Jurassic World: Dominion

[TheGentTrent]

I think a lot of the pushback could stem from the first film being held in such high regard that they’re holding the same standards to this.

But isn't that a sad state of affairs that the three main film franchises @Nick mentioned earlier started off good, have been reduced to "dumb fun", and that we're just supposed to accept it because that's what sells? Can't Universal go back to making tentpole films that people will fondly remember decades from now instead of becoming the high-budget studio equivalent of The Asylum?

Extreme comparison, I know, but you get the idea.

 

[Nick]

But isn't that a sad state of affairs that the three main film franchises @Nick mentioned earlier started off good, have been reduced to "dumb fun", and that we're just supposed to accept it because that's what sells? Can't Universal go back to making tentpole films that people will fondly remember decades from now instead of becoming the high-budget studio equivalent of The Asylum?

Extreme comparison, I know, but you get the idea.

And not just dumb fun sells. 2015's Jurassic World was a really fun movie that, much like The Force Awakens, set the franchise up for a potentially great trilogy. These movies are only dumb fun because that's what Universal has turned them into. Nothing is every going to be as good as the original JP, but there was a chance for a really solid trilogy here and much like the first trilogy, after the first movie, it just turned into complete and utter nonsense.

The second a franchise devolves into "dumb fun" and that wasn't what the original intention behind a franchise, I stop watching, because ironically, that's when it stops being fun for me as a movie goer. It means that they strayed from their original vision and somewhere along the line got lazy either in the films direction, writing, etc.

Despicable Me (the original) is a movie that was made with incredible heart and a great start for Illumination. Then DM 2, 3 and Minions happened. DM 2 was where the downhill plunge started there. Less focus on heart, more on zany minions. Then a Minions film, which is just when I stopped. DM had a chance to be their animated Toy Story and have great film after great film, but they were more focused on selling minion plush than on the script after the first movie.

 

[Brian G.]

When you say first film, do you mean first Jurassic movie, or first JW movie?

The OG, Jurassic Park.

But isn't that a sad state of affairs that the three main film franchises @Nick mentioned earlier started off good, have been reduced to "dumb fun", and that we're just supposed to accept it because that's what sells? Can't Universal go back to making tentpole films that people will fondly remember decades from now instead of becoming the high-budget studio equivalent of The Asylum?

Extreme comparison, I know, but you get the idea.

I obviously would love the franchise to carry on the quality of the first, but they haven't - and it’s been like that since the Lost World. I've made peace with that. I can only judge the film put in front of me, not what should’ve been.

 

[Nick]

The OG, Jurassic Park.

Nothing is ever going to touch a Steven Spielberg masterpiece though, unless of course, Spielberg had interest in coming back to the franchise. Jurassic World (2015) did a good enough job to bring the nostalgia needed to start a new trilogy giving people 1993 JP vibes, though.

 

[Brian G.]

Nothing is ever going to touch a Steven Spielberg masterpiece though, unless of course, Spielberg had interest in coming back to the franchise. Jurassic World (2015) did a good enough job to bring the nostalgia needed to start a new trilogy giving people 1993 JP vibes, though.

right… that’s what I’m saying. I’m not holding the new films to the first one because it isn’t fair.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Wow…I can say I’ve at least had something to defend about each Jurassic movie until now. Dominion is like 5 different movies all intersecting into a 2 hour+ film, all of which are not the film anyone would have expected to see after the end of Fallen Kingdom. A colossal misfire in my opinion.

But isn't that a sad state of affairs that the three main film franchises @Nick mentioned earlier started off good, have been reduced to "dumb fun", and that we're just supposed to accept it because that's what sells? Can't Universal go back to making tentpole films that people will fondly remember decades from now instead of becoming the high-budget studio equivalent of The Asylum?

Extreme comparison, I know, but you get the idea.

Nothing is ever going to touch a Steven Spielberg masterpiece though, unless of course, Spielberg had interest in coming back to the franchise. Jurassic World (2015) did a good enough job to bring the nostalgia needed to start a new trilogy giving people 1993 JP vibes, though.

even standing on its own, without comparing it to the original.... there are things in this movie that are nonsensical or ridiculous from a story perspective.
without even comparing it to Jurassic world even, this had some pretty bad writing. on its own, it even baits and switch from the trailer , we didnt even get the story that was hinted at the end of fallen kingdom...
i didnt expect a movie as good as the original, i only expected a good story

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

And not just dumb fun sells. 2015's Jurassic World was a really fun movie that, much like The Force Awakens, set the franchise up for a potentially great trilogy. These movies are only dumb fun because that's what Universal has turned them into. Nothing is every going to be as good as the original JP, but there was a chance for a really solid trilogy here and much like the first trilogy, after the first movie, it just turned into complete and utter nonsense.

