Jurassic World Review

Born with a gift and a curse, Jurassic World has the pleasure of being a movie about freakin’ dinosaurs and has the displeasure of living in the shadow of Jurassic Park, one of the most beloved movies of all time. But, as long as the dinosaur action is great, the characters aren’t annoying, and the dialogue is fun, it would be pretty hard to complain about Jurassic World. Coming from the minds behind Safety Not Guaranteed, a quirky and delightful sci-fi indie film, it seemed we had the right guys for the job. The trailers didn’t give us anything to love (besides Chris Pratt, because, come on now, it’s Chris Pratt) but it certainly didn’t give us anything to hate, so expectations remained optimistic. Now that the film is here, what is there to say?

Not too shabby. Has its problems, but Jurassic World is undeniably the best thing to carry the Jurassic Park name since the original 1993 film.

Taking place over 20 years after the events of Jurassic Park, the park is open and people are somehow bored OF RIDING ON A BABY TRICERATOPS! The park needs more than just dinosaurs to keep the crowds coming back (which can work as an analogy for the movie itself), so the Jurassic World scientists cook up a fresh dinosaur that’s the biggest thing the park has seen since Ian Malcolm’s ego. When that dinosaur outsmarts those silly humans and escapes, it’s up to The Velociraptor Whisperer (Chris Pratt) and the business focused park manager (Bryce Dallas Howard), who conveniently has two nephews lost in the park during this ordeal, to take the beast down.

In terms of plot and story, Jurassic World does a great job distinguishing itself from the original, something the previous sequels have a problem with. The park finally being open is a nice touch, and even though dinosaurs chasing humans is far from new, the screenwriters always seemed to have something cool up their sleeve. There’s even the ironic theme of consumerism that I mentioned earlier, which shows that the screenwriters are self-aware and willing to have fun.

And that fun pays off. Here in Jurassic World, the action is constant and two hours feels like 30 minutes. The Lost World and Jurassic Park III are slightly saved from their lackluster narratives because dinosaurs are devouring everything in their path for our enjoyment, and Jurassic World has that without the lackluster narrative part. So it’s Summer blockbuster gold, right?

Jurassic World does have a pretty big issue with its characters. The cool and suave man teams up with the by the books business business business manager lady to save her estranged nephews and THE WORLD. Yeah sure there’s fu*king dinosaurs running around which spices things up to say the least, but if you can’t figure out exactly how those two characters develop then I recommend watching just about any movie. Not to mention there’s a human villain character because giant monsters uncontrollably hunting for flesh aren’t enough, and a comic relief nerdy character who is a nice guy that’s good for some chuckles but really doesn’t serve much of a purpose outside of that. There’s also the smart little boy played by the smart little boy from Iron Man 3 and his older brother who wants to cheat on his girlfriend because the story demanded it?

Weak characters aside, there’s a scene where pteranodons scoop up terrified tourists and throw them into things. And that’s why we’re here, for joyous moments like that that further prove that movies are an art form. If the thought of dinosaurs doesn’t immediately make you happy then you’re probably not reading a review for a movie about dinosaurs.

I can assure you that the five-year old inside of you will explode upon seeing some of the wonderful dinosaur-esque action here. John Schwawrtzman’s cinematography gets an A+ and Colin Trevorrow’s staging gets an A++. If this movie doesn’t please you on an emotional level, then I don’t want much to do with you thank you for stopping by.

I haven’t been impressed with 3D since I saw Jurassic World a few hours ago. This is a pretty solid presentation. There’s not enough flying out of the screen for my taste, but the increased depth of field really makes a difference in these lush jungle environments or in a crowd of park guests waiting to die. And it was converted? Nice job. I wasn’t as impressed by this as the 2013 re-release of Jurassic Park in IMAX 3D, but this certainly is nothing to scoff at.

With its “sit back and enjoy the ride” attitude, Jurassic World is a blast. Gathering up a bunch of friends on a hot Summer night to see dinosaur action sounds like a pretty great time to me, and fans of the original film should be happy to know that Jurassic World understands what made the first movie so great, boring characters aside.