Jurassic World
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Vincent D’Onofrio
Directed by: Colin Trevorrow
Review by Brendan Dousi
[Rating: 3.5/5]
I’m going to have to apologise in advance that this review may not be the most unbiased. Like many other kids who grew up in the 90s I was absolutely freaking obsessed with Jurassic Park. I had all the toys from the green jeep with the pop off hood to the large rubber T-Rex with that weird chunk of meat you could pull out of it’s side. I think I even had a little mini Jeff Goldblum action figure (though this might have been from Independence Day). Regardless, I went into Jurassic World with some of the largest and heaviest pair of nostalgia goggles on and I’ll be the first to admit that this might have effected my objectivity. But really, can you blame me? It’s freaking dinosaurs!
Jurassic World has been open for 10 years now and, despite impressive attendance, focus groups are saying that your normal, run-of-the-mill scientifically resurrected Dinosaurs just aren’t exciting anymore. This, of course, has led the park’s owner Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) to commission a new, more exciting and terrifying dinosaur from his top geneticists. More teeth, more claws, more panache. Unfortunately more teeth and claws means that they have unwittingly created a horrifying killing machine that is a crap-tonne smarter than your average dinosaur. When this Indominus Rex stages a clever and bloody jail-break it is up to Park Manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) to try and keep things contained and under control with the help of dashing ex-navy Velociraptor trainer Owen (Chris Pratt). Unfortunately her two visiting Nephews she neglected to spend the day with are now right in the path of a terrifying, murderous monster.
It is good to be back in this world. I just want you to take a moment to appreciate the fact that we get another movie where Dinosaurs hunt and attack people because of our own follies. So. Good. Director Colin Trevorrow said in an interview recently that he wanted the adults watching Jurassic World to feel like terrified little kids again. To feel that sense of danger and exhiliration they got when they saw the first film so many years ago. Largely, I believe he succeeded. The ‘Indominus Rex’ is a terrifying creature which Trevorrow wisely decides to keep hidden for a good portion of the film, only showing glimpses of tooth, eye and silhouette to make the audience truly feel like this is a stalking predator. Marry this with a film exuding charm, good nature and a true sense of adventure and you get something that is truly aspiring to live up to the original. In more ways than one, Jurassic World is a love letter to the first Jurassic Park film. Without giving too much away, there are many references and homages to the first in this film, just keep your eyes open and they’ll be hard to miss.
Jurassic World, however, doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights of it’s predecessor. Possibly a tie for second best with The Lost World, it is held back by an often hokey script. Some dialogue doesn’t quite mesh, and quite a few of the supporting characters are severely under-drawn. In particular there is an extremely two dimensional Armed Forces man played by Vincent D’Onofrio that is little more than a caricature. A number of deaths happen, obviously, but some of the more prominent supporting characters that die do so in either an anti-climactic or bogglingly sinister way. One character dies in such a convoluted and horrible way that you wonder what the filmmakers had out for them, they hadn’t even drawn them as that bad a person but they still had one of the most horrible deaths in the film. On that note, I will say that I was initially worried that in this day and age a film that markets towards children wouldn’t be able to reach the levels of violence that the originals did. Let’s just say that I was wrong. Oh so wrong.
Jurassic World is a little stiff in the script department at times and let’s face it, those CGI effects are going to age real bad, but it still manages to capture that sense of awe, adventure and terror that breathed so much spirit into the original film. It definitely won’t blow you away, but it certainly won’t disappoint. Jurassic World delivers enough dinosaurs, scares and heart to make it an admirable addition to the franchise and a pretty entertaining summer blockbuster to boot.
