Tuesday 17 February 2015

Great Scott; it's 2015!

We're here! Back to the Future's future! (Well, we will be by 21st October!)

So what's happening? Well, for entertainment (films in particular), we are COVERED:

Avengers: Age of Ultron,
Jurassic World,
Terminator: Genisys,
Ant-Man,
Spectre,
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Lookin' good! ^^ Now, considering some of my previous posts, I think it's clear that I'll be the most excited for Jurassic World!

(For my previous post in my Jurassic series, CLICK-A-HERE!)

Seriously; cannot wait, now! As it slowly approaches like a T. Rex impact tremor, we keep learning so much more about the dinosaurs that will feature. I was ecstatic when I learned that the T. Rex from the first film is coming back. And this is not just a recreation of that type of Rex, like the 'Classic Predator' in Predators, but this Rex is exact same character! How amazing is that?! She's been living on Isla Nublar for over two decades now. The new company of Jurassic World, Masrani, has taken over everything that InGen used to do and brought a functioning park to life in 2005. There appears to be a T. Rex-dominated area to the North and it seems that Masrani has been looking after the old girl since.
   But there are still so many questions! Will she be the only T. Rex on the island? If so, is she the matriarch? It seems that all the official stuff says that it's her and her alone, but I think I remember seeing a few things that may indicate otherwise and I actually sort of hope that there are a few younger ones! Now then, we're confident that she'll certainly serve at least one purpose in context of the narrative, which we'll elaborate on in a bit, but for now, I'll let you watch the latest trailer for Jurassic World (again if needs be) ^^


DID YOU SEE?! XD But yeah; now we move on to the big bad boy of the film, the Indominus Rex. 'But wait, that's not a dinosaur!' I hear your inner palaeontologist cry...Why, that's exactly the point, m'dearies! ^^ As I've mentioned in previous Jurassic World posts, over the years the fourth film has stirred some very *ahem* questionable concepts...But now they've finally brought fourth an idea that makes all the sense in the world! ^^ Indominus Rex is a genetic hybrid composed of various different dinosaurs, so this expands on the science of the first film (using frog/lizard/bird DNA to fill in sequence gaps) and thematically it brings it back around to the ethics of playing God (as well as this, the Spinosaurus from the third film was a lot more stronger and powerful than its prehistoric counterpart would've been, alluding to the fact that InGen may have experimented with extra genetic material for it...Also may explain the frilled neck for the Dilophosaurus from the first film).
   Chris Pratt's character, Star-Lord Owen fills in the voice of reason that we saw from Malcolm, Sattler & Grant from the first film. Think of Owen as a condensed character...! ("Probably not a good idea." is a single line that sums up the entire dinner scene in Jurassic Park! XD) He also seems to be filling Muldoon's role too, as the ranger/warden, but rather than trying to keep Raptors confined, he seems to be training a few...! Well, you can see parallels with real-world zoos and trainers with dangerous big cats or some-such, but at least the Raptors aren't weaponized or mutant human hybrids! XD There's a sense of Owen knowing that he could be lunch at any second and that the Raptors know that he knows he could be lunch at any second, so perhaps there's a strange symbiotic connection going on, here. Maybe, like real animals in captivity, Owen has raised these Raptors in particular from birth? OR how about; one of these Raptors was the little new-born was saw hatch in Jurassic Park (and then handled by Grant)? Considering the Rex, that wouldn't be a surprise! ^^
   Anyway, yes, back to Rexes...! Like I say, with each new event that swings by, we learn a bit more, especially with the Indominus Rex. With the Super Bowl we were given the new trailer linked above. With that we were treated to more glimpses of the I. Rex and soon after, the official details were revealed HERE with all the stats and such. As of writing this post, one thing I noticed was that the length of the I. Rex is 'currently 12 metres'.

'CURRENTLY'.

