JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION

[HD-man]

I watched JWD twice & my overall opinion didn't change btwn the 2 viewings. Basically, this:

Also, this: https://mobile.twitter.com/Tomozaurus/status/1535059461332602880?t=198H8fwpo_33mNqck31wvg&s=07

Also also, I really like Amanda the Jedi's review...:

...& the JWD pitch meeting:

Doug over at Channel Awesome nicely exemplifies my frustrations with the premise of this movie. I don't agree with all of his points (clearly he never read the novels) but when it comes to the premise in particular he's spot on.

Agreed, & to be fair (in reference to Doug not knowing about Dodgson's importance to JP lore), while I'd definitely recommend reading the JP novels to anyone who hasn't already, the movies should be able to make sense on their own (See "The animals in general & the Scorpius in particular": http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=9658.0 ). Reminds me of how much better TLW probably would've been had Spielberg stuck closer to the novel

Jurassic World Dominion is being billed as the "Conclusion of the Jurassic Era" and that will undoubtedly be the case. Mostly because it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that this once-beloved franchise should become extinct.

https://gizmodo.com/jurassic-world-dominion-review-chris-pratt-laura-dern-j-1848883641?utm_campaign=io9&utm_content&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0EvFYURQX325olUi3WEydzQXzBsBcBhlVOYOZkhVRaI-1LjeoLSZmv2Ts&fs=e&s=cl

I don't necessarily agree that JWD is "without a doubt, the worst Jurassic movie yet", but I do get the reasoning. This quote in particular resonates w/me:

The locust thing might even be okay if the whole movie was about it. But the film opens, and closes, with hints of what a unified world blending dinosaurs and humans could be. In fact, the last few shots of Jurassic World Dominion are excellent and make the previous two-plus hours seem small by comparison. By shoving these ideas awkwardly into the film's bookends, Trevorrow seems to be admitting he knows that's the movie this could have been. But instead, he tricks you into thinking it's about that by starting and ending there. The whole structure feels awkwardly slapped together.

There are so many great ideas for "what a unified world blending dinosaurs and humans could be", yet we see very little of that in JWD. I'd especially like to see incidents of large azhdarchids gobbling up kids (shown w/found footage so that it's not too graphic) leading to schools/parks/etc being outfitted w/giant nets (like the ones some golf courses use, but w/roofs). Maybe a bit silly, but so are the JW movies 😉 On a related note, Alteori's "DINOSAUR 2000" review ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jylThNVxHMU ) reminded me of JWD, so here's part of my comment on said review:

I'm glad you pointed out the Carnotaurus killing those almost-ready-to-hatch baby Iguanodon & also mentioned Tarzan (which begins w/a leopard killing a cute little baby gorilla). I've been thinking about both movies recently in reference to how disappointing Dominion is: 1 of the best/darkest parts of the JP novels is when the compys eat the baby, yet no kids have ever been eaten in the movies; Dominion had the perfect opportunity to change that w/dinos & pteros re-taking over the world (& thus, conflicting w/humans much more than in the other movies) & wasted it; If Disney can kill off cute little baby characters multiple times, why can't the JP/JW franchise do so even once despite having MUCH more reason to?

[Gwangi]

I agree H @HD-man that a knowledge of the books shouldn't be a requirement going into a movie. Movies shouldn't have homework. Likewise, the prologue should have been in the movie for those that somehow missed it. But when the fandom says "you aren't a real fan if you didn't get it", this is what they're talking about. I'm sure Doug "isn't a real fan" because he has no knowledge of the importance of Dodgson and Biosyn, or why GM locusts are the most Crichton-inspired plot device in the movie. Of course, I think that argument is absurd. There are plenty of reasons not to like the movie, for diehard fans and casual fans alike.

I've been wanting to see azhdarchids picking people like grapes since a 4th Jurassic movie was announced. A football stadium, boardwalk, or similar packed location would be an ideal setting. Maybe have people hunkering down in a cornfield while the pterosaurus meander about and pick them off. It would be horrifying and more realistic that a Quetz attacking an airplane and ripping through the metal framework. The War of the World tripods come to mind.

