TERMINATOR GENISYS

(2015) 126 Minutes, Rated PG-13

Mike's Review: I wasn't sure if they would be able to pull off a really good Terminator. movie, especially after seeing the previews, but then I heard or read some where that James Cameron gave the movie his blessing and Arnold Schwarzenegger saying he would only do another one if the story was good enough, I knew I had to see it.

I was not disappointed at all.  This movie was fantastic! They stayed true to the Terminator story line, introduced some new twists and turns and left it wide open for another sequel. It was a little weird not seeing Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn reprise their roles, but the way the story was done it wasn't necessary.

Best scene:  The new terminator effects were incredible as well as the flash backs.

Mike’s rating:  An absolute Must See!

Bean's Review:  Glad to see Arnold Schwarzenegger in a lot of action and in a good chunk of the movie.  The actors chosen to play Sarah and Reese were good picks.  However, the actor picked to play John Connor was not as good.  But, since John Connor turned out to be the bad guy, it was probably good that I did not care for him from the beginning.

I enjoyed the nostalgia of the original movie.  However, the back and forth from past to present to future was confusing and a bit muddled.  Better movie overall than Jurassic World, but not as good as the original Terminator.

Best scene:  when Sarah saw the drawings and photos of herself and “Pops” in Pop’s “living area”

Bean’s rating:  Matinee

JURASSIC WORLD

(2015) 124 Minutes, Rated PG-13

Mike's Review: All I can say is it's about time!  They finally came out with a decent sequel and it had everything everyone wanted.  It had all the new technology and toys.  It had new dinosaurs even if they were made up from bits of other "dino-dna".  It had a pretty good cast and a great story line. And it even had some great throw back stuff to the first Jurassic Park which started it all.

The only thing that could have made this movie better was to some how tie in some more of the original cast other then the head lab guy.  a few cameo's would have been awesome.

Best scene:  There were some epically cool scenes...but I have to say the finally fight scene where old school meets new school was the best.

Mike’s rating:  Must See and totally DVD worthy!

Bean's Review:  Definitely not as good as the first or third Jurassic movies, but better than a lot of recent movies. Would have liked to have seen more of Chris Pratt. Character development was lacking, which seems to be the case in recent movies. I did enjoy the idea of training the Velociraptors.
 
The children were not as "likeable" or empathic as in the original Jurassic movie. The storyline did not develop the true "bad" guys.
 
The final fight scene was good and I was quite surprised by the Mosasaurus coming out of the lagoon to snatch the Indominus rex.
 
The Velociraptor and T-Rex going their separate ways, after the big fight, with a nod to the humans, was a good ending, as we could identify with the feelings.

Best scene: when Chris Pratt's character holds off the Velociraptors from killing the park guy who fell into their pen

Bean's rating: big screen-full or matinee price-need to see the dinosaurs on a full screen

A.C.'s Review:  In 1993 the phenomenon of JURASSIC PARK hit movie theaters. For the first time computer generated dinosaurs seemed to at long last return the extinct species to life after decades of clunky stop motion special effects. Telling the story of Ingen Corporation owner’s John Hammonds dream of opening a dinosaur theme park, movie goers were treated to an exciting experience of seeing humans and dinosaurs interacting on screen as things go horribly awry.

Two sequels followed up the original film but neither achieved the success of the first one. The franchise soon became fallow and vanished. After over a decade since the last sequel a director was hired who only had done an “indy:” film and was tasked with reviving Jurassic Park to the cinemas. Movie websites were skeptical that there was going to be much interest in the long benched franchise’s return. Oh, how wrong they were!

Not only has the JURASSIC PARK franchise come roaring (pun intended) back but it has laid waste to numerous cinematic records as movie goers worldwide cannot get enough of JURASSIC WORLD. As of this writing its now the 4^th top grossing film of all time. And well deserved.

The movie owes it success to taking the idea of “What if Hammond had succeeded in opening the park?” The film incredibly realizes what a Disney World style park would be like if it was populated by dinosaur attractions. The park has everything from a Pteredon Aviary down to a children’s petting zoo. It was simply amazing how fully realized they made this park.

Or course it wouldn’t be a JURASSIC PARK movie unless something goes wrong and dinosaurs are set loose upon hapless humans. In this case the cunning, genetically bred INDOMINUS REX manages to trick its way out of its cage and go on a reign of terror across the island resulting in mass chaos. Newly minted A-List Movie Star Chris Pratt (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) must step up with his team of trained raptors and attempt to vanquish the runaway dinosaur.

This films succeeds on so many levels. There is a ton of nostalgia for the original movie such as a visit to the ruins of the original visitor center that longtime fans will cherish while people new to the world of Jurassic Park can easily enjoy this movie as it dispenses with the original stars of the movie that appeared in the sequels as well. A fresh start so to speak.

The only shortcomings of the film are the Gyrospheres that are a little sketchy and seem too science fiction-y  (I know that’s not  a word) in a movie about cloned dinosaurs as well as the whole subplot about wanting to use dinosaurs as a military weapons which sounds like an idea someone would come up with when they were high as a kite.

I think what truly endears this movie to people is the idea of…”What if this were real? Who wouldn’t want to visit the theme park depicted in the movie? I know I would!

Best Scene: The return of the T-Rex from the original movie to save the day.

A.C.'s Rating: Not only with full price but worth seeing in RPX or IMAX.