sherylchilders82

I never understood the hate for this movie. I really enjoyed it, and I was in college when it came out. Despite people saying Cuba Gooding Jr was bad, I really loved him here. In hindsight, I do think there are plenty of culturally insensitive things, but it wasn't noticeable at the time. Like, the Black and White references, and Cuba is clearly not biracial. And, I really enjoyed his comedy acting, but I think it's definitely got some hints of racism under the guise of calling him a "city slicker". I do not think this was the intention at the time, but there are aspects here that did not age well.

That being said, this is an unserious movie that is supposed to be fun. All of the clichés and gags are deliberately generic and predictable. It's like a pop song about summer love in a bright sound with simple lyrics and limited chords. But, just because it's not high art or complex doesn't mean it's bad. Because simplicity is comforting and makes us feel good. I am not sure what people dislike about that, other than whatever their own personal biases or issues are. Maybe the main love story being between POC alienates those who don't relate for whatever reason. Or maybe they imagine that it's supposed to be realistic or more serious than it ever was.

On reflection, too, this was a very weird time. Everything was so sunshine and rainbows before 9/11, and since this was filmed prior and released after, its 90's feel probably felt disjointed. For me, being in college, I was still happy despite everything and feeling hopeful. But, I'm sure a lot of older and younger folks would have felt differently for various reasons at that time. Older adults would have understood more the impact and significance of that event, and been more rightfully grim about the future. While younger people probably grew up with this more depressing outlook of the world. That's why, actually, I think a movie like this makes me feel happy still, because I was still able to be hopeful and happy, even for such a dark time. And, somehow that makes it special.

How fickle and predictable some people are for hating this. It's nostalgic to the original, expertly done, except no white male hero, so of course a lot of people are "infuriated" (namely the white men used to being catered to by popular media continuously). As a woman "more or less" Johansson's age, I felt satisfied and connected to the characters and plot. I went to and grew up watching the first film as a little girl, and so the material is nostalgic, and purposeful so. There's nothing wrong with this. Disney's been recycling the same motifs for almost 100 years, and it's a particular kind of comfort entertainment, knowing that, of course the T-Rex isn't going to maul the little girl. They are always cheesy and follow a pattern (bad guys get eaten first, really bad guy is always an epic kill), but are written cleverly enough that you can't predict everything. But, above being fun and action packed, this felt more visually stunning than previous installments of the franchise, with a little more emotional weight. Overall, it was both entertaining and satisfying.