What did YOU think of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom? (Spoilers included)

Spiegel wrote:

I won't be surprised if its outscored by JP3 or ends up even or close to it.

It's not that it was horrible but I dont think it was great. It just really missed a lot of marks that it should have and could have hit.

For example, Spinosaurus, it was new and we got to see it a lot. The same could be said for the remodeled Raptors.  Here we got to see more dinosaurs than any other film. Yet, we didn't really see anything that interesting. I couldn't wait to see Carnotaurus but it was very brief each time and didnt present anything new. Instead, I saw that it would try to eat a human or a Sinoceratops, so it likes to bite things just like all the dinosaurs before. A brief glimpse of an Allosaurus here and there as well. The dinosaurs just took such a back seat to the hybrids in the last two movies.

Also, they've shifted from making memorable characters to making memorable dinosaur characters. I've always loved the dinosaurs for not really being a hero or vilan but now we have good guy and bad guy dinosaurs. They even seem to take on human traits.

Then there are things like Blue being changed immensely. The Raptors in  JW were somewhat trained but still a threat to even their own handlers. Blue turned her back on Owen with a few short growls from the Indominus but in this film she's his closest companion ever. She even seems to be even more skilled in fighting bad guys and jumping away from explosions in the nick of time.

Heck, even Rexy went from a powerful force of nature that could work for you or against you, to simply a random hero that shows up to kill bad guys at the exact right moment.

It's not that it's a horrible movie but the awe and wonder are gone. The threat doesn't feel as natural, the dinosaurs seem more like characters than they do animals in the wild. It's just more of a mass appeal popcorn action flick than what Jurassic Park started off as.

This this and this. Even though I like JP3 I’ll still admit the problem with “monster” dinos started there and I feel it has regressed ever since. I think I ended up giving JW a pass because I was so excited and happy to just see the animals and franchise back again. I don’t like the hybrids, or the trained raptor thing.  The actual dinosaurs don’t even have an impact on me anymore because I felt like it was no big deal to see them. I remember how scary the rex used to be and the raptors.

In terms of playing with suspense this did not remind me of JP1 in that regard. Nothing is left to the imagination really, it’s all just right there in your face.

The movies after TLW also lost just about any sense of conversation you could have around them. Like the cloned little girl. They drop this huge bomb about her in the third act and besides her letting the animals go they don’t give it really anytime at all. I feel like this plot point alone could have about carried the mansion part, with just regular dinosaurs being the focus of escape and danger. And more added to Lockwood’s character. And for being a horror movie I sure didn’t feel any sense of danger for our main characters in this one. In terms of the good guys. I remember being horrified at what happened to Eddie.

I will admit the third movie actually has a chance to fix it somewhat for me.  Because it’s literally a clean slate we will not see any formula BS or hybrids(if the word is kept). Blue will obviously be a part of the movie and but hopefully they can make her scary near people. And tons of people all over the world now have Dino dna so there’s that.

I’m still supremely worried about the writing, even more than the direction. For some reason I didn’t mind the dialogue in JW but found it bizarre and pretty bad here.

I guess I’ll try to stay optimistic as much as possible.

I'm not really understanding some of the criticisms people have with this film. I thought what a lot of fans wanted was for the franchise to push into the "Dinosaurs becoming part of the global ecosystem" plot. I know a lot of people do not like the hybrid subplots, but that's okay. No film is ever going to please everybody.

Actually, manipulating nature is not new with us, we have been modifying organisms since our very beginning, from plants to animals. Some turned out for the better, complex communication in parrots and primates, and even labor such as herding dogs and draft animals. Others, not so much, look at the health issues of several breeds of pet animals, all due to us selectively breeding them for traits we desired.

I don't think it's so much that people have an issue with the ideas presented in the film. Just that the film itself didn't present them as well as it could have.

Tyrant Lizard wrote:

I don't think it's so much that people have an issue with the ideas presented in the film. Just that the film itself didn't present them as well as it could have.  

And that's where we have a fine line in film production. Some people like a lot of character development, others don't want a slow-paced film, others want a lot of exposition, others would rather things be shown (or inferred) rather than told.

Ultimately there were aspects I would have done differently (would have made Sorna (or one of the neighboring islands) the proposed "sanctuary", (Owen and Claire had to stowaway on board the ship anyway, and it wouldn't have affected the outcome of the film.)

I think the majority of us can agree it was a fast paced film, and I definitely think more viewings are in order. (Granted there are others here (I presume) that have seen it more than once.)

Oh, for sure I need to see it again to gauge it properly. I'm still not sure exactly what I think of it.

