Monday, 2 June 2025

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Critique 2/6

 

*****SPOILERS*****

 

Problem: Visuals

 

The look of the film was largely okay. There were a few iffy bits.

We see the hamster ball fully close from Owen’s perspective, and again from Franklin’s perspective. Repeating this same detail didn’t add anything. If the ball almost closed from Owen’s perspective and then this is finished off from Franklin’s perspective, this would have made the best of both shots without ruining the continuity and without wasting time.
When the t-rex was outside the mansion, it looked skinny. But we saw the t-rex earlier that the same night. There’s no way its size changed that much in such a short time span.
 

The look of lava was perhaps the biggest visual issue.

Owen’s hand plopped as it touched the lava. Some lava droplets even came up then down, just like when liquid/viscus surface does when disturbed. This meant the animators clearly noticed the hand and lava overlapped. As such, there’s no excuse for the hand to not be on fire/burned.
Earlier, the tip of Owen’s boot and the lava overlap the exact same position on the screen. Yet there was no effect on the boot. In real life, it would be burning; in the film, a glob should’ve fallen from the boot after lifting away from the lava. Neither happened.
 
 

Problem: Nonsense Behaviour (Protagonists)

 

A few small incidences of speech didn’t make sense.

With a dinosaur coming down the tunnel, Claire reassures Frank that it’s ‘probably not’ the t-rex. The tunnel is obviously neither tall nor wide enough for a t-rex to traverse, especially when you’ve seen the t-rex. Like Claire has. (She even stood underneath it so she had a clear understanding of its proportions.) So Claire saying ‘probably’ doesn’t make sense. Besides, saying ‘definitely not’ would be much more reassuring than ‘probably not’.
As a dinosaur comes down the tunnel, Claire says it’s ‘probably’ not the t-rex. But considering she’s seen the t-rex before, and it’s obvious the tunnel’s neither tall nor wide enough for the t-rex to traverse. As such, Claire knows it’s definitely not the t-rex. saying its definitely not a t-rex would be more reassuring than probably.
Iris complains that Maisie isn’t speaking Queen’s English. But even Iris isn’t speaking Queen’s English! Iris’ complaints are thus hypocritical. Sure, Iris speaks in a posh Standard English, but the Queen speaks with Received Pronunciation (something Iris doesn’t do). Queen’s English is what the Queen speaks with, not what she doesn’t.
The senators ‘can’t condone government intervention on a privately-owned venture’. Well, then ask if the company wants help. Helping a company isn’t intervention but cooperation; plus, assisting a privately-owned company doesn’t dissolve the fact that it’s owned privately. (One could even argue that the government refusing to help is government intervention.)

 

Claire is laughing really hard because, “I can’t believe you think you left me.” In the past, Claire had told Owen that if he wanted to live in his van then he could go ahead. In the present, Claire said this meant she told Owen to go, that she left him.

No. This is Claire giving Owen a choice between her or the van. She made it his choice. For Claire to end the relationship, she would need to make the choice herself, not give that choice away.
Yes, she forced his hand to make the choice, she instigated the break up, but that doesn’t equate to Claire breaking up with Owen. So her perspective is wrong.
 

How did Frank and Zia the paleovet know everyone was above the library?

            Perhaps they saw the others through roof cameras (I saw none but the darkness and rain could’ve obscured them; it seems like a rich manor would have security everywhere). Frank/Zia came to check if the others were alright. What, exactly, can they do from the library if the others are injured on the roof? If you wanted to check if people are okay on the roof, you’d go ask them on the roof. People as smart as Frank/Zia are (considering their careers) wouldn’t make such an obvious mistake.
Yes, they could’ve seen Blue kill the Indoraptor, and thus just assumed everyone was there. However, Frank and Zia came in pretty much straight after the death, so there wouldn’t have be time for them to see the death and then arrive when they did.
Lastly, they could have been wondering aimlessly. The Indoraptor had been killing everyone and Frank/Zia don’t have a weapon, so what would they do if they came across it? Frank definitely wouldn’t come out unless he felt safe. So them walking aimlessly isn’t a sufficient answer.
 
 

Problem: Nonsense Behaviour (Antagonists)

 

Miles wants Claire to bring Franklin so they can hack (ahem, access) the systems used to track dinosaurs. That way, saving the dinosaurs is quicker (good due to the impending volcanic eruption) and easier (work smarter, not harder).

Franklin asks if the mercenaries locked them in “to protect us?” to which Claire says, “I don’t think so.” In that moment, does she think they were locked up in error or for a purpose other than their protection? It’s clear later that it’s the latter, but in that moment, there would be no reason for Claire to be suspicious.
Claire used to run the park, yet her code couldn’t open the door. This means the mercenaries must have locked her out the system with their own hacker. If you can hack to disable the boss’ security codes, surely you could hack into the tracking system? Why, then, would they need Franklin?
 

The t-rex starts making an almighty racket after the guard shuts the van door. It even manages to scrape the van’s sides because it tore free from one restraint. Someone must have heard this; someone should have checked to see the dinosaurs were secured.

As the t-rex roars alongside the scraping, the guards would know where to check first. Plus considering that the t-rex is more dangerous than anything else, that would be a much more acute incentive to make sure it hadn’t escaped.
Further, the guard that shut the door was right there when the scraping and roaring started. Even if no-one else wanted to look, it would be basic human instinct for that guard to check.
 

They have goats and electric sticks to move the t-rex from the cage to the lift. Then the lift opens and the t-rex moves forward into the cell with no coercion or motivation. (There was no way to safely have the electric men in the lift, meaning they couldn’t coerce the t-rex into the cell.)

The lift gave the t-rex plenty of room to stand whereas the cell required bending down. The t-rex would have needed persuasion to enter an uncomfortable, unusual and cramped space. Yet the film didn’t provide this.
There was no food in the cell to attract the t-rex in. Even if there was food, the t-rex had only seconds ago feasted on a goat, so it would’ve been too soon to feed again. So as they had electric guys to move the t-rex from cage to lift, they should have left the goat to lure the t-rex from the lift to the cell.
 

Miles dismisses Iris rather than kills her.

So far, he’s killed everyone who knows about his plan that shouldn’t. Miles is willing to kill anyone who could interfere with his plan. (Think Lockwood, and how the mercenaries left Claire, Owen and Franklin on the actively volcanic island.) Why isn’t Iris dead?
Maybe Miles has an emotional attachment to Iris and thus can’t kill her. But if he didn’t have an emotional attachment for his boss Lockwood, why would he have it for Iris? Lockwood only keeps Maisie alive because she’s worth a fortune. Emotions clearly aren’t his motivator.
Iris leaves just as the mansion is swarmed by mercenaries and criminals. This makes her a security risk (she can reveal what’s going on). So even if Miles couldn’t have Iris killed, surely he would’ve locked her up until all the criminals left?

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