The hype has been hopeful.. the storyline may be hackneyed, but in a summer where earthquakes are destroying California in the box office, there is hope that dinosaurs, back for revenge in JURASSIC WORLD, will dominate and captivate a new generation..
Or it will, as the AP surmises in a review, lack the ‘deft sense of wonderment’ that greeted people in the early 1990s when Stephen Spielberg first released the classic..
I recall that yearly fondly. I was 13, malls were still hip, and movie theaters still ripped on a regular basis. I was excited when I heard my family wanted to see JURASSIC PARK. It was making magazine covers–people bought those relics then. And after the movie concluded, I could not wait 6 months then! until the Christmas release on VHS .. I may be dating myself.
While I may not have had the same level of excitement about this new film, the trailers have jazzed me up more and more each time I saw a new one.. the most recent was more of a horror tale than an action adventure about humans vs dinos..
But the AP seems to be lamenting in a review splashing around its wire service and being picked up by news outlets across the planet. Jake Coyle, a film reviewer for the AP, writes,
“Jurassic World,” the latest incarnation of the franchise, is lacking the deft sense of wonderment, wit and suspense that guided the original. Director Colin Trevorrow, who ended his first and only other feature, “Safety Not Guaranteed,” with a Spielbergian magical twist, has instead made a more biting thriller hung up on the corporate mandates of post-“Jurassic Park” Hollywood.
And this:
The 3-D “Jurassic World” is also an ugly, over-saturated movie; CGI has run amok here as much as dinosaurs. After nods to John Williams’ classic original, Michael Giacchino’s unremarkable new score punctuates the action, as the characters gradually come together from locations across the park. Vincent d’Onofrio’s opportunistic military contractor is also lurking.
Two stars out of four.
While some may question the authority of just one review, I have often believed in the power of what the AP says. It’s the news outlet of choice.. Each local newspaper will run this review.. Other websites will as well. Drudge linked it today on the top of his page. Whether Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB gives this movie rave credentials, this AP snub will take hold as the overall pundit’s non-pick of the summer.
And at the same time, it may not matter.
JURASSIC WORLD may not keep a foothold on the box office after its initial review, but that may not matter. The makers of the film aren’t aiming for a sleeper hit, but instead want the main action and box office boom to be quick..
JURASSIC WORLD took about ten years to create and had a rocky history..
And now, as the AP slams the movie, it seems to be going against the grain and momentum.
This film is slated, some say, to be on course to earn $100 million in a week..
While this AP hit may be the fashionable anti-movie wording that some will use, none of it will matter.
The long term effects of bad reviews are often apparent. But in the summer time, when school is out and people are clamoring for fake destruction, mayhem, and blood, JURASSIC WORLD is exactly what the season has ordered. It will be a blowout ..
Some may argue that the money a movie makes doesn’t matter. My friend Anghus at FLICKERING MYTH often argues that point. While I agree–the overall film’s worth should never be concluded due to the cash flow it has during its box office period–the money a film makes IN THE SUMMER does matter .. JURASSIC can boast an accomplishment in $100 million worth of tickets are purchased to see the dinosaurs strike back.
The summer of CGI disasters.
Hopefully it stays confined to the box office..
