Jurassic World Movie Review

Original article on CultNoise: http://www.cultnoise.com/jurassic-world-a-fun-filled-dino-romp/

Over twenty years ago, the original Jurassic Park astounded audiences everywhere with its breath-taking dinosaurs. But the sense of wonder the film brought in 1993 couldn’t strike again with its subsequent sequels. The series finally returns with Jurassic World; a film which, for the most part serves as an enjoyable update to a long-dormant blockbuster.

Jurassic World ignores the events of the second and third entries in the series and uses the original 1993 film as its main narrative springboard. Twenty two years after the Isla Nublar incident, the park is finally open with scores of visitors, tourists and celebrities visiting every year. But the dinosaurs seen in past films are no longer enough to keep the money flowing and the officials of the park, led by Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) decide to create a genetic hybrid by splicing several dinosaur DNA strand together. The result is Indominus Rex; a super-intelligent Tyrannosaur more dangerous than all the other animals in the park put together. Following a few character introductions, (Most notably velociraptor expert Owen Grady played by Chris Pratt) the film unfolds from all over the park, swapping perspectives between the characters before it they all eventually come together for the film’s second half. Taking steps into genetic modification was a good move on Jurassic World’s part; taking the time to play about with both biology and palaeontology spices up the familiar formula, allowing the action to have much more impact and unpredictability. With this in mind, the film also veers off of common theories of palaeontology in favour of more action-packed scenarios which are sure to thrill any common film-goer.

We’ve already been wowed by the by the dinosaurs in the original film, so Jurassic World chooses to focus some of its efforts into the park itself; it’s definitely a sight to behold with all sorts of interesting technology drawing the viewer in. Unfortunately the plot of Jurassic World isn’t without its flaws. Modern clichés such as family dilemmas and forced romance sub-plots do creep in, distracting from the main attraction at many points. There’s also a fair degree of senselessness which the original film didn’t suffer from, be it dinosaurs popping out of nowhere or sending an untrained helicopter pilot to hunt down a deadly dinosaur. If Jurassic World maintained a greater plausibility, the plot could have been much more engaging.

The weakest area of Jurassic World though is its characters; a lot of them just aren’t very interesting or developed. The exceptions to this are the lead actors; Chris Pratt once again proves that he’s more than capable of handling roles in blockbuster films. The man is just plain likeable in every role I’ve seen him play so far, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him make his way into other popular film franchises in the future. Bryce Dallas Howard is also quite good as Claire, who delivers equal parts comic relief and desperate urgency throughout the film. Sadly, the same praises cannot be sang for the side characters; Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins try to make the best of the material they’re given, but as child characters they really don’t do anything to distinguish themselves from the others seen in the series. The black sheep of the cast is Vincent D’Onofrio; as a human antagonist, his militaristic motives are painfully forced and it’s a real shame to see the scientific themes from previous films be shoved aside in this fashion. Because of this, Dr Henry Wu (B.D. Wong), the only returning actor from the original film is wasted and really doesn’t have much to do over the course of the film other than spout a bit of scientific talk here and there. It’s a shame that the characters of Jurassic World can’t hold up, given how clever and engaging they were in the 1993 film; instead they fill their respective roles and little more.

With the gradual reduction in the use of practical effects over the years, Jurassic World makes use of full computer generated imagery as opposed to the animatronics used previously. The burning question is of course, how good do the dinosaurs look? Quite good in fact; the creatures are all really detailed and maintain the look they had in the previous films. The skin and scales on the creatures both boast some solid texturing and the way they move and interact is far more varied, thanks to the tricks of modern animation. The signature dinosaur roars are all there and accounted for and they continue to thrill just as much as they did before. The music also makes an impact, rising with the action as the danger heats up in the park, whilst the cinematography always give a full and complete view of the animals on-screen. Jurassic World’s presentation ultimately does exactly what you’d hope for; maintain the style of the previous films whilst updating and modernising it for a modern audience.

Jurassic World is a huge amount of fun and if you liked the first few films like I did then you’ll be happy to see dinosaurs making their long-awaited return to the big screen. With that said, it does come up quite short in areas which the original film did a much better job with; namely character development and thoughtful themes.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars