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Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Jurassic World Review

Written by Stu Cooper

This past weekend dinosaurs invaded your local cinema and Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World was released. The film stomped the box office, raking in over 500 million dollars worldwide! The toy lines are lining your local Toys R' Us and there is a Lego game adaptation being released this week. This film marks the fourth entry in the series, but serves as a direct sequel to the original. The film completely disregards the events of 2 and 3.

Jurassic World takes place 22 years after the original. The park and technology has advanced beyond anything Hammond could have imagined in the first installment. The park itself has gotten a massive upgrade which includes a petting zoo, a shark feeding show, and a brand new breed of dinosaur! Geneticists that work for the park decided to mix the DNA of various dinosaurs, creating the Indominous Rex. The Indominous Rex serves as a new attraction, which the park owner's hope will boost dwindling attendance. Unfortunately for park attendees, the chaos theory returns and dinosaurs escape.

The film revolves around Owen (Chris Pratt), a raptor trainer and ex-navy soldier who serves as the stories Han Solo. He is reluctant to help serve the park's leaders and does not support the new dinosaur idea. While Owen does not seem to enjoy working for Jurassic World, he does enjoy the bond he shares with the raptors. Not only does Owen bond with the raptors, but he gives them orders, which they follow! It's pretty cool to see a human working with raptors, but the cgi kind of takes away from any real threat element to Pratt when he is close to them. They are often not even in the same shots together.

While the focus of the film is mostly on Pratt's character, the other main characters are of course...helpless children. Two brothers named Gray and Zach are visiting the park with their nanny when all the sudden chaos ensues. The children find themselves trapped in the middle of it, much like the original film. The boys are also there visiting their aunt, who happens to be the manager of the park. Her name is Claire, played by the absolutely gorgeous Bryce Dallas Howard. She also has some kind of past relationship with Owen (Pratt). The four of them end up going on an adventure through the park, trying to escape the clutches of the Indominous Rex.

Another part of the story revolves around the evil human element of this world. Not only are dinosaurs a threat, but a private military organization called InGen is trying to get their hands on the trained raptors. The leader of the group is played by Vincent D'onofrio, who plans to use the raptors for military attacks. He partners up with the evil geneticist played by B.D. Wong. The geneticist is actually the only reoccurring character from the original. Which is odd because the character was not sinister in the original. He seems to be corrupted by the power that creating dinos has given him.

After chaos ensues and dinosaurs escape, we follow Claire and Owen as they go on a search for the two children. Pratt and Howard's chemistry is questionable. They seem to be channeling a classic Han Solo/Leia vibe. Unfortunately it doesn't seem too real, which becomes a problem through out the film. Claire is an upper class cold business woman and Owen is the down and dirty animal trainer. The film plays up the whole “we are from different worlds” love story. It feels somewhat forced, but both actors are beautiful people so naturally audiences don't mind.

The two children involved in the film are one of the films weak points. I found them to be extremely bland and annoying. The older brother is very unlikable and really does nothing in the film to show he is someone you should root for. The younger brother is harmless and serves as the child spirit of the film. Sadly I think the child actor was a little too excited in some scenes, and looks like he is about to laugh most of the time.

As for the effects, the dinosaurs look absolutely stunning and rather realistic. I would say the Indominous Rex is the most unrealistic looking dinosaur, but what can you expect when the creature doesn't actually exist. The T-Rex and raptors return and look just as stunning as the originals. You also get to see a parade of various breeds of dinosaurs as the film tours the park. It actually feels like you're at some type of “what if” futuristic Disney. In this world, lions and tigers are old news and dinos are the new attraction.

While the film was beautiful and served as a great homage to the original, it wasn't without it's problems. I found the two child characters to be boring and the film spends a lot of time on them, which grows tiresome. I just have to remember that ultimately this is a children's movie and children relate to child actors.

I also found the love story between Claire and Owen to be superficial and by the book. It really serves no purpose other than a reason for the four of these people to be in the same room. I will say I really loved Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire, who played the cold boss perfectly. The only objection I had to her character was that she wore heels the entire time, despite the fact that she is literally running from a T-Rex. She must have some major balance skills!

The score of the film was a refreshing rehash of the original tunes. The film inserted the theme song into a few scenes, some of which fit, some didn't. I remember thinking the first time the song cues up, it was a tad awkward and forced. Regardless, I'm glad the original theme is back.

The film certainly had it's ups and downs, but I think it really served it's purpose. It's the best sequel and a worthy addition to the franchise. It's a solid sequel/reboot for a new generation of kids. The children of the original Jurassic Park fans are the ones going to the theaters, so you can't help but feel a little nostalgic watching it. The park itself almost seemed like a satirical take on the original film. You have a character that makes merchandising references and you have the crew of the park creating a BIGGER, BADDER dinosaur because “the attendees demand it”. You could say the whole thing is satire on the genre. The films tone is all over the place. You see a peak of darkness in a particular death scene, but overall the film is very light. Most of the violence comes in the form of combat between two or more dinosaurs. I'm certainly not complaining about seeing that!

When you think third sequel in a franchise, you think chances are the film will not be very good. However, my early impressions of Jurassic World were very positive given the impressive trailers and the youthful talented cast. I was going into this film fully ready to experience another trip to Isla Nublar, and I didn't leave disappointed. Jurassic World is a nonstop adventure through a parallel universe where dinosaurs have replaced apes and whales at the zoo.