I gave it a 9, with a few issues with it:
-They didnt devote nearly as enough time to the Mosasaurus. They should of shown it actually attacking the surfers instead of just that bullshit tease they kept giving us in the trailers.

-There werent enough deaths. For a film that's being advertised as one of the darkest in the series, hardly anybody died. There should of been a mercenary death or 2 looking for the carnivores.

-The scene where the Brachio dies as it's pretty much saying "wait for me" when the boat is leaving the island is downright tearjerking. That was pretty depressing.

Dead2009 wrote:

-There werent enough deaths. For a film that's being advertised as one of the darkest in the series, hardly anybody died. There should of been a mercenary death or 2 looking for the carnivores.

To be fair, it had 18 deaths (only 5 less than Jurassic World's 23), though TLW beats them both out with 31+ deaths. (We have an unknown number of missing Costa Rican fisherman, and an unknown number of Venture crewmen (though most cargo ship crews have anywhere between 20-25 crewmen (when going by the "Safe Minimum Manning Certificate”)

I was actually surprised no one died on Nublar. (Though the JP wiki states the mercenary that shot Blue died, I'm fairly certain he didn't cause he isn't seen afterwards when Owen is woken up.)

I think the Indoraptor should have had some more kills though.

I know the dialogue isn’t necessarily good, but I think it’s better tha Jurassic world. I’m surprised people are saying the dialogue is even worse. Can someone who thinks the dialogue is worse share any examples?

I'm interested about that reasoning too, I really want to hear it (no hate, just curious to hear different opinions ). The dialogue is not oscar worthy, but I didn't think it was awful- for me, some lines in JW and most of JP3's dialogue were much worse (owen's speech to claire about animals and "what's a bad idea"/"t rex pee" are my "favorites" lol)

Yeah I found there were no specific lines in fallen kingdom that made me cringe like there were in Jurassic world. Like there were no lines as bad as “she remembered where they put it in”

Ok I know I have spoken out against this movie in this forum and I kind of want to retreat from that, but there is a catch.

I can enjoy this movie when I disconnect it from the Jurassic Park Franchise, as a action movie it was very well done and I will see it as an modern action flick that has no ties to previous movies (except Jurassic World) works well for me.

There were some incredible looking shots. This movie managed to make Claire sympathetic (I hated her in JW and I mean hate) which is a big deal for me. Owen wasn't very important to the movie, but I enjoyed him more than I did in JW. I didn't enjoy any of the other characters (except Lockwood almost forgot him, shame on me).

I enjoyed most of the Dinosaurs, except the Baryonix (horrible design), Blue and partly the Indoraptor. I thought the Indoraptor would be the most creepy and most terrifying Dinosaur in the franchise, but it wasn't. I am easyly scared but I was more teriffied of the regular raptors in the Jurassic Park franchise. There were even funny scenes with the Indoraptor (cage scene) that had slight Tom and Jerry feeling (an exaggeration, ok?) The T.rex was a true ambush predator this time, which is refreshing, although making no sound at all was a bit strange.

The plot was forgettable, but the way the movie handled it was ok. To me this was a mediocre movie, comparable to how I would rate basically every marvel movie, nothing special but it works. Not that I think this movie was similiar to a marvel movie, just to be clear!

If anyone wants me to elaborate some points a bit mor in detail just ask me, but please be as nice as you can. Because I feel my opinion is not a popular one.

I would give the movie a 6/10

Spinosaur4.4 wrote:

I agree that the dialogue is quite weak. Last movie I had a favorite line BY FAR, now in this one, can't find it.

Not true, you have a favorite line.

Spoiler:

Six-Foot Turkey wrote:

Yeah I found there were no specific lines in fallen kingdom that made me cringe like there were in Jurassic world. Like there were no lines as bad as “she remembered where they put it in”

Same for me. In JW that line you mentioned was pretty cringey, as well as the ''Welcome to Jurassic World'' in the elevator in my opinion. But in JWFK I did not have any line that made me cringe or hide in shame.

The dialogue between Claire and Owen in the bar could be ok if it weren't for the bit were they discussed their relationship. It was silly as hell and made them come across like stupid teenagers.

Or the the scene were the Baryonx approaches with Franklin repeatedly shouting it's the T-rex and then lava
Claire: See? Not a T-rex
Franklin: We made it
Seriously? That whole scene should have been thrilling but instead I felt NOTHING because it was more played for laughs (and the dino somehow being immune to lava and it's still going on a hunt despite the whole place melting)

Actually I will agree on the “see not a t-rex line” I forgot how weird and out of place that was. But I disagree with the bar scene, some couples are just like that. I can’t see Owen and Claire talking to each other like Ellie and Grant it would be out of character.