[Carnoking]

Last night I had a dream about some mid-sized carnivore breaking into an orphanage, and it turned into a larger scale version of the kitchen scene while all the kids and orphanage director tried to get out without the animal noticing them.*

I think there's plenty of opportunities for scenes like this (and the Quetzalcoatlus corn scene Gwangi mentioned, love that idea) in a live action series that further explores a precarious co-existence.

*although let's be real, I don't think any of these projects are actually going to kill off a child. Killing off animated characters (largely offscreen) is one thing, but to kill a kid in a "realistic" setting with convincing CGI/practical effects might be a bridge too far to keep the four quadrant appeal of these movies.

That being said, I think kids should still be put in danger when the opportunity strikes. There's a good reason the high chair moment in Battle at Big Rock was so darn tense.

[Faelrin]

So I went to a double feature drive in theater last night with family to see Dominion (again) and Top Gun: Maverick. Pretty obvious to me what the better sequel is even though I still haven't seen the first Top Gun movie. Also nearly every moment with those jets in the air had me feeling real tension. Barely got any of that with JW Dominion, but I suppose part of that is from knowing that dinosaurs are extinct and jets are very much real, and I think all the footage was real too.

Anyways my thoughts really haven't changed much. Still enjoyable at times but not without a lot of faults (so I guess like JPIII). My favorite scenes are still the Therizinosaurus scene the most, and the scenes in Malta next.

And as far as the ending goes:

Spoiler

Similar thoughts as before, but I guess I did like that the Therizinosaurus showed up one more time, but I wished it wasn't just used as a plot device for killing the Gigantosaurus. Also after reading an article where Trevorrow explained the ending was intended to be shown from the characters perspective, I feel it didn't truly work as well as the same thing was handled in JW.

[close]

Also I did notice a few callbacks in the Gigantosaurus attack scene.

Spoiler

First was the shot of its jaws behind the car was reminiscent of the Indominus rex doing that in JW. Second bit was some of the shots with the car echoed the scenes in the first film with the kids in the explorer.

[close]

Edit: I will say I'm glad for the maps (especially the Biosyn valley) and some (many still not added yet) new species and skins (Parasaurolophus and fluffy T. rex) that were added in the JWE2 Dominion DLC. Honestly some of Frontier's new skins and patterns do wonders for the Pyroraptor and Quetzalcoatlus not that I had too many issues with either prior (mostly Pyroraptor's head). Opens up a lot of potential that wasn't in the film. Honestly now that I think of it, I would actually love a map based on the prologue's past scenes. That very much felt like watching the animals in this game do their things (minus the jankiness at times in the game).

[Takama]

Guys their is talks of an extended cut alredy for this movie for home release.



Just google it for more info

[Gwangi]

I've heard talk of this extended release. At the very least I imagine it will include the prologue. Best case scenario, we get a JW version of the "Snyder cut" which I haven't seen but has gotten high praise compared to the theatrical version.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

@Faelrin If it's the drive-in I'm thinking of, I'm a regular there. I saw Dominion there Saturday but had plans to go again last night as well, which fell through.

[Faelrin]

@Faelrin If it's the drive-in I'm thinking of, I'm a regular there. I saw Dominion there Saturday but had plans to go again last night as well, which fell through.

We went to the one in Dillsburg. Is that the one you are thinking of?

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

@Faelrin If it's the drive-in I'm thinking of, I'm a regular there. I saw Dominion there Saturday but had plans to go again last night as well, which fell through.

We went to the one in Dillsburg. Is that the one you are thinking of?

Yes, it is. I just didn't want to call out your location if you weren't comfortable with it.

[Faelrin]

@Pachyrhinosaurus No worries. It's like 40 mins away from me, and I'm moving at the end of this month anyways.

[HD-man]

I've been wanting to see azhdarchids picking people like grapes since a 4th Jurassic movie was announced. A football stadium, boardwalk, or similar packed location would be an ideal setting. Maybe have people hunkering down in a cornfield while the pterosaurus meander about and pick them off.

