Well, it’s been 2 decades since we first got the s*** scared out of us by the lawyer-eating, Newman-eating, Sam Jackson-eating, pretty much everyone but like 6 people-eating dinosaurs of Jurassic Park. it just feels like its been longer for some reason. I remember the summer it was released. Hell, I remember the DAY. I was sitting in the auditorium of our church at vacation bible school and I’d been eagerly awaiting a friend of mine who was late. When he finally got there he told me he was late because he’d just seen Jurassic Park. I was so excited. I made him tell me everything about the movie.
Once I finally saw it myself, I just sat in awe of the magnificence of it. How could a 10 year old kid NOT be paralyzed by the wonder of seeing dinosaurs roam the earth in a real world setting? It was the recollection of that feeling that made me very excited to take my own son to see Jurassic World. I really wanted him to have the same feelings, and be just as amazed as I was the first time I saw Jurassic Park. I have to say, I was not disappointed.
First up, here’s a synopsis from IMDB:
Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitor’s interest, which backfires horribly.
So basically, they’re like, “Hey, it’s been a while, and technology is so much more advanced now, I bet we could totally rebuild this place and let people hang out with this large, meat-eating beasts without any real problems.” WRONG. I know that since dinosaurs aren’t alive anymore (and they’ll likely never be? Science you guys, it’s doing crazier things…) it’s tough for us to fully comprehend how deeply irresponsible of a bad idea this is. Like, we sort of think we know, but really, building a theme park around making a spectacle of creatures that we’ve never had a chance to observe in the natural world, and therefore know very little about, is insane. But I think that’s part of the philosophy of these movies. The hubris of humanity makes us do crazy things and we have to remember that not everything we WANT to do is something we SHOULD do. (Didn’t know there was a moral did ya? Thought it was just about watching dinosaurs eat people who couldn’t run fast or hide well… #schooled.)
The aforementioned hubris is something that Chris Pratt’s character, Owen, is greatly opposed to. He’s a raptor trainer who mostly only sees futility in what they’re trying to do but he’s there because if he doesn’t do it then someone else will and they’ll probably do it wrong. I really like Chris Pratt, and it’s no secret that Guardians of the Galaxy was my favorite movie of last year, but this role is different for him. Not different in a bad way necessarily. He does a great job. He’s still pompous, sarcastic, and funny, but he’s kind of macho here too, and it makes the character feel a little stiff. Not unlikable by any means, but just kind of… flat. Like he doesn’t have much depth. I did like that he feels like a blend of Malcolm and Grant from the first movie, with a dash of Indiana Jones for fun.
Playing the female lead, Claire, is Bryce Dallas Howard, and she does a really great job as well. Her character evolves quickly over the course of the film. She starts out as a very focused, very responsibility-committed woman who doesn’t get her hands dirty, but the course of actions and reactions that take place force her to have to change herself in order to survive and save people. Howard is a fantastic actress. She’s one of those actresses that is always on point and with very little change makes you see her character and not just her in a role (that makes sense right?).
The supporting cast all does a great job as well. There’s Ty Simpkins (Iron Man 3) and Nick Robinson (Melissa & Joey) who play brothers, and they are also Claire’s nephews. Their dynamic was perfect. They totally make you believe they’re brothers. Vincent D’Onofrio plays the head of security and while you can’t *technically* define him as a “villain”, he’s definitely not on the level either. There’s also Irrfan Khan who plays Simon Masrani, President of the Masrani Corporation and Jurassic World’s owner. I really like the way this character comes across because he’s insightful, but still flawed, and never let’s his mistakes define him. He’s honestly the most complex character in the entire film (if you don’t count the new dinosaur, the Indominus rex).
One of the best parts of the movie for me was Jake Johnson (The New Girl, Let’s Be Cops) as Lowery, a technical/computer specialist who works on the parks main operations floor. He brings most of the comedy relief and it’s GOOD comedy relief. I probably laughed out loud every time he was on-screen.
But how about those dinosaurs?! They were amazing! The special effects team did a fantastic job making them feel real and terrifying. I suppose a lot of credit should go to the production crew (writers, producers, director) for layering the dino’s personalities and characteristics more this time than in the previous films.
The new dinosaur I mentioned, the Indominus rex, is fascinating, and they succeed at making her intimidating and scary. I won’t say anymore than that about her cause I don’t want to spoil anything.
The raptors are handled very interestingly in this film. Chris Pratt’s character is their “trainer” (you know, as much as you can train a large reptile with razor sharp claw and teeth and the emotional stability of serial killer) and it’s really wild to see them relinquish as much control as they do.
My favorite dinosaur in the whole movie was probably the one with the least screen time, the Mosasaur. The Mosasaur was a very large water-dwelling dinosaur and the one in Jurassic World is ****ing TERRIFYING. Perhaps it’s just the water element? Like, how Jaws is so scary in large part because of how helpless you are in the water.
While a lot of the movie feels exactly like Jurassic Park, there are certain elements that give it some interesting layers. The CGI is absolutely fantastic and gives the movie that “blockbuster spectacle” feel. Then there’s the performances from Pratt and Howard, and they way their characters banter and interact, that make it feel like “Romancing the Stone” and “Jewel of the Nile”. I got the feeling that director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) has a vast array of film influences and he brought all of them with him to the table when he signed on. A large amount of credit should got to the co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. They are the team responsible for the new Planet of the Apes films and they’ve clearly proven that they know exactly what they’re doing when it comes to writing animals with intelligence and emotional depth.
I loved Jurassic World. It hasn’t become my favorite movie of the year or anything, but it was really fun and I would totally watch it again. The ending alone… oh my god… it was AMAZING. For me, even with some slow areas and weak-ish characters, Jurassic World was still definitely better than The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3. Although, to get slightly off-topic for a minute, I maintain that Jurassic Park 3 is the most unique of the entire series. All the other’s are basically just about things not going according to plan and people end up getting eaten. Jurassic Park 3 is more of a survivalist film. Grant is tricked into going back to the island (well, the OTHER island) to help these people find their son. It’s not just about something going haywire and dinosaurs running amok in a theme park, or in a suburb (*cough* Jurassic Park 2 *cough*), or a theme park…again. Ok, I’m off the soap box now.
I don’t need to tell you that Jurassic World is worth seeing. If you saw the other movies, and you like them, then you’re gonna go see it just like everyone else. You can expect excitement and laughs and awesome dinosaurs, and nightmarish dinosaurs. Oh, and before I forget… there is no end credits scene so you don’t have to stay until the very end, and there is an appearance by a character from the first Jurassic Park but I promise it’s not someone you’ll expect… and it’s more than a “cameo”. More on that though when my good friend Paige brings us her SPOILER-FILLED review on Monday! Get out and see Jurassic World this weekend! If you have kids, take them! My son and my nephew LOVED the whole movie! It’s a thrill-ride and you’ll be glad you went!
(If you’ve already seen the movie and would like to freely discuss it, check out our SPOILER REVIEW here.)