Jurassic World: Liitukauden leiri

I would like to take this opportunity to say “thank you" to Netflix that my boy started to love... no, I mean, started to become obsessed with dinosaurs. We both liked them before Camp Cretaceous. We had some toy dinosaurs, we visited the DinoPark and went to O2 Arena to watch the “live" dinosaur show, and we read some books. However, a month after the premiere, we are caught in the dinosaur obsession when we were forced to see it at least three times (and we are going for the fourth time). We watched all of the films and Lego parodies, played Lego Jurassic World twice from start to finish, we constantly draw maps of islands and paddocks, build fences from Legos, keep bringing lots of books from the library, making notes and tracing each page, watching countless videos with dinosaur toys on YouTube, and we have heard the Czech song The Jurassic is Back nearly a billion times. So far, I'm managing to hide the fact that there are currently dinosaurs from Camp Cretaceous in Happy Meals. Fortunately, we are quarantined, which means he won´t find out about that from his classmates. Ugh, at least that’s something. Even if I ever liked dinosaurs, I really hate them now. What I regret even more is that it is quite clear to me that if I had seen Camp Cretaceous at his age, I would have become addicted to them in the same way. And no wonder, because Camp Cretaceous combines children's adventures and dinosaurs perfectly. Yes, it's like movies with only children´s escapades. Which, however, would hardly bother me if I were in elementary school. | S1: 3/5 | (18.10.2020)

A project that quite clearly reveals my unfailing boyish obsession with the Jurassic series and the world built around it. The format is very childish and the constant last-moment jumps before the jaws of predators are quite ridiculous at times, considering the fact that the show complements the events of the film franchise and follows the established rules of that fictional world. But the twenty-minute serialised episodes are without exception very attractive and fun, there’s always something happening and it leads to a logical outcome; the animation, especially the dinosaurs, is lively enough to make us believe and carry us through the atmosphere a beloved and scary place – besides, I’m a very nostalgic person and whenever I hear one of Williams’s iconic motifs, I’m like in a trance. On top of that, it doesn’t just rip-off the simultaneous events of Jurassic World, but expands them in an entertaining way, while also winking at some of the known elements of the series like rebooting the system and rescuing dinosaurs from greedy people. Naturally, I would welcome an adult version with a more generous budget, but still, I’ve always wanted something like this and it’s a great strategy to bring a new generation of kids to the brand. (07.02.2021)

[Season 1] The problem with the series is probably a very narrow spectrum of viewers – it's young children who are no longer bothered by people dying in the claws or teeth of dinosaurs. But at the same time, they still can’t be too savvy or mentally mature to forgive the relatively idiotic behavior of the little kids (they almost die once, so they'll go try again... and then again... and once more for good measure, shameless suicides) and the nonsensical physical properties like a wounded man's successful, long escape from a predator. The writers plunder ideas from previous Jurassic Parks nonstop without a hint of shame, so you won't see much originality, though you might feel a slight nostalgia at the mention of some names. Besides, the series serves as a great sightseeing tour through all the nooks and crannies of the island and the dinosaur species. Complete with CGI, the dinosaurs look much better than the simple painted figures. I'd give it a stronger 2 stars, but I can turn a blind eye for the weakest possible 3 stars. (21.09.2020)

Even though I am a die-hard fan of the Jurassic Park (and the Jurassic World) films, I let the animated version lie dormant for quite a long time, because at first glance it looked too childish. After watching all five series, I admit that I was (almost) completely wrong. While the action revolves around six teenage kids, the themes the series explores have the potential to appeal to a more mature viewer, whether or not they have seen the two live-action trilogies. But if you has also seen the films, you can appreciate even more (or not) their interconnectedness with the series – whether it was the escape of Indominus Rex, the character of Dodgson, or the subtle references (e.g. the kitchen scene). For the most part, however, the series is built on its own story, which deals with increasingly mature themes, with the exploitation of dinosaurs for nefarious purposes being particularly prominent. In addition to the dinosaur storyline, where I enjoyed the third series with the Scorpius Rex (the smaller cousin of Indoraptor) a lot, the creators didn't forget to deal with the main characters and their development. Many users were bothered by the final LGBT line, but I don't think it's a bad thing in a (seemingly) children's show, considering that children and teens who belong to the LGBT community are surely watching it and can identify with the characters. But let everyone make up their own mind! Of the characters, I enjoyed Brooklyn the most with Jenna Ortega's extremely likable voice, while Sammy and Darius got on my nerves here and there. Of the dinosaurs, for which I must not forget to praise the well done animation that at times "clashed" with the unrealistically desinged characters, Humpty Dumpty was the clear favourite, followed by the trio of frisky cubs. I liked that the episodes are twenty minutes long, so you could watch the series in a couple of weeks. As it happens, the quality of each season varies, with the aforementioned third (but also the first, the introductory one) being the one I enjoyed the most, while I found the fourth too overwrought. P.S. It was fun to watch Kenji's disappearing "beard". (28.04.2023)