I appreciate studios taking more risks recently and greenlighting completely new IPs, especially in the fantasy/sci-fi genres. However I think they need to be a bit pickier when it comes to the scripts they approve. This film needed at least 2 more months in the writers room to hammer out the kinks. And also to, you know, write a story that is actually well paced and interesting.

This film really tries to have a lot going on outside of just being a suburban Jurassic Park, but it mostly fails. There are small side plots that basically are only resolved through terrible story writing. And the film ends by subverting a lot of the messaging that it had built up to that point. It not only is set in the 80s but it's written like it's acutally from the 80's. The dialog is just hilariously bad at some points, with characters describing exactly what's happening on screen to make sure the viewers don't miss anything (not that there's much to miss; the film is deceptively simple). That was actually the biggest emotion I felt while watching: humor. If they had embraced the more campy side of the script I think this movie would have been much better as a comedy, but oh well. 

I wouldn't say it's not entertaining. There are a lot of points that are straight up fun to watch, and the characters are likeable enough to not be annoying. It is a bit hard to describe the genre of the film though; is it a family adventure? I guess so, although I probably wouldn't suggest young children watch it. It's certainly not that interesting from a sci-fi perspective. I struggle to recommend the film mostly because I don't know who it is supposed to appeal to. But it will be a great movie to watch as short form media content on people's phones over the next few years.