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I’ve been waiting for Blu-ray with this movie. Not only because I love the series, but also because of my mixed feelings during a movie screening.
ABOUT THE MOVIE:
The Jurassic Park series is a classic of the 90’s. The opening scene of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom immediately introduces us to the atmosphere of the previous parts. Storm, rain, darkness and Rexy emerging from behind the trees. From the very first scene – I tell myself – it will be a great cinema. It is a pity that in the next part – the concept of Bayona’s director is a bit distracting. For me, this new version is a collage of two visions. The film can be divided into two parts – an apocalyptic adventure cinema and a dark atmosphere of horror. This fictional and conceptual discrepancy very strongly and spoils the reception of the film. As much as I really liked the first half of the film, the second part is correct at best.
The apocalyptic vision of the destruction of the island looks phenomenal – a typical adventure movie, sudden changes of the frame, great camera shots. As soon as the action moves to the mainland – I had the impression that the creators had run out of ideas. We had the deportation and “roundup” of dinosaurs in the Lost World. Here we get a poorly built plot and an almost banal ending. I’ve just seen it all somewhere. The plot of the film is really wildly predictable. In addition, the trailers have revealed virtually all the cards, so the viewer is not surprised by the development of events. And so, known from the first part, Owen and Claire go to Isla Nublar to save the dinosaurs from the volcanic eruption. However, as we know from the movie Jurassic Park: The Last World – taking the dinosaurs from the island is the worst of bad ideas – as Ian Malcolm used to say. You can see that Jurassic World tries to draw inspiration from the previous parts and books by Michael Crichton. A trained eye of a fan will immediately notice such delicacies as a characteristic yellow coat, a jeep, a goat, a cane with amber, a musical theme at the “entrance” of a brachiosaurus or the characteristic posture and roar of T-Rex, “claw-stamping” by an Indoraptor. In all parts of the series, as a rule, we were dealing with an extensive film set. The action took place in an open space, and only some scenes – in order to build tension – were located in claustrophobic scenery (e.g. the iconic raptor scene in the kitchen in the first part). Subsequent sequels followed this pattern. Here, in the middle of the film, we get a 180-degree change of the concept of the film. All movies and books – were based primarily on scientific theories, mathematics, evolution, chaos theory. Currently, this topic has been reduced to a minimum. In Ian Malcolm’s speech, the famous words “Life will find a way” were missing. All the more, his attitude – when it comes to the criticism of saving endangered species – is surprising.
The acting cast is decent. Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire) did a great job. Together with Chris Pratt (Owen), they form the perfect duo. You can see the chemistry and harmony between the main characters – as was the case with Dr. Alan Grant, Ellie Satler and Ian Malcolm and Sarah Harding. However, I had the impression that Bryce Dallas Howard fares much better in terms of acting than Chris Pratt, who has been playing quite casually, as if casually. A very serious objection is the “shallowing” of the most interesting characters: Benjamin Lookwood and Ken Wheatley. I really don’t understand how you can spoil the interesting plot of Lookwood – Hamond. Deepening the relationship between them and describing their conflict would be a sensational bridge between the first parts of the films and the rest of the series. We only get scraps of information from the director. Ken Wheatley, on the other hand, was reduced to the role of a reckless hunter – an idiot and the topic of his “fetish” was completely disregarded. Jeff Goldblum – he played only in two short scenes … It’s a pity, the potential of the indicated characters was simply wasted. The character of Mills – has been reduced to the limit, written without panache, played very patterned. The motives and intentions of his actions are simply not original and not very ambitious.
Theoretically, the movie is about dinosaurs. There are relatively few of them on the screen, and all the scenes are stolen by the old good-natured Rexy. Some of the scenes are breathtaking: volcano eruption and dinosaur panic, Indoraptor’s pursuit of heroes, scene in Maisy’s bedroom, and the opening scene of the movie. Others, however, are very underdeveloped and I have an impression made up by force (auction, final scene of dinosaurs in cages, scene in the laboratory).
https://youtu.be/26f0bcU7U2s
The visual side of the film deserves praise – even applause -. There is really nothing to complain about here – and each special effect is refined down to the smallest detail. You can see the dinosaurs breathing, saliva leaking, and moving their eyes. The puppetry technique combined with CGI was used in the creation of animals. It’s really hard to distinguish what is a product of a computer and what is a mock-up. The very appearance of Indoraptor – an artificially created unfinished hybrid – is also surprising – we have cavities in the skin, “nervous tics” of the animal, characteristic grunts. We can see immediately that we are dealing with a prototype. The concept of Indoraptor surprised me pleasantly – the way of moving, running, hoarse noises, climbing, or, for example, sneaking into Maisy’s bedroom and “pulling claws” for the victim like a Nosferatu vampire. It is a pity that the director decided to solve the final question of Indoraptor in a very banal way and – horrifyingly – in slowmotion. But I did like the release of Owen-Blue’s relationship. I think the very concept of “training” raptor is bizarre, but how it is presented in JW: UK I consider putting the thread on the right track.
