What JP3 needed to be great...
I've got my own ideas, but Im interested in what other JP fans think the third entry needed to be at the level of JP and (for some myself included) TLW.
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But I actually really like JP3.. its my least favorite.. but I liked it.
However,
It should have been much longer. The movie was very short but at the same time it wasn't exactly plot heavy. You have two novels full of materal they could have pulled from but instead they go with a "Kid lost on island after parasailing" idea? I still don't understand it.
Here's what they could have done. They could have followed The Lost World novel more closely. Have it so that Levin goes to the island to study the dinosaurs (because, like Billy, He's a man who likes to see and touch and not deal with bones). Of course, things go wrong and he gets stranded. He uses his satalite phone to call for help but the U.S. Embassy won't do a damn thing. So instead he calls Dr. Grant (trying to stick close to what they did in JP3). Grant wants to get a team together to rescue Levin but he lacks funds to do so. But... he is approached by a very shady character by the name of Dodgson who agrees to fund the rescue team. With Grant's team and Dodgson's team ready, they head off to Isla Sorna.
From here, You can go in many directions. Perhaps Dodgson does to Grant's people like he does to Sarah in the novel and throws them over board but they are able to swim to the island anyway. Or maybe they try to keep the sharade going untill finally they realize that Dodgson is there for dinosaurs eggs. The possiblities are endless... and far better than what happend in the third film.
But again, I did like the thrid movie. But you can't deny that, Just like the second one, potential was missed.
- First of all, move the Rex vs. Spino fight to later in the movie (I would suggest the end of it but depends on each one), make it longer as it lasts for hardly 30 seconds and leave the result open-ended, as the humans escape.
I would have had the Rex be the main antagonist for the first act of the film and then let the Spino dominate the picture.
- Second, make the mercenaries last for longer or at least let them die in a more badass way. Remember the gun they used to explode that plane... Why they never used that? Sure, it was more useful for steady targets, but still... I would have tried instead of running away from a best that with one step can catch up with me extremly easy.
Cooper dies crying, Nash dies screaming and whining and Udesky just stops and screams. They should have kept the deleted scene where he fights the raptors with a stick. It would have added a lot more to probably the best new character of the film.
- Third, keep Billy dead. He redeemed himself by sacrificing his life to save the others. If he shows up at the end it kinda ruins all that.
- Fourth, tone down the family story. The fishing story comes to mind, for example. It tries to be a character development moment, but it just doesn't work as we don't really care for the Kirbys. Maybe except for Paul, they're not likeable, at least in my opinion.
- And fifth, I would have tried to fully use those dinosaurs that are just there. For example, instead of having the Spino appear in every freakin' scene and make it look like a stalker, why not take advantage of the Ceratosaurus? Sadly it only has one scene and its a pretty pointless one. Worst of all, the line "I can't help but feel offended" was actually funny and got cut. Why? No clue.
And what about the herbivores? They can be dangerous too. Imagine a scene where the Raptors fight the Ankylosaurus. Would have been great...
Sorry if I sound kinda nasty, but that's how I feel. Johnston is a director with a lot of potential, but they should have tried for a more interesting story instead of the rushed stuff they thought of.
Also, I think that TLW should have had the original planned ending with the Pterodactyls and save the "Dinos in the city" stuff for the third movie...
I like this. It may seem silly to bring this movie up as an example. But... Have you seen Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs? They had the T-Rex in there but they also had a bigger dinosaur in there as well. I can't remeber what they called it (I only saw it once) but they kept it hidden and didn't reveal it untill the very end. They would only give hints at what it was.
They could have did this with the spinosaurus. Have the T-Rex the main baddy but keep showing bits of the Spino and then at the end it show up all like "REEEAAAHHHHHH!" and all that. lol Kind of like in Dino Crisis 2 when that huge T-Rex looking thing (I think it was called Gigantosaurus) shows up at the last minunte and totally destroys the T-Rex. That was awesome.
