spider tamer

*some spoilers* This movie did an amazing job considering the budget that went into it. The director said that the CG team put extra effort into feathering the dinosaurs, despite feathers being much harder to animate. Ironically, this has lead to the feathered dinosaurs (usually) looking better than the scaly ones, especially the utahraptors, which looked absolutely bonkers good. However, I had a few problems with the movie (overlooking issues caused by budget restraints such as hiring b-grade actors). First of all, even though the movie claims to have scientifically accurate dinosaurs, there are numerous irritating inaccuracies that prevented it from reaching it's full potential - all of the raptors were missing feathers on their second fingers, the tyrannosaurus was all out of proportion, and any dinosaur (or pterosaur) larger than the utahraptors were at least 1.5 times bigger than they should have been. If you claim to be a better movie than your competitors because of more up-to-date designs, don't go only halfway. This brings me to my second gripe: the movie at times feels like it's purpose is to be nothing more than a double middle finger to the Jurassic World franchise, even copying at least one scene shot-for-shot during a tyrannosaur chase. We need more dinosaur movies outside of that monolithic franchise, yes. But constantly trying to one-up the competition only discredits the film, and will likely make many diehard Jurassic fans hungry for more dinosaur actions unhappy, which is not something you want to do when you have a limited release and are dependent on as much dino lovers attending your movie as possible. Finally, the ending was just ridiculous and removed any suspension of disbelief the audience probably had. I unfortunately have not read the book yet and thus don't know if this happens in the climax of the book, but whether or not a scene in a book works does not mean it translates well onto a big screen. There were so many utahraptors I actually got bored of seeing them, which is something that should never happen in a dinosaur movie, especially not concerning the secondary antagonists of the film. The climax would have been so much more satisfying if there were still only six utahraptors and the protagonists still struggle to kill them all. Having Cyclops (the one with the knife in his eye) be basically bulletproof throughout film only for his brethren to be taken out by pistol shots later greatly cheapens the notion that these things are, as stated earlier in the film, "feathered demons". Overall though, I appreciated the effort put into the production, as well as the fact that the movie plays itself straight through one of the most absurd premises of all time. People complaining about the Marvel dialogue half-sarcasm rampant in movies where it does not belong will appreciate this movie almost as much as any dinosaur lover.

First of all, this is a serious review. Not an AI joke "This movie was a cinematic masterpiece" review. Honestly, I would put this movie at 3.5/5 stars, if only Google Reviews would let me. I liked it for the most part, and it gave me the same vibes as "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves": a fun summer movie to enjoy with the guys, not a movie one would watch while studying film or a movie to recommend or discuss with film connoisseurs. The route they went for making this movie was clearly in this direction, and so should have merited a 4 star rating, but there were a few major points that prevented that from happening: First, the movie was too short, or at least focused on the wrong parts for too long. I would have liked to see more character development, because kooky characters are what Jared Hess, and therefore this film as well, are all about -- but kooky characters are funnier when you get to see more of their life outside of the familiar plot. For example, it's said that Dawn wants to be a petting zoo entrepreneur, and drives around with a bunch of animals. Instead of showing this for approximately 1.5 seconds as a gag, show her struggling with dealing with the animals in a funny, awkward way that would have fit the movie's style better. This in turn would make the end scene where she finally makes one more satisfactory for the viewer. This is just a singular example, but the whole movie suffers from it; they tried to cram in every single reference to the game instead of developing just a few references and saving the rest for a sequel, which Warner Bros will certainly do considering the ridiculously unexpected amount of money this movie made. Secondly, I felt that there were far too many references to Minecraft spinoffs compared to the actual game itself. Maybe it's just because I never played the other games besides Minecraft Dungeons (once) I couldn't connect to the story as well, and the stakes didn't feel as high. I also felt that the Wither could have been a better stand in than the second Great Hog, because then it would make it seem as if Malgosha was desperate enough for the power she needed to defeat Steve that she would construct an uncontrollable force after the first Great Hog died. (As a quick side note, I also wish Garret would have used the Totem of Undying instead of a water bucket clutch, as there clearly was no time for him to fill a bucket and it would have been entirely possible for him to grab the token as it was in the same chest as the ender pearl he was messing around with, but that's just a nitpick.) And finally, I wish Sebastian Hansen wasn't cast as Henry. I don't want to sound rude, but he just sucked the energy out of every scene he spoke in, and he didn't come off as a genuine or believable character, unlike the dynamic duo that was Jason Momoa and Jack Black. Still, he's young and has his entire life ahead of him, so I hope he perfects his talent; it's just a shame that he performed the way he did in this movie. All in all, it's no Lego Movie, which taught the same exact lesson in a much, much better way. But it is a fun, goofy movie to watch, and I don't think it deserves the low scores Rotten Tomatoes or IBDM give it.