Bionic wrote:

Egregious sense of entitlement? What a silly and childish comment. You simply expect everyone to lower their standards to be blown away by mediocrity. The fact of the matter is that this movie has a terrible script, stupid dialogue, bad pacing and some lame acting. I will definitely not apologize for expecting more from a film of this series.

Well what else would you call the over the top fan entitlement of planning out their own ideas and favoring fan fic above what the studio or licensed companies producing material could do? I mean we have a lot of it from people creating the notion that Raptors killed the crew on the Venture and jumped off the boat when it hit the dock in TLW or we have people trying to make assertions and connections between JP3 and TLW saying the Male Rex in JP3 was the infant from TLW fully grown. That's fan fic and people coming to that and running with that are showing they can't either handle the unknown or seek to fill in the blanks with their own ideas. These are no different than sitting back after JP3 and creating a notion or idea that the series should end with Sorna being a protected habitat or whatever especially considering the main theme of the franchise is man trying to wield and control genetic power and control things they otherwise can't control.

So, it is an egregious sense of entitlement the fandom has in regards to what the end result should or could be. Hell even I had the perfect ending planned out in my head since 2001 or so. I let it go shortly after JW came out because I saw I couldn't enjoy the film fully with still holding onto how I wanted it to end.

That is entitlement plain and simple and signs of toxic fandom. A lot of us have done it whether we care or can to admit it or not. It goes from I love this to > I own this > I control this. From there when new material comes out people freak because they can't control what the new material does because it isn't what they felt should happen and progresses from not being able to control it to hating it and finally wishing to destroy it either by in-fighting with the fans who do liked, appreciated it, or just simple chasing people off due to embitterment. So what are you specifically attacking with my assertion here? It's been going on for a long time now. Are you attacking my ability to recognize that hating a film because of fan entitlement is purely toxic to the fandom or are you insistent on just tearing me down because you don't see it yourself either because you can't or don't want to come to the same realization as well due to denial?

Outside of that, the film has no more problems than the rest of what we've encountered before with fast pacing, cutting of character development, and also cutting needed exposition altogether. It's on the same level as TLW (to me, at least) in terms of that, and I accept the JP films are not perfect films outside with all that in mind. It is however a staple point of the JP series though with the fast pacing. Humor in tense moments are also entirely realistic for people as well. It's called sarcasm, it's very difficult for some people to pick up on.

While on the topic of humour, I read and agree with the critism regarding the blood extraction scene. THAT should have been intense. But they downplayed that with comedy too. Not a bad scene, but they really could’ve made that scene much better

I don't know about others, but the humor in this movie, while not always succesfull, didn't really bother me that much. The only bit I found annoying is the running gag with Franklin and the T. rex (especially during the baryonyx scene- I mean, is arguing about a dinosaur's identity really that important when said dino is approaching you? Also, how is a T. rex even supposed to fit there..).
Also, while I see how Owen's remarks break some of the tension during the blood transfer scene, the shot of rexy waking up and almost eating him made up for that lol.

I think the whole "not a T. rex" thing was supposed to be a callback to JP///, but yeah, I could've done without it. Especially because that dialogue was already kinda cheesey in JP/// too.

Six-Foot Turkey wrote:

I know the dialogue isn’t necessarily good, but I think it’s better tha Jurassic world. I’m surprised people are saying the dialogue is even worse. Can someone who thinks the dialogue is worse share any examples?

Just about everything delivered by Mills, eversol and even Wu made me cringe. It’s like I wasn’t watching a conversation between normal human beings. I don’t know if it is literally the lines themselves or the delivery. Wheatley getting into the cage “I didn't see you on the island” and he does this little buffalo bill laugh or smirk or something that reminded me of the character. I think he did anyway. Awful.

Also I hated “they’re alive like me”. Amazing line in concept but I found it to be handled so poorly. Cringed so hard. I know that will be unpopular amongst the fandom but it is what it is for me guys.

I’ll be sure to provide more examples when I buy the movie.

Edit: oh and absolutely every word franklin said. Seriously

Lol I thought I was the only one who saw this. He did a buffalo bill impression several times in the movie.

Everyone criticizing Franklin for freaking out or screaming like a girl when a dinosaur appears... but everyone of you would do the same in that situation and sh** in their pants lol
Kidding

By the way, I've read an interesting question... In the button scene, why not just open the main doors and let the gas leave instead of letting the dinosaurs loose?
..never thought of that lol but I think the only answer is that Claire just acted by impulse and started releasing the dinosaurs before she could notice the main gate button.