The music in the movie – well – John Williams is not it, it is just boring and not very original. I felt neither terror, nor terror, nor emotion – maybe except for one scene immediately after escaping from the destroyed island. I must admit that there is a gap between the sensational first part of the Jurassic Park series, a very good continuation – The Lost World and the rest of the production. I was very skeptical about the new parts. Jurassic World surprised me pleasantly, because it was a kind of refreshment of the series and it brought something original. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, however – as a fan – disappointed. The new Jurassic World is like the new Star Wars – there is fun, fireworks, but the plot and scenario is still pale. However, it is still a piece of good cinema of a new adventure. A movie worth watching, for example for the amazing graphics, for Blue, for Rexy, for Isla Nublar and Ian Malcolm. It’s just a pity that Claire was without high heels this time.
BOX EDITION AND ADDITIONAL MATERIALS:
I haven’t seen such a well-designed cover for a long time. Only the logo, title and standard graphics on the front – no unnecessary inscriptions. It just looks wonderful. Fortunately, the side matches the previous editions (of course, apart from Jurassic World 3D, which, for some reason, has a different color version than the rest), and we only find an inscription on it, without unnecessary rectangles with characters. On the back, there is a collage of three photos and standard release notes.
I got a Blu-ray release and I will say that I am very pleasantly surprised. The additions on the album are numerous. We get pre-production, production and post-production materials, interviews with actors, set design processes, stunt scenes, concept art, creating animatronic dinosaurs, we see the work of puppeteers from the kitchen and how to combine puppetry art with CGI. In addition, we get a number of comments from the director, set designers, producers (including the father of the series, Steven Spielberg) and other people involved in the production. Of course, the extras had to include funny scenes, Chris Pratt’s antics and many more.
- ON SET WITH CHRIS & BRYCE – 3:06 – behind-the-scenes materials about the collaboration between Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt, statements by the director, producer about working with lead actors;
- THE KINGDOM EVOLVES – 4:33 – concept art, scene visualizations; director’s vision;
- RETURN IS HAWAII – 2:42 – behind the scenes footage shot in Hawaii at Kualoa Ranch;
- ISLAND ACTION – 6:01 – backstage materials: scenes in the bunker with Baryonyx; escape from a herd of dinosaurs; volcanic eruption; escape in the gyosphere;
- ABOARD THE ARCADIA – 5:54 – behind-the-scenes footage: Operation Blue ship scene; rodeo on T-Rex; tyrannosaurus mockup;
- BORTH OF THE INDORAPTOR – 4:10 – indoraptor model, concept art,
- START THE BIDDING! – 3:19 – behind-the-scenes footage: auction, fight scenes at Lookwood’s mansion;
- DEATH BY DINO – 1:34 – behind the scenes footage: Wheatley’s death scene;
- MONSTER IN A MANSION – 3:07 – Backstage footage: bedroom scene with indoraptor;
- ROOFTOP SHOWDOWN – 3:48 – final scene on the roof, concept art, stages of creation;
- MALCOLM’S RETURN – 3:05 – return of Jeff Goldblum;
- VFX EVOLVED – 7:08 – special effects, creating and “reviving” dinosaurs, puppetry art;
- FALLEN KINGDOM: THE CONVERSATION – 10:17 – Chris Pratt, Colin Trevorrow, Bruce Dallas Howard, JA Bayona, Jeff Goldblum – production talk, interesting facts, anecdotes;
- A SONG FOR THE KINGDOM – 1:26 – song by Justice Smith;
- CHRISS PRATT’S JURASSIC JOURNALS – 12:09 – short interviews between the actor and the employees on the set of the film:
- Vivian Baker, Makeup Artist – make-up artist
- Mary Mastro, Hair Stylist – hairdresser
- Chris Murphy, 1st Assistant Sound – sound engineer
- Dean Bailey, Stunt edge car driver – high performance driver
- Peter Harcourt, diver – diver
- Daniella Pineda and Justice Smith – actors
- Jody Wiltshire, set pa – on-set production assistant
- Kelly Krieg, assistant script supervisor – script supervision assistant
- JA Bayona – director
- Jemas Cox, stunt performer – stunt performer
- Rachelle Beinart, stunt double – double
- Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt – actors
RELEASE INFORMATION:
- Movie duration: 129 minutes
- Sound: DTS X-MA English; DTS-HD 7.1. Czech, Hungarian DD 5.1. Polish dubbingRussian
- Image: 1080p High Definition; 2: 39: 1; 16 × 9
- Subtitles: polskieEnglish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Russian, Romanian, Slovenian
- License: retail movie without a license to rent
- Distributor: Filmostrada
We would like to thank Filmostrad for making the issue available for review.
