Jurassic World

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, BD Wong, Judy Greer, Lauren Lapkus
Directed by: Colin Trevorrow
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Jurassic World is open to the public and prepares to unveil its newest dinosaur- a brand new hybrid creature. Unfortunately, the dinosaur breaks free and enters the park.

Review:

Tim: I just.... I don't even know where to begin with this film. I was incredibly excited about reviving the Jurassic Park franchise. The movie got one of the hottest actors in Hollywood today- Chris Pratt. It surrounded him with some solid supporting players. The trailers didn't look all that good, however. In the back of my mind, I was thinking somewhere between $150-200 million at the box office. I still have no concept of how this film grossed over $652 million, becoming the third highest grossing movie of all time. I feel like I'm living in some bizarro world. The movie is really good- it's entertaining and exciting. However, it doesn't hold a candle up to the original and it's not a great film. I'm just blown away by how much money this movie made. I don't understand it.

Regardless of this being the biggest movie of 2015 and one of the biggest movies ever, I'd consider this a solid but unremarkable sequel. It's better than Jurassic Park III. Now, part of the issue comes from the inherent nature of the franchise. It's about dinosaurs breaking free and eating people. There's a few ways you can twist that, but ultimately, it's fairly predictable. This movie follows that bill exactly. Our main characters are never in any real danger of dying. We get the token "bad guys" who will obviously meet their fate sooner or later. The whole thing plays out about as we might expect. That blunts any real tension we might experience watching the movie.

Now, to combat the redundancy, this film did attempt to change things up a bit, to mixed effect. I suppose I'm okay with the idea of a hybrid dinosaur. The concept didn't wow me, but it does make logical sense in the world of this franchise. Why wouldn't these scientists with a god complex try to create something brand new? The mysteriousness of the Indominus Rex (cool name, by the way) does create some of the most intense and thrilling moments of the film. So, while the idea didn't blow me away, the execution was much better than I would have expected. The other little twist is having the Velociraptors basically "good" because they've been trained by Chris Pratt's character. When I saw this in the trailer, it seemed absurd and bad enough that it could ruin the movie. The story works hard to explain how this is possible, and I suppose it does make sense. Imprinting on them as babies and raising them as the Alpha might create the relationship we see in the film. I still have some problems with this. The whole point of these movies is that the carnivorous dinosaurs are deadly killing machines. To see dinosaurs that were so frightening in the original basically become pets or allies just felt stupid to me. The movie's handling of this is better than I expected, but again, it didn't wow me in the least.

The film does a good job of establishing characters we care about. That being said, none of them are as good as the characters in the original. Still, they were fun to see on screen and I do look forward to more sequels with them. Chris Pratt continues to win me over with another strong leading man performance. I love how he's transformed into the first actor people think about for big budget action franchises now. He's not as good here as in Guardians of the Galaxy, but he makes a strong leading man. Bryce Dallas Howard's acting was occasionally iffy, but overall, she worked. I really like the casting of Ty Simpkins. This franchise needs a young, precocious boy to be in danger. Simpkins is no Joseph Mazzello, but he works well in the role. The rest of the supporting cast is very strong. I loved seeing Vincent D'Onofrio here, but I wish he had a better role.

The dinosaur scenes are good, although the special effects never felt believable to me. I remember seeing the original Jurassic Park in 1993 and absolutely believing in the Tyrannosaurus Rex. That doesn't happen here, but the film is still beautiful to look at.

Jurassic World does tell a very entertaining story. While it's a bit predictable, this movie reinvigorates a franchise that has been very influential. I might not have loved this movie, but I did thoroughly enjoy the ride. It introduces us to new characters who are compelling and likeable. Director Colin Trevorrow does a very effective job. I still don't believe this film deserved its box office haul, but don't mistake that believe for me disliking the film. I had fun with this movie and I look forward to the sequel.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III, Guardians of the Galaxy, Safety Not Guaranteed