Latest news with #ColinTrevorrow
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I Heard Jurassic World Dominion Was Bad, But I Would Watch It Over Any Other Jurassic Sequel
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SPOILER WARNING: The following article gives away, just about, the entire plot of Jurassic World Dominion. If you have not yet seen the 2022 Jurassic Park movie, act like Owen Grady holding up his hand to magically neutralize a dinosaur, and proceed with caution as you read on. With Jurassic World Rebirth hitting theaters soon, I figured it was about time that I do something I had been reluctant to do: catch up with the full franchise and watch Jurassic World Dominion. Considering the beastly reviews from critics and audiences, I was braving the worst, but, to my surprise, I thought it was far from it. To be clear, I would not call Colin Trevorrow's sequel a good movie. I think it suffers from a pitifully lazy script, sleepy acting, and throwing out the previous film's setup for a dinosaur-ridden dystopia in favor of, echoing Eric Eisenberg's Jurassic World Dominion review, two bland, disparate plotlines that have little to do with, ya know, dinosaurs. However, I do not at all regret watching it and would choose to watch it again over most sequels to Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic, which I realize may come as a shock to many Jurassic fans. Well, allow me to explain… In previous articles of mine, such as my reaction to the recent sci-fi thriller Companion, I have made it clear that I am a staunch technophobe who fears how dangerously technology's advancement could, or already has, affected our society. However, there is one fear of mine that I have been a bit less vocal about in my writing until now: bugs, especially ones of unusual size. So, you might be able to imagine how I felt when the genetically engineered locusts appeared on the screen. Now, I will agree with the widely shared opinion that a Jurassic Park movie focusing its plot on a non-reptilian prehistoric creature is a mistake, but said creatures did manage to get my adrenaline going faster than any of the dinosaurs that appear in Jurassic World Dominion. That being said… Whenever a dinosaur would appear on screen in Dominion, I found it nothing short of impressive. The special effects, boasting the classic blend of practical animatronics with some of the best CGI Hollywood has to offer, were so convincing, I am surprised there was not more praise about that aspect, at least. Aside from their visual effects, I felt that the action sequences involving dinosaurs are genuinely some of the best that the franchise has ever seen. I recall, in particular, being thoroughly riveted by a scene taking place in Malta, when Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) is chased on a motorcycle through the city by Atrociraptors. I had to stop and think to myself, Wow, I am actually having fun with this movie, and it did not stop there. Some have said the extended edition of Jurassic World Dominion is better than the theatrical version, but you can get both on a Blu-ray and 4K UHD set from Amazon for nearly half off the regular price!View Deal The one reason I had to be somewhat optimistic about finally watching Dominion was the one aspect that I had heard positive rumblings about: DeWanda Wise as Kayla Watts. I could not agree more with my colleague Sarah El-Mahmoud that the daredevil pilot is the best character from the Jurassic World trilogy for her bravery and quick wit, and for just being a badass. If there are any downsides to Kayla, I would say that she makes most of the other newer characters (including Mamoudou Athie's Ramsay Cole and even Pratt's Grady) look weaker than I already believed they were, and that she should have been introduced to the franchise earlier. With all due respect to Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali, a part of me wishes that she were the focus of the upcoming 2025 movie, Jurassic World Rebirth, instead. Despite my harsh words about the newer Jurassic characters, I have to admit that I really enjoyed seeing them finally interact with Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). In fact, I don't think I was ever amused by the OG heroes' return until that moment, as the parameters of their reunion and the moments the trio shared never felt particularly natural. And don't get me started about the random callbacks to the first film, like Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott) somehow possessing the fake Barbasol canister and displaying it in his office. What?! Anyway, I can't say that 'natural' is a word I would use to describe Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm's meeting with Grady, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), and others in the final act either. The events that lead them to each other are far too convenient (like many other aspects of the plot), and much of their dialogue feels egregiously forced. Yet, there was something about seeing them all gathered together and relying on one another to survive against the prehistoric wildlife that left me wishing the movie had dedicated more time to bringing them together. Of course, any Jurassic Park fan knows that the real draw of this franchise is not the meat, but the meat-eaters, and the one who rules them all is the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Any return by that big behemoth in these movies, no matter how convoluted the reasoning may be, is warmly welcomed by me, and its appearance in Dominion was no exception, especially since it was not alone. I actually really dug how the T-Rex was treated as a hero, Godzilla style, in the film's final act, when it teams up with a Therizinosaurus to bring down the Giganotosaurus. Watching the T-Rex throw the Giganotosaurus onto the Therizinosaurus' claws, fatally impaling it, made for a more satisfying final battle than the Indominus Rex showdown in 2015's Jurassic World, if you ask me. I don't see a future in which I ever boot up my Peacock subscription to watch Jurassic World Dominion again, unless I get curious and decide to check out the extended edition, which I hear is an improvement. Yet, I can't say I feel that I wasted my morning watching it the other day, which is something I can't say about most of the follow-ups to the original '90s movie classic, and that calls for a modest roar of applause in my book.