I agree with most of these point, specially 1 and 2. Really... I mean, I do like JP3, its still JP, but it fell way below my expectations. And I didnt even have them that high cause im open to new ideas, that actually drive the overall plot of the series.
To me, the whole rescue mission was already done in part on TLW, so why another one? I liked the idea someone mentioned, though, if it were to rescue a person who Grant really cared about and was worth really going again to a dino filled island. And have Biosyn get involved at some point. When I saw the trailer, I was really excited for this movie, they were going a new direction and innovating, which is good, but they ended up destroying much of JP along the way (IMO) for the sake of being different...
I really liked the Spinosaurus I would just have liked the T-rex to have been more of the focus instead.
How about a story? The third movie should have had dinosaurs running around the jungles of Costa Rica and infringing on rural settlements, such as small villages and farms, which Crichton established in the original novel.
The thing should have featured Grant, Malcolm, Levine, Thorne, Arby Benton, Dodgson, Basleton, King, Marty Guittierez, and a cameo by Hammond, plus involvement with BioSyn Corporation and the Costa Rican government.
New characters could include a female lead who is closer to the fiery, capable and heroic Sarah Harding from TLW novel, (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones perhaps?), a US Military Officer who is on the BioSyn payroll and attempting to cover-up the dinosaur infringement in Costa Rica, (Sean Bean?), and an older scientist who is Arby's father, (Keith David)?
Keep the Spino and the Pteranodons and throw in the color-changing Carnotaurs, the Raptor attack on a high location and the subsequent jeep chase through the Raptor nest/motorcycle chase through the Apatosaur heard, a bit of T-Rex action for good measure, DX Disease transferring from Dinosaurs to people to introduce a "medical thriller" aspect, and some more science and cool hardware as in the first two films, (such as Malcolm and Levine's debates on adaptation and biology as animals invade a new environment, more Chaos stuff with Gambler's Ruin, a version of Malcolm and Hammond's conversation from the original novel about dinosaurs taking over the world or the absurdity of that very notion, and some vehicles and equipment used to track/capture/defend against the infringing dinosaurs.
There's your movie. Unfortunately, I don't think that Joe Johnston or any of the "writers" who worked on JP3 ever read either of the books...probably because they can't read! :cool:
There are things I like about the movie. the Pterosaurs were a great addition. I personally love the raptors in JP3, despite the fact that they look nothing like the ones from the other films. I also liked that they introduced Grant again. But that's all I really liked.
All in all, the film was okay. It wasn't bad at all, but it had high expectations and a lot of potential. That's what made it so bad for me.
Yeah, the first movie was 127 mins the second movie was 129 mins and the third was only 92. So it is shorter, but not by that much.
* Leave the Rex fight opened ended, have the surviors of the crash run off and Just hear both animals roar.
*Have the mercs last longer, and kept a few of them around.
* Focus more on what Ingen cut off the Cloning list.
* Have the raptors, play a minimal role...the egg stealing is kind of a cliche point...in the JP universe.
*Curb, the spino's hunger..and stalkerish quality.
I agree that they should have used parts from the book that weren't used. I also wish they wouldn't have just killed off all the characters in the beginning so THEY could develop too. The movie wasn't bad...it just wasn't good.
I'm one of those people who gets super angry about movie adaptations when they make drastic changes. But with JP I've come to see both the book and the movie as two amazing works in their own right even though in retrospect they are drastically different, which would typically anger me. And I know a lot of people tend to knit pick the movie due to book canon.
So that's why if anything shouldn't more people like JP3? The plot elements were actually pretty novel canon. I'd like to hear opinions :] How do you fans feel about JP3?
And also if telltale were to make seasons of all 3 movies, would you want to see JP3 done also?
And I would LOVE to see Telltale do a season for that movie!!!!
2. The dinosaurs acted like rampaging monsters and not animals. Why is the Spino obsessed with a small, dwindling group of humans on an island TEEMING with larger, much more plentiful game, (in the film's defense, the Rex did the same thing in the original novel)?
3. The action was boring, badly-shot, and repetitive.
4. There was no need for another film set on Isla Sorna right after TLW...or set an island at all, for that matter; it should have been in the Costa Rican jungle.