Seems like Jurassic World Evolution 2 is the closest we're gonna get to that from the JP/JW franchise:

[DinoToyForum]

I LOVE "Jurrasic Park" when the movie came out I saw it in theaters an excessive amount of times during it's original theatrical run.  I should be embarrassed to write this but I went to see it everyday for two weeks straight after it released and then after that I saw again 1-2 times a week until it left theaters.  I had obsessed over other movies like that in the past but I had never seen a movie more times, that personal record will stand for ever.  I remember I would get off work and find a different theater to go watch it in because I was embarrassed to go to the same one over and over again. You gotta understand that growing up in LA going to the movies is part of the culture growing up.  When my life permitted it I used to watch movies at theaters several days of the week anyways.  I went to high school with people that became screen writers, extras, set builders, computer animators, you name it.  I myself was a movie extra in two films one in highschool and one in my early twenties.  But still, "Jurassic Park"  holds the distinction of being my most watched film ever during it's original theatrical run.  I grew up my entire young life wishing and hoping to see a dinosaur film with realistic looking dinosaurs and JP was the first to deliver.

So from a purely "it's so cool there are dinosaurs in a movie" perspective that inner child part of me enjoyed dominion.  I was also happy to see all the old folks back on the screen together again and the practical effects where a nice nod to the original film too.  But that's it, that's pretty much all the joy I got out of it.  They unfortunately forgot to hire an editor and a screen writer.  There is no cohesive story, just a collection of nostalgia inducing scenes and subplots leading nowhere.  Entire characters get slopped on the screen and then take no part in the rest of the film.  Too many subplots that lead no where and the giant bugs that only serve as filler and steal screen time from my beloved dinosaurs.  It's almost as if the people in charge of making the movie were in total disagreement about what movie they wanted to make so they compromised and made "everyone's'" movie instead.  Then desperately tried to find a way to slap it all together and make everyone happy. 

I know I'm going to get in trouble for typing all this but I just can't keep quiet about it, yes dinosaurs are always cool, but movie bad.  I'm sorry, I cannot lie and from my point of view I LOVE the source material and the original film.  To me, this feels like a punch in the gut, like an insult to what Crichton and Spielberg created.  This movie will probably be remembered in film classes as an example of how even with a great budget, a great caste, and fantastic source material.  If the people making the film lack imagination or focus, the end result is going to be bad.

I strive to be positive about most everything in my life and I did mention the positives I took from this film.  But this is so overwhelmingly bad that I could not help myself.  I honestly hope I don't get banned for typing this and I hope my fellow forum members don't tear into me too much for typing these words

What forum rule did you think you might be breaking that might lead to you being banned!? There are no rules broken in this post as far as I can see!?

That "punch in the gut" feeling you speak of, I've felt that since Jurassic World.

[suspsy]

I consider it more like a slap in the face than a punch in the gut myself. I think Trevorrow's the worst thing that ever happened to the franchise. He's even worse than Michael Bay and the Transformers franchise in one sense because Bay at least had no delusions or pretensions about what he was doing.

[Gwangi]

I've been wanting to see azhdarchids picking people like grapes since a 4th Jurassic movie was announced. A football stadium, boardwalk, or similar packed location would be an ideal setting. Maybe have people hunkering down in a cornfield while the pterosaurus meander about and pick them off.

Seems like Jurassic World Evolution 2 is the closest we're gonna get to that from the JP/JW franchise:

Indeed. I play the game but haven't gotten the update that includes the Quetz, yet.

[MLMjp]

Finally watched it yesterday after having to abstain myself from social media from two weeks straight since I didn't wanted to know what people think about it until I watch it myself.
My overall impressions are that...I enjoyed it. I do need to rewatch this in order to make sure what I think about it, specially after seeing the overall response that the movie is getting. But that won't be until home release since I don't watch films on the theater a second time.

Some overall thoughts:

Spoiler

I really like what they did with the characters here, specially with the original trio. I also liked what they did with Claire. And I loved when all characters were together and their interactions were great. Also, they addressed Ellie and her husband breaking up, which it's something a lot of people probably wanted to see fixed from JP3.

New character Kayla, she was cool, was worried she could be a forced inclusive character, but she is cool on it´s own and I loved the "I also like redheads" line. I like how Maisie takes an important role, also liked Dr. Wu redemption, and the way they managed to incorporate past characters from the JW films.(Franklin was a million times better in two scenes that in the entirety of Fallen Kingdom).