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
I Watched ‘Jurassic World Dominion: Extended Version' So You Don't Have To
If you've ever been curious to see the impact of editing on a movie, the extended version of Jurassic World Dominion is a fascinating case. Clocking in 14 minutes longer than the original film, the extended version (which is streaming on Peacock) is somehow both better and worse than its predecessor at the exact same time. The new scenes add welcome scope and pathos to the film, taking a movie that was all over the place and giving it some welcome focus. However, those scenes are also poison to the film's pacing, making it feel 20-30 minutes longer than it actually is. So, you're left watching the film like you are the director. Would you have released a slightly better, but slower, movie? Or a slightly faster, but less interesting, movie? Of course, we can assume that director Colin Trevorrow went with the latter, releasing the theatrical version at two hours and 26 minutes as opposed to two hours and 40 minutes, which, in the end, was probably the right call. Despite dismal reviews, Dominion was a certified smash, grossing over $1 billion worldwide and making it certain Universal wasn't done with dinosaurs just yet, which is why we revisited this film in the first place. And, if we were going to revisit Dominion, why not watch the extended version that came out for home release? That brings us to today. Next week, Jurassic World Rebirth hits theaters, taking the six-film franchise off in a brand new direction. It's set after the events of Dominion, so a rewatch to get some facts straight in our heads seemed worthwhile. Facts like dinosaurs now roam the world freely, but are relegated to isolated areas in certain places. One is in Italy, where the evil company BioSyn almost killed the planet with its genetically modified locusts. But thanks to the DNA of Maisie Lockwood, a clone of one of Jurassic Park's original scientists, Charlotte Lockwood, that crisis was averted. BioSyn was, presumably, shut down, and all is right with the world. As someone who saw Jurassic Park on opening night in 1993, few films have made me as angry as Jurassic World Dominion did back in 2022. Billed as a big culmination of two Jurassic trilogies, the film tragically fumbles that for a story that seems wholly uninterested in dinosaurs. I wrote about it—extensively—at the time, so I won't get too deep into it again. Rewatching the film now, though, especially in this slightly extended version, you do see that a much better film was in there. Additional scenes like a 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired opening, completely absent of music, which follows one of the mosquitoes John Hammond used to unlock Jurassic Park DNA in the first place, really work to link the full franchise together. A subsequent scene of a T-Rex running around a drive-in movie theater shows the potential fear living in this now integrated world. Both were cut (and later released as an online short), but those scenes and others give the film a much broader scope to explore the world that the previous five films worked so hard to set up. Extended and additional scenes are sprinkled throughout the entire movie. One early scene speaks to Maisie's rebellious nature as she visits a store. Another adds smart context to the poachers who eventually kidnap her. Blue and Beta murder a couple in the woods, adding to their aura. There's a lot of stuff. One of the most fascinating additions, though, is in the reintroduction of Alan Grant, Sam Neill's character from the first and third films. The original cut shows him pontificating about dinosaur bones and, while you barely even notice it, several young students sitting around, on their phones, ignoring him. However, in the extended version, Grant calls out the kids and they ask him why they should care about dinosaurs because 'they've been around since the '90s.' The idea that modern kids have been totally demystified to dinosaurs is a borderline shocking sentiment that seemed ripe for exploration. Alas, it's not in the movie at all, especially with this brief scene cut. Those are just a few examples, but almost all of the added scenes help the movie explore present themes and even touch on new ones. The question becomes, at what cost? With the extended scenes, Dominion now takes almost 30 minutes to get a whiff of the film's actual story. Every time there's something that makes the movie better, it also slows it down enough to make it worse. By the time we get all of the characters together at BioSyn for the big finale, you might as well have watched the five other movies first. It feels that long and drawn out. In the end, Jurassic World Dominion: Extended Edition is, without a doubt, the superior version of this movie. But, that's mostly because it's widely accepted that the original cut of the movie is so bad. This version of the movie is still bad, but at least it illustrates more of the good ideas and intentions behind the scenes. Ideas and intentions that, unfortunately, were largely absent in the final film. Here's hoping the new film finds that balance and brings the Jurassic franchise back to its roots. The first six Jurassic films are all streaming on Peacock. Jurassic World Rebirth opens July 2. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Director of the scrapped Star Wars movie that became The Rise of Skywalker has admitted it's a "struggle" to watch the saga "on an emotional level", but he's going to try Andor
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Colin Trevorrow, who was once in line to direct the then-untitled Star Wars 9 before leaving the project, has admitted it's been a "struggle" to watch anything from the series since – but Andor is getting him back on board. "My son and I have both decided that we are going to watch all of Andor this summer," Trevorrow told The Hollywood Reporter. "But I do have to be honest; it has been a struggle for me to engage with anything Star Wars-related just on an emotional level. So, to the team that made Andor, I guess I can say that you're the ones who've finally brought me back in.' Originally slated to cap off the Star Wars sequel saga with what was set to be called Duel of the Fates, Trevorrow left Star Wars 9 after reported 'creative differences' with Lucasfilm. J.J. Abrams then took over for Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker. But that wasn't the end of the story. In 2020, a Duel of the Fates script was leaked online. Among the many differences between the canned Star Wars 9 and The Rise of Skywalker, Luke Skywalker was originally planned to 'haunt' Kylo Ren. The Sith Lord, meanwhile, would have lightsaber duels with a spectral Darth Vader and a twin-blade wielding Rey. Trevorrow was keen to point out that, despite suggestions to the contrary, he was never going to kill off R2-D2. Andor has come to an end after two seasons, with the Disney Plus series roundly being heralded as one of the best Star Wars stories ever told. It's currently sitting pretty at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes – just don't expect creator Tony Gilroy to head back to a galaxy far, far away anytime soon. For more, check out the upcoming Star Wars movies currently in the works, plus the rich history of the full Star Wars timeline.