5. As you're inferred, if they couldn't come up with a story of their own, there was enough unused from the novels that could have sustained an entire film: dinosaurs in the jungle of Costa Rica, abberant forms, DX disease, the "mystery" element from both novels, Richard Levine, Jack Thorne, Lewis Dodgson and BioSyn, George Basleton, Marty Guittierez, the Raptor attack on the High Hide and the subsequent Jeep chase through the Raptor nest/motorcycle chase through the Apatosaur herd, Red Queen, Gambler's Ruin, talk of evolution, adaptation, and extinction, ETC...it was a HUGE wasted opportunity. At least they included a variation of the Aviary scene from the first novel.
6. AND IT KILLED THE FRANCHISE!
But I still stand by my eternal and undying love of TLW...one of the most under-appreciated adventure films of all time, along with "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". Yep, I said it! :cool:
And yep, I wouldn't mind Telltale doing another "midquel" for JP3, at least to try and salvage the thing...
That stupid woman constantly screaming. Not only is it annoying as hell, it also goes heavily against JP's typical strong female figure.
For example, the crash landing scene with the Spinosaurus was awesome, the Aviary scene was awesome, the laboratory scene was kinda good, the Rex-Spino fight (although I hated that Spino won) was also great. We should have been allowed to sit back a little sometimes.
2. The Spinosaurs and Velociraptors were given too much personality, escecially the latter. They were too intelligent while the Spino was stalking the humans just for the hell of it. They did not seem instinct-driven.
3. When the army arrived, why, WHY did we not have a dinos vs. soldiers battle? Spinosaurus could have appeared once again, it harassed the heroes anyway and Pteranodons could have attacked the helicopters.
4. Speaking of battle, the mercenaries could have been given a more prominent role.
The greatest flaw with JP3 is that they shouldn't have been anywhere near the island for their parasailing or gliding or whatever the hell it was they were doing to make the events in JP3 seem completely pointless.
I have thought about remaking the films closer to the books and having JP3 really focus on the major subplot of the first novel. Spielberg killed the franchise and Johnston tried to save it but it was a hard thing to save after the T-Rex in San Diego fiasco since Spielberg produced JP3.
robotpo, you are my new best friend
you basically summed it up perfectly, including the underappreciated TLW
I would like to see a movie about something in the Costa Rican jungle. It would work well now with the number of new reality shows about crytozoology and the paranormal. Although I suppose it would be more of a spin-off than a sequel.
JPIII, although I did like it, was just lazy.
Thanks! TLW lovers/JP3 haters unite!
Nope, you kind-of need a "plot" to make a great movie! :cool:
I do agree that i feel like the movie was too short but I wouldn't say it didn't have a plot. Though the focus on the rekindling of the family was slightly annoying. But I actually enjoyed Rambo kid :]
I personally love TLW btw and I too agree it was under appreciated. But it's the one I have the hardest time watching because it's the most violent of the 3.
THIS IS SO TRUE the actions scene were ridiculously one after another.
i thought that jp1 and TLW were as good as eachother really, great stories,
JP3 comes along and everyones like WTF, i do hope they do another one and ditch the whole "no dinosaur parks " idea, i think that if they do another movie they need to #1 Let us see Site B before the evacuation by INGEN, tresspasser made pre evaced site b sound mad cool, 2 Ingen finding proof of biosyn involvement with the nublar incident. and 3 the ultimate final success of jurassic park as a theme park to end the franchise on a good note.
Like SWGNATE said there are better stories out there that no one has really looked at and unless the game sells like mad, we'll probably never see.
I dunno about you guys, but the trailer attack scene still keeps me on the edge of my seat. Especially right when the Rexes pass the High Hide.. you KNOW shit is gonna go down..
I think JP is not about violence and it never needed this kind (remember the Nedry scence? It doesn't even take one drop of blood to be dead scary!)
Agreed, I really didn't like the snake scene in TLW it was just unnecessary and sad to see blood in the waterfall