The second a franchise devolves into "dumb fun" and that wasn't what the original intention behind a franchise, I stop watching, because ironically, that's when it stops being fun for me as a movie goer. It means that they strayed from their original vision and somewhere along the line got lazy either in the films direction, writing, etc.

Despicable Me (the original) is a movie that was made with incredible heart and a great start for Illumination. Then DM 2, 3 and Minions happened. DM 2 was where the downhill plunge started there. Less focus on heart, more on zany minions. Then a Minions film, which is just when I stopped. DM had a chance to be their animated Toy Story and have great film after great film, but they were more focused on selling minion plush than on the script after the first movie.

I really root for Universal to make good movies, so it's insanely frustrating to me that many of the best movies represented at the parks now are third party properties.

 

[Nick]

right… that’s what I’m saying. I’m not holding the new films to the first one because it isn’t fair.

Yeah, but my point is just because it’s not going to be as good as the original JP doesn't mean it has to be downgraded all the way to dumb fun. That doesn't mean it can't be a dinosaur romp. MCU movies literally have aliens or gods in them half the time, but the movies aren't normally what I would describe as dumb fun. I think it really comes down to the writing providing those emotional sparks and not letting the dumb fun dominate the movie.

 

[shiekra38]

I saw it last night...it was...a lot

**Spoliers**

There are some interesting characters that were introduced, the plane lady for instance (don't even know her name lol)...I was hoping for some kind of connection to Biosyn or something to give her motivation to help out our mains.

I'm not sure having the original 3 return was necessary, let's be honest though, it's so fun to see them act on screen together..There is a scene where Alan Grant looks at one of the gigantic grasshoppers/locust whatever, and he's staring at a cage with one of them in it...it's clearly just an oversized grasshopper and he says: "the genome matches that of a grasshopper, it has a thorax and abdomen as a grasshopper does, but.....it's gigantic"...I audibly said "genius"...It's funnny because in the original trilogy you really bought that they were academics and versed in their specific field...I bought that they knew what they were talking about...To see them relegated to such simplistic dialogue is rather hysterical...There are a few moments like that.

Chris Pratt wasn't shirtless at ALL - sad

The storyline with the little girl is dumb, however, she is really just motivation to get everyone to the Biosyn facility...I thought for a moment they were going to go Wild Thornberrys with her and allow her to talk to dinosaurs lol

The main "evil?" character looking like Tim Cook and the Biosyn campus looking kind of like Apple was...weird..I really don't know what they were trying to say there other than "corporations are evil" which is a trite argument...

The dinos being released into the world is still such a funny concept to me..like how many thousands of people died because of it?

There is a moment where they begin to recreate the T-Rex first appearance scene with a Jeep and then it just kind of stops and they escape...I think 1) It would have been more fun with the T-rex 2) It would have been fun to see ALL of the mains recreate that scene shot for shot for a fun nod to the original.

This really just reminds me of how simplistic the original was, how characters were allowed to develop, and how the dinosaurs appearing only for 15 minutes was a great decision (which is actually something this film does well)...There aren't a ton of dino scenes in this, but the ones that they do have are effective...There is definitely a sense of danger and peril which is a staple of the franchise.

Overall, I think it was a good idea to end it here, but I think there is some juice left to squeeze in a long form Netflix or Peacock show about the Park/World...It's really impossible for big film Studios to develop characters in a 2 hour movie anymore, they just don't do it lol.

Also blue is in it for like 1 minute - crime

 

[Wesker69]

The new pilot character could've easily been Ian's daughter from Lost World. Gotta redeem her for that awful gymnastics scene lol

The legacy characters are what carried this movie & made it watchable

As for the little clone girl... ugh, everytime she spoke, she had the same stuffed up nose voice as Rey in Disney's SW sequel trilogy.. also I was waiting for Henry to reveal that he was her father from a fling he had with the clone's mom

 

[Brian G.]