Dodgson! We got Dodgson over here! was an improvement over previous villains, I'll just say that. But apart from the Barbassol can, there is no mention of him being the same guy as in JP, we fans know it, but casual moviegoers probably won't even make the connection.

About the story and pacing of the film, perhaps too much focus on the locust part. I liked how the film started, but then my investment started to decay. With the exception of the Black Market, which was really cool, the Malta part wasn't that exciting, the Atrociraptors were controlled the same way as the Indoraptor...why are they still keeping that thing...

And then Owen, Claire and Kayla arrive to the Biosyn sanctuary, and here where things star to pick up. The Quetzacoaltlus part was dissapointingly short.

But here is where my favorite sequences take part: Claire with the Therizinosaurus, the Giganotosaurus first encounter with the T.rex, the Dimetrodon horror cave, the Dilophosaurus scene with Claire with Owen choking the Dilophosaurus with it's own venom and then the Giga encounter with our protagonists which was the most intense sequence for me.

Also, the whole retcon of Maisie and her mother, I get what they wanted to do but...it´s weird, not gonna lie.

The climax and final fight were... alright, somewhat exciting.

Also those other T.rex at the end were Buck & Doe from TLW! Although that bring the question...Where they have they been all this time?

[close]

For now I won't say if this is a good film or not. Again, need to process it and watch it again when it hits home release. It is the epic conclusion of the Jurassic saga? I don't know.

I wish I could go more deeper, but I have a very important assignment for next Friday that will keep me busy all week, so maybe I will come back here the next weekend.

[Shadowknight1]

I enjoyed the heck out of the movie, but I was still disappointed by a few things, namely the Pyroraptor.  While I don't think it's ugly like so many do, I was mainly disappointed that most of the Pyroraptor footage had already been seen in trailers.  I was at least hoping for it to come back near the end, but it didn't.  I was also disappointed by the lack of dinosaurs in the world kind of stuff.  That would've been neat to see more of.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I enjoyed the heck out of the movie, but I was still disappointed by a few things, namely the Pyroraptor.  While I don't think it's ugly like so many do, I was mainly disappointed that most of the Pyroraptor footage had already been seen in trailers.  I was at least hoping for it to come back near the end, but it didn't.  I was also disappointed by the lack of dinosaurs in the world kind of stuff.  That would've been neat to see more of.

Agreed..and just one Pyroraptor? When has there ever been just one raptor? 

I think I really wanted the prologue bit where the Rex is being hunted down at the theater a part of the movie and actually a movie about that aspect. It was like they had this huge issue at the end of FK, then they just solved it off camera.

[Carnoking]

Some great concept art came out online recently showing scenes we'll sadly never get. The standouts for me was a sauropod dinosaur interrupting firefighters by drinking the hose water as they attempted to put out a blaze, as well as a Carnotaurus and Suchomimus chasing a crowd of people down a narrow alley in Malta (which we did get in the film to an extent). Although we got tastes of seeing dinosaurs in our world both in the film and on the Dino Tracker website, I think it's safe to say that that the movie didn't fully deliver on the premise set up at the end of Fallen Kingdom, and that's a big shortcoming if you ask me. Although what we ended up getting was entertaining in its own way, hopefully all of this concept art (and more) will be included in the art book scheduled to release in the Fall, then we'll all be able to look at it and imagine what might have been.

[suspsy]

This is probably the most spot-on review of Dominion I've read yet. Especially the part about Trevorrow wielding nostalgia like a kid who's found his daddy's gun.

https://mobile.twitter.com/skinkpunch/status/1538863701159051264?fbclid=IwAR25aq4nLdZ5FjizGE6ten01sVWxhOvbEX0ZSkdXi3cmOQpPkvOchVpC3LQ&fs=e&s=cl

[Lynx]

I hate to look in this forum when it comes to movies since it always ruins it for me, but too late now

All in all:
- Meaningless scenes and plot
- Final battle is underwhelming and had no build-up.
- Still a good movie? Yeah.
- Missing something.