News18
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Will The Jurassic Park Franchise Ever End? Jurassic World Rebirth Director Reveals
Last Updated: Jurassic World Rebirth is set for release on July 2. Colin Trevorrow is 'very proud" of what he has achieved with the Jurassic World franchise. The 48-year-old director was at the helm of the 2015 film Jurassic World – which served as the fourth installment overall in the Jurassic Park film series – and after making Jurassic World Dominion seven years later, he has insisted that it is unlikely that 'interest will ever really run out" because of the global fascination with dinosaurs. He told The Hollywood Reporter: 'I was so deeply entrenched in what we were building over all of that time. It wasn't just the films and the two animated series on Netflix; we have the toys and the theme parks, and everything else that we did. So we built something that's strong enough to move forward, and I'm very proud of that. I also know that pretty much every time a child is born, a new dinosaur fan is born. So I don't think the interest in seeing dinosaurs is ever really going to run out." As Trevorrow prepares for the release of Jurassic World Rebirth, he admitted that even though his idea of the franchise takes a 'step away" from the initial concept somewhat, he has still been able to find a way to keep the idea coming back to the screen in a 'comprehensive" way. He said: 'I always applied the same rules to dinosaurs as I would to real animals. When a tiger is set loose in a city, they capture it pretty fast. So the idea that these wild creatures would even want to come close to a city was a question I would always ask, and we managed to find ways to make it make sense. I think dinosaurs running wild in the streets of a city does take a bit of a step away from what Michael Crichton created, and that was always my feeling." He added: But we did find ways for them to interact with our world as comprehensively as possible. And when I say that, it's not just the films; it's our animated shows as well. They did a lot of that, especially the new one [Jurassic World: Chaos Theory]." Jurassic World Rebirth is set for release on July 2. First Published:
Perth Now
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Colin Trevorrow couldn't 'engage' with Star Wars after leaving project
Colin Trevorrow has found it a "struggle" to "engage" with Star Wars since he parted ways with LucasFilm. The 48-year-old filmmaker was in the process of developing Star Wars: Duel of the Fates - which ultimately became Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker - when he parted ways with the studio over creative differences, and it is only now he is considering watching spin-off TV show Andor because he has had to distance himself from the franchise. He told The Hollywood Reporter: 'My son and I have both decided that we are going to watch all of Andor this summer. But I do have to be honest; it has been a struggle for me to engage with anything Star Wars-related just on an emotional level. 'So, to the team that made Andor, I guess I can say that you're the ones who've finally brought me back in.' Leaving Star Wars allowed Colin to work on Jurassic World Dominion, and while the 2022 film was pitched as "the epic conclusion of the Jurassic era", he isn't surprised that a new movie, Jurassic World Rebirth, will be released this year. He said: "No, I wasn't [surprised. I was so deeply entrenched in what we were building over all of that time. It wasn't just the films and the two animated series on Netflix; we have the toys and the theme parks and everything else that we did. "So we built something that's strong enough to move forward, and I'm very proud of that. "I also know that pretty much every time a child is born, a new dinosaur fan is born. So I don't think the interest in seeing dinosaurs is ever really going to run out." Meanwhile, Colin wants to help up-and-coming filmmakers further their careers through his production company Metronome. He said: 'Because I've had some success in my career, my absolute top priority is not just paying it forward, but also being able to introduce new talent to move us forward. "We don't have farm teams in Hollywood, and I think that it's a responsibility of filmmakers to identify who's next. A lot of these icons that we have now were identified by another filmmaker, and that's something I would love to have on my record.'