Bionic wrote:

The dialogue between Claire and Owen in the bar could be ok if it weren't for the bit were they discussed their relationship. It was silly as hell and made them come across like stupid teenagers.

Or the the scene were the Baryonx approaches with Franklin repeatedly shouting it's the T-rex and then lava
Claire: See? Not a T-rex
Franklin: We made it
Seriously? That whole scene should have been thrilling but instead I felt NOTHING because it was more played for laughs (and the dino somehow being immune to lava and it's still going on a hunt despite the whole place melting)

The "Not a T-Rex" thing was due to him constantly being afraid of running into her while walking through the jungle. It was painfully obvious when he was asking about it still being alive.

1morey wrote:

Dead2009 wrote:

-There werent enough deaths. For a film that's being advertised as one of the darkest in the series, hardly anybody died. There should of been a mercenary death or 2 looking for the carnivores.

To be fair, it had 18 deaths (only 5 less than Jurassic World's 23), though TLW beats them both out with 31+ deaths. (We have an unknown number of missing Costa Rican fisherman, and an unknown number of Venture crewmen (though most cargo ship crews have anywhere between 20-25 crewmen (when going by the "Safe Minimum Manning Certificate”)

I was actually surprised no one died on Nublar. (Though the JP wiki states the mercenary that shot Blue died, I'm fairly certain he didn't cause he isn't seen afterwards when Owen is woken up.)

I think the Indoraptor should have had some more kills though.

 
I'm talking on screen deaths, not deaths we're just supposed to assume happened by way of a dinosaur, lol.

Troyal1 wrote:

Six-Foot Turkey wrote:

I know the dialogue isn’t necessarily good, but I think it’s better tha Jurassic world. I’m surprised people are saying the dialogue is even worse. Can someone who thinks the dialogue is worse share any examples?

Just about everything delivered by Mills, eversol and even Wu made me cringe. It’s like I wasn’t watching a conversation between normal human beings. I don’t know if it is literally the lines themselves or the delivery. Wheatley getting into the cage “I didn't see you on the island” and he does this little buffalo bill laugh or smirk or something that reminded me of the character. I think he did anyway. Awful.

Also I hated “they’re alive like me”. Amazing line in concept but I found it to be handled so poorly. Cringed so hard. I know that will be unpopular amongst the fandom but it is what it is for me guys.

I’ll be sure to provide more examples when I buy the movie.

Edit: oh and absolutely every word franklin said. Seriously

I thought Rafe Spall and BD Wong did pretty good in this movie. None of their lines was standout cringe, to me. Eversol was just a cartoon full stop haha

Toby Jones could say even the most silliest line and would still be worth-watching. Great actor.
I actually loved Eversol mainly due to Toby Jones' acting.

Yeah, Toby Jones is generally great, but Eversol couldn't have been more on the nose had he looked like this and had been tying Zia to railroad tracks going "MWRAHAHAHAHAHA!"



In general I thought the dialogue was better than JW though. So there's that.

^I think that way about eversoll too. From all of the villains, he was probably the most cartoony one (and the most useless).
However, despite the fact that he's basically the greedy corporate bastard trope and some of his lines are cheesy, I just can't help to enjoy Eli Mills as a villain. Rafe Spall just nails the role too damn perfectly lol. His conversations with Wu are priceless

Dv-218 wrote:

^I think that way about eversoll too. From all of the villains, he was probably the most cartoony one (and the most useless).
However, despite the fact that he's basically the greedy corporate bastard trope and some of his lines are cheesy, I just can't help to enjoy Eli Mills as a villain. Rafe Spall just nails the role too damn perfectly lol. His conversations with Wu are priceless

The way he screamed at Wu about how he cared only about the money...I was like "Yeah sir, you are dead after this."

I mean, how Wu kept calm is beyond my understanding. I wouldn't let Mills get away tbh.

Anyway, talking about the dialogue part. Nothing on Wu's lines were cringe. But I do agree that his dialogue was weak compared to JW. I can't take a good outstanding line from him and that makes me kinda upset. I also think BD WONG acted better, might be because of Bayona, but in all of his scenes I got to belive more that Wu was actually a human being.

But overall, I felt the dialogues were weak, yes. All of them. I can't find any outstanding favorite line, while in JW I'm full on "Monster is a relative term."

So yeah, Imo the lines were a bit weak.

I also had no problem with "It's not a T.rex". And I don't think it was a callback to JPIII. Even if it was, to me, Baryonyx was amazing, so...

Malcolm's lines were generally good ^

Wu is very cool, I hope we get much more of him in JW3.