Jurassic World (Review)

Jurassic World (2015)

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Directed By: Colin Trevorrow

When the original Jurassic Park was released in 1993 it literally changed the way movies are made. It was a spectacle on a scale the world had never seen before, and with that came a certain magic that could never again be recaptured with this franchise. No matter what you do you can't make the audience feel like it's the first time all over again, but the fans wanted more. Two unsuccessful sequels and twenty two years later and I believe we have finally gotten the follow up to Jurassic Park that we deserve. Colin Trevorrow and company found a way, maybe not to recapture the magic of the original, but to bring back the spirit of the world Steven Spielberg brought to us two decades ago.

The story is fairly simple and quite honestly, the only one that makes sense. It has been twenty two years since John Hammond's dream fell apart, but it seems we never learn. A fully operational park has now been built on Isla Nublar and receives over twenty thousand visitors a day. They have over twenty species of dinosaur stretched all over the island and in various theme park attractions (anyone who has read the books will notice more than a few from the original dream of the park) but it's not enough. Looking for new attractions they turn to gene splicing in attempts to create a dinosaur that is completely their own, a sure way to bring more people in. Underestimating the power of the science they are wielding they end up creating a highly intelligent super monster, and when it escapes from its paddock they now have twenty two thousands lives to protect.

What better way to bring back the Jurassic franchise than to show us the one thing we never got to see in the previous three movies, a fully functioning theme park. I mentioned how they recapture the spirit of the first movie and it all starts here, with "Jurassic World". They have created an incredible fantasy world that is one half John Hammond's vision and the other half is influence of big business and merchandising. If a dinosaur theme park on a tropical island existed today, in 2015, this is exactly how it would be run. Some people may find it cheesy that they are creating their own dinosaur but this is actually an idea that is prominently mentioned in the books, which transitions to one of my favorite aspects of this movie. So much of the small details and infrastructure of the park and even some of the coolest plot details are directly inspired from Michael Crichton's genius books (seriously, if you haven't read them you have to).

After it was announced Spielberg would not be returning to direct this fourth installment but would instead produce, there were a lot of people that became weary of the project. To replace him they brought in small time director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) who was fairly unknown to most audiences at the time and they reportedly gave him tons of creative freedom on the project. The studio took a risk and it paid off big time. This is a movie made by a true Jurassic park fan for Jurassic Park fans. Knowing he couldn't recapture the magic he decided to expand on what was so much fun about the original, the dinosaurs and the idea of a theme park with them in it, and blow it up to an enormous scale. Jurassic World has essentially done what Aliens did after the original, rather than try to imitate its predecessor it changed into something else the fans could enjoy.

The thing that has always made these films work so well is the characters, and I'm not just talking about actors. The dinosaurs need to feel like they are as much a part of the cast as anyone. This is why the third film falls flat; they have no real characters in any form in that film. In Jurassic World they are real characters, not senseless monsters running rampant and it adds so much more weight to it as a whole. The Raptors especially, I know a lot of people are on the edge about the idea of training them but man, it really works. It may sound a like a corny idea on paper but the way it is handled makes it feel like the perfect idea for this franchise.

You can only go so far with the Dino's though and they were sure to bring in a whole slew of talent to help Trevorrow out with this seemingly impossible task. Starting with the hottest movie star around, the guy we have all fallen in love with, Chris Pratt. If you weren’t already sold that this guy is the real deal and then some, it is without question now. He plays the role of Owen, the guy who is tasked with training the raptors and who seems to know more about every creature in the park than anyone else working there. The film is that much more charming and funny because of his presence. He is not the main character however as the majority of the film focuses on Bryce Dallas-Howard's character Claire, and her two nephews Gray (Ty Simpkins) and Zach (Nick Robinson) who are visiting the park. Claire runs the entire theme park and although she was supposed to spend the weekend with her sister’s kids she instead pawns them off on her assistant. When things go bottom up she find herself racing through the chaos to save her nephews who are now lost in the park. All three of these actors fill their role wonderfully, Zach Robinson is great as the pissy teenager and Ty Simpkins kills it as usual, but the real stand out was Bryce. She nails her role and actually strikes wonderful chemistry with Pratt. If they decide to return for a sequel, I won’t be complaining.  In support they also brought in Judy Greer as the boy’s mother, Vincent D’Onofrio as the power hungry military man, and Jake Johnson who steals just about every scene he is in.

I went into this movie with the mindset that I was a kid again and I had never seen the original. If this were actually the case this movie would be my reason for living. I was in a packed house tonight and I haven't seen the theaters like this in a long time. When the end credits rolled the entire audience applauded the movie and there didn't seem to be a disappointed face in the crowd. Kids are going to go crazy for this movie and the fans of the original that have been aching for a satisfying sequel should finally be put at ease. The movie is totally self-aware and never takes itself too seriously, I loved this. They knew what kind of picture they were making and made the best possible one that they could. The final act of the movie is absolutely genius and is a testament to what modern technology can bring to the industry when mixed with great film makers. I'll be going back this weekend for repeat viewings and if you have kids I'm sure they will be asking to see this over and over. Anyone who knows me knows the original Jurassic Park is my favorite film. I feel what Colin Trevorrow and everyone else involved with this movie brought to us is the best possible sequel we could have gotten.


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