Yeah, but my point is just because it’s not going to be as good as the original JP doesn't mean it has to be downgraded all the way to dumb fun. That doesn't mean it can't be a dinosaur romp. MCU movies literally have aliens or gods in them half the time, but the movies aren't normally what I would describe as dumb fun. I think it really comes down to the writing providing those emotional sparks and not letting the dumb fun dominate the movie.

Again. Not what I'm saying.

I'm saying it's not fair to compare it to the first AND with the path the subsequent 4 sequel films followed, along with the reviews of Dominion - I went in with checked expectations.

 

[belloq87]

I had more fun with DOMINION than I did with either of the previous JURASSIC WORLD movies.

JURASSIC PARK still is in a class all its own (as one of the greatest blockbusters ever).

 

[Nick]

Again. Not what I'm saying.

I'm saying it's not fair to compare it to the first AND with the path the subsequent 4 sequel films followed, along with the reviews of Dominion - I went in with checked expectations.

I do think there's something to be said for reviews for a film being so bad that it turns into a strength for the film (in some cases). The reviews for this film were so bad (and something like Fantastic Beasts 3) where the reviews et the bar so low that it was easy to go in and have a good time with the movie because you kinda weren't expecting too much out of the film going in anyway.

 

[belloq87]

I do think there's something to be said for reviews for a film being so bad that it turns into a strength for the film (in some cases). The reviews for this film were so bad (and something like Fantastic Beasts 3) where the reviews et the bar so low that it was easy to go in and have a good time with the movie because you kinda weren't expecting too much out of the film going in anyway.

Could definitely be something to this. The CinemaScore ended up being a very solid A-, and the weekend box office estimates have been revised upwards a couple times since yesterday (not by huge amounts, but still).

Seems very possible that people are walking in with cautious expectations and being pleasantly surprised.

 

[shiekra38]

I do think there's something to be said for reviews for a film being so bad that it turns into a strength for the film (in some cases). The reviews for this film were so bad (and something like Fantastic Beasts 3) where the reviews et the bar so low that it was easy to go in and have a good time with the movie because you kinda weren't expecting too much out of the film going in anyway.

Regardless of how terrible the plot is of a JW movie...the charm and charisma of the cast..and the fact that there's friggin dinosaurs...will always help

FB seems to keep sputtering out of control

Still though, I love that the plot of Velocicoaster is more consistent than this movie lol

 

[Jerroddragon]

This movie is bad....like really bad....but it was so bad it was kinda fun

Spoiler

This film reminds me of Austin Powers....like it is so silly that its funny. Reminds me of Star Wars Episode 3 as well....just a fun dumb film

 

[Nick]

Regardless of how terrible the plot is of a JW movie...the charm and charisma of the cast..and the fact that there's friggin dinosaurs...will always help

FB seems to keep sputtering out of control

Still though, I love that the plot of Velocicoaster is more consistent than this movie lol

The audience scores for FB 3 are what I was referencing. It has a critic RT % in the 40's, but the Audience rating is 83%. Similar case for JW 3. 30% critic RT score, but 79% audience score (currently).

 

[Lucky Planet]

Yeah, but my point is just because it’s not going to be as good as the original JP doesn't mean it has to be downgraded all the way to dumb fun. That doesn't mean it can't be a dinosaur romp. MCU movies literally have aliens or gods in them half the time, but the movies aren't normally what I would describe as dumb fun. I think it really comes down to the writing providing those emotional sparks and not letting the dumb fun dominate the movie.

this movie reminded me of independence day 2 and pacific rim 2, it just had that same kind of feeling, same problems. sacrificing good plot for flashy scenes
and then i find out the writer of pacific rim 2 co wrote this lol

 

[HalfGlass]

this movie reminded me of independence day 2 and pacific rim 2, it just had that same kind of feeling, same problems. sacrificing good plot for flashy scenes
and then i find out the writer of pacific rim 2 co wrote this lol

That’s an excellent comparison. Bring back the old guard and then betray all of the greatest qualities and the original’s sensibilities. I will say though, the four Jurassic sequels at least helped set the stage for the new film, even if it’s still a little off. Independence Day Resurgence was outright jarring, and to this day is one of the most disappointing lega-sequels of all time.

 

[Nick]

That’s an excellent comparison. Bring back the old guard and then betray all of the greatest qualities and the original’s sensibilities. I will say though, the four Jurassic sequels at least helped set the stage for the new film, even if it’s still a little off. Independence Day Resurgence was outright jarring, and to this day is one of the most disappointing lega-sequels of all time.

Independence Day was a movie that simply didn't need a sequel.