Today I saw two very exciting things. Two very exciting things that would normally not be related in any way (outside of fanfiction), but today have found common ground, though a common ground that most wouldn't find positive. I'm referring to Jurassic World and the 100th episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. And the common ground I'm referring to is that fact that even though both of these things were awesome beyond belief, a lot of people have favored them negatively. All because people can't seem to have fun anymore.
Jurassic World
Twenty or so years after the disaster at the original Jurassic Park, InGen and Isla Nublar have been bought up by Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), CEO of the Masrani Corporation, and used to create a brand new park called Jurassic World. The park has been running for the last five or ten years, and has become the single most successful theme park in the history of the world, serving 20,000+ tourists a day. Two brothers, Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins), are sent to the island by their parents to visit with their aunt, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), the park's operations manager. Unknown to the public, a new attraction is in the works: Indominus rex, a completely new dinosaur larger and more ferocious than even the park's T-rex, created by gene-splicing together various carnivorous dinosaurs and other creatures. Unfortunately, the I-rex proves to be more adaptive and cunning than anyone suspected, and escapes it's paddock, killing human and dinosaur in equal measure, causing the park to go into lock down. Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), the park's resident Velociraptor expert and trainer, is enlisted to take down the hybrid beast, while the brothers get lost in the restricted area of the island, which contains the ruins of the old park, while constantly being hunted by the I-rex. All the while, Vic Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio), InGen's head of security, and Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong), InGen's chief geneticist, conspire to create more hybrid dinosaurs for military purposes. Hoskins also wants to use Own Grady's pack of raptors to hunt down the I-rex as a field test for their militarization, which Grady highly disapproves of. After rescuing the brothers, Grady decides to go along with Hoskins plan, and sends the raptors after the I-rex, following with Hoskin's soldiers in tow. Unfortunately, it seems that the I-rex was also made with Velociraptor DNA and can communicate with the raptors, convincing them to attack Grady and the soldiers. Grady, Claire, and the boys escape the raptors and go to hide in the genetics lab, only to find that Wu, the other geneticists, and all of the dinosaur DNA and embryos have evacuated, Wu having been air-lifted off the island by Hoskin's men. Hoskins explains his plans for militarized, hybrid dinosaurs, before being killed by one of the raptors. Our heroes run from the lab into the open, only to be surrounded by the raptors. The I-rex shows up, telling the raptors to kill the humans, only for Grady to regain the raptors trust, causing them to turn on the I-rex, where the I-rex swats away the lead raptor, seemingly killing it While the I-rex is fighting off the remaining raptors, Gray tells Claire that "they need more teeth". Claire realizes what he means, and opens the T-rex paddock, goading the T-rex into following her. The T-rex and I-rex meet and begin to fight, the I-rex seeming to gain the upper hand, until the lead raptor joins the fray. The T-rex and raptor manage to back the I-rex up to the edge of the Mosasaur tank, which contain the park's large marine reptile, at which point the Mosasaur leaps out of the tank and latches onto the I-rex, dragging it down to the depths with it. Grady and the raptor share a moment before the raptor runs off into the jungle. We end the film with the survivors getting medical attention, the brothers reuniting with their parents, and a triumphant roar from the T-rex from the highest point in the park.
My opinion: AXFADSFZDCGXCXFHFZXHZXFSDGDZ GO SEE THIS MOVIE OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! Seriously though, this honestly feel like the sequel my favorite film of all time truly deserves. As far as I'm concerned there are still only three Jurassic Park movies: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Jurassic World. This movie has the look and feel of the first movie in spades, even adding in new elements like hybrid dinosaurs and a greater amount of gore, while retaining the wonder and beauty of the first park. The effects, aside from an atrocious CG black bird at the beginning of the film, are spectacular. The dinosaurs look as real as they ever did in the first film, having a much wider range of emotion, to the point they develop their own personalities. The action scenes are always tense and adrenaline rush inducing, while the quiet moments allow you to breath and take everything in. The human characters are actually great to watch, being very well portrayed by their respective actors. The film is a nonstop thrill ride from start to finish, culminating in one of the greatest fights ever put to screen. This movie is truly one not to be missed. Whether you're a Jurassic Park nut, a dinosaur fan, or just a movie lover, you will not be disappointed.
MLP: FiM Episode 100: "Slice of Life"
This episode eschews from tradition by following nothing but background characters throughout. We start by finding the donkeys Matilda and Cranky planning their wedding, only to find that the wedding invitations have accidentally set the date for that day! Throughout the episode we follow a different background character, from Derpy to Doctor Whooves to Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, all trying to prepare for the unexpected wedding. All the while, we get small glimpses of the Mane Six fighting a half bear, half bee monster called a Bugbear (D&D FTW) in the background. The entire episode is chock full of references and headcanon affirming/discrediting scenes, all culminating in a beautiful ceremony attended by Derpy, The Doctor, The Dude, even the princesses and Steven Magnet the sea serpent! This episode may have just beaten "A Friend Indeed" for my favorite episode of the show.
At the beginning I said that these to very different things have one thing in common: a lot of people don't seem to like them for some reason. What reason is that? Again, I believe it's because people don't know how to have fun anymore. I haven't really read any reviews of Jurassic World in order to avoid spoilers, but as far "Slice of Life" goes, all I've really heard is how much the creators are "pandering to the audience", panda jokes and all. I just don't get it. I mean, my face hurt I was smiling so much during the episode! I even accidentally "SQUEE!!"d when The Doctor said "Allons-y!" Honestly I think the only people who wouldn't enjoy this episode are people who know absolutely no references from anything ever. And really? "Pandering"? What other cartoon franchise ingratiates itself to it's audience by NAMING A CHARACTER WHAT THE FANS NAMED IT??!! You do realize that Steven Magnet probably wouldn't have a name if not for us, right? I mean, they actually made The Doctor British (Bitish?) and made his house look just like the Tardis! They actually care what we have to say people. A toy corporation actually TAKES OUR OPINION INTO ACCOUNT. In my opinion, the fandom really needs to untwist it's collective undies and learn to have fun.
The point is: Go watch Jurassic World, go watch "Slice of Life", make your life complete.