Now then, as of this posting, Toy Fair in New York is winding up and a whole boat-load of Jurassic World merchandise has been revealed (from both LEGO and Hasbro). From all the awesome stuff it looks like the I. Rex will be a lot bigger than the T. Rex in the film. Bear in mind that the official site is designed virally, to look like it's actually representing the island in real-time, so by the time the film is released, we'll get updated status on the size of the I. Rex...Most likely!
   And onto New York Toy Fair; through the goodies on show, we had our first full eye-full at what the I. Rex will look like! ^^ Also its roar (which sounds like the Wolf Predator from AVPR)! And the fact that its mouth will open 90-degrees! Also confirmation of its ability to change colour to blend! To see it and more, check this Hasbro round-up link from SciFied.
   Way may see even more in a future trailer, but what's interesting is how little we're seeing in the trailers and marketing in general...They're holding back on showing us a lot! And that's understandable; we want to be wowed by the practical effects, we want to be on edge when the I. Rex is hunting some poor fool...We want the cinematic experience to be as fresh as possible. But the most prominant example of holding back of all returns us to the Tyrant Lizard King (or Queen, technically). Where's the T. Rex? We've seen images of her on the merchandise and website, but absolutely no footage of her is available (yet).

Even the 'Park Cam' at the T. Rex Paddock isn't giving us any glimpses.

Now, this may annoy some fans, but I really, really am okay with not seeing the T. Rex until the film itself. It does seem like we're going for a big, grand reveal! I'm thinking that she'll serve as a Godzilla-like role; she hunts and feeds for her own gratification, regardless of humans, her purpose for the narrative will be get rid of the 'challenger' to remain the Apex, references are peppered throughout the film, but we hold back until her reveal, which when it happens, will be an entrance to die for!
   How she will be revealed will be interesting too (and I'm basing this on what evidence there is); first of all, we'll have probably had the I. Rex causing as much havoc as possible, so it gets to that point of Owen's line "We're gonna hit it with everything we've got." *Cue his Raptor Pack*. So Claire (Bryce Dallas-Howard) will have to awaken the veteren:

(Image courtesy of JurassicWorld.com - Amblin/Universal)
We've seen this clip/image in both trailers, so how do we know? Well, the flare says it all! ^^ Remember how the T. Rex was easily distracted by the flare in Jurassic Park? It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the folk who take care of the Rex in World would be notified that she likes flares! *Cue T. Rex in swingin' '60s trousers* (Does this also mean the potential possibility of a surprise cameo by Sam Neill as Dr. Grant?)
   But going by the dressed-down appearence, it seems late on in the film, so there's an argument for awakening the Rex as a last resort. As that door opens, she has the look of terror of a person with nothing between her and the Rex. (If you had to make a T. Rex follow you, you'd be scared, too!)
   The absolute head of the nail in this theory is that one of the LEGO sets revealed will feature the T. Rex and the box design clearly shows the Rex chasing a character on a bike; flare in hand!

(Image courtesy of geekologie.com)
And you can see all the Jurassic World LEGO that was revealed HERE.

All the sets are from the new film, but I really, really hope they will do some from the original trilogy...In fact, if you recall, I have a wish-list!


Oh yes; WE'RE GETTING A LEGO GAME, TOO! *Happy dancing*

(*Side-note, yes, we KNOW this is the third time Chris Pratt will be a LEGO character, but he is not alone in multi-minifigure actor-land! ^^ Others (for past, present and future sets) include;

Liam Neeson - The LEGO Movie & Star Wars
Harrison Ford - Star Wars & Indiana Jones
Warwick Davis - Star Wars & Harry Potter
Samuel L. Jackson - Star Wars & Marvel
Evangeline Lilly - Marvel & Middle-earth
Christopher Lee - Star Wars & Middle-earth
Orlando Bloom - Middle-earth & Pirates of the Caribbean
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean & The Lone Ranger)

So there's my excitement for Jurassic World, fuelled by New York Toy Fair. Only remains for me to say that I won't be posting much on this Blog anymore. (Whaddya mean, I don't, anyway?! XD) THING IS, I have a new radio show that I'm doing at BCB: Bradford Community Broadcasting. It's called The Fandomain and after the broadcasts, the shows will end up on: fandomain-hub.blogspot.org

Basically it's an outlet for me to talk about what I love, but it's inclusive, so come on board! ^^ It's not just dinosaurs, we cover a range of things. So now, if I need to offload about stuff extensively, or requiring visual aid, or fan-fiction, or whatever, you'll find it here. Anything worth yapping about will be heard on the show.

See y'all around.

AM