Like, really dumb.  For pretty much the whole film up until this point, I had a smile on my face like it was June 1993 again and would've made this movie as good as The Lost World but then this little twist comes up and almost ruined the movie for me.  I know that it sounds silly to write off an entire film on one little scene (just as silly as giving a movie a pass based on one little scene) but this particular bit really nose-dived the quality of the film for me.  Thankfully, what came a few minutes afterwards mostly made up for it but the scars were still there.

My sentiments exactly at that moment.

      Okay, it wouldn't be a Jurassic Park movie review if we didn't talk about the special effects.  After all, that's the key element of Jurassic's legacy.  I had said in my post from last year that I wanted to see more animatronics and less CGI.  Well, that's not the case here.  I don't have a problem with CGI or even a lot of CGI (the recent Planet Of The Apes films immediately spring to mind) but if there's going to be this much CGI, it all has to be the same level of quality.  To be fair, a lot of shots in Jurassic World feature full-body in-motion dinosaurs, something that animatronics have not been able to fully replicate.  Sure, the suits from the Walking With Dinosaurs Live Arena Spectacular are good but they aren't good enough for Jurassic Park.  That being said, there are some shots here (not just with dinosaurs) that could have been very easily done with practical effects instead of adding in the creatures in post-production.  I counted a grand total of three, seriously, fucking three animatronic shots.  Maybe.  I'm sorry, I know that's just how movies are made now because the studios want them made as quickly and as cheaply as possible but this franchise has built its reputation on being able to balance in-camera puppeteering with mostly high-quality CGI, which upon reflection this film is seriously lacking in parts, particularly in the end scene.  You know, the scene where it probably counts the most.  Even though the theatre and I were still going "OOOHHH," I couldn't help but think, "God, that CG better be refined for the Blu-Ray."  This is probably the one and only thing that Jurassic Park III has over Jurassic World (yeah, I said it).

This scene is the only one I can say with complete certainty that used animatronics.  Regardless of how well it turned out, that still feels criminal when talking about a Jurassic Park movie.

     Alright, time to wrap this up.  Was it worth the 14 year wait?  Eh, kinda?  Not really?  Hard to say.  I can't tell you that I'm 100% satisfied with the end result but I did clap with the rest of the audience once the credits rolled because Jurassic World does have an element of fun to it and while I don't really know if I like the fact that this one completely ignores the events of the previous sequels, I did feel it washed the putrid Jurassic Park III out of my mouth.  However, with how long this movie was in developmental Hell and the fact it has a $150 million price tag on it, you'd think something truly pants-shittingly awesome would be in theatres right now instead of, well, this.  It will be interesting to see how well (or not well) the film holds up upon repeat viewings but time will tell.  I will say that if Universal Studios was smart, they would know that the seeds planted here for future installments should be cast aside and end the series here on as close to a high note as they can.  It's a pipe dream, I know.  Given the franchise driven state of Hollywood, the generally positive feedback that the film has received and that ticket sale projections are putting this film's opening weekend intake somewhere near the $155 million mark, we can expect Jurassic 5 (no, not the hip-hop group) in theatres somewhere between 2019 and 2029.  Yay.

     -The Cynic