I do not need to explain the significance that Jurassic Park has to the history of cinema, revolutionising special effects with a captivating premise of seeing extinct beasts come to life once again and the repercussions of fiddling with nature. 22 years and 2 fairly disappointing sequels later, we have a decent film as Dr John Hammond's vision is finally come to fruition and it seems that it is time to play god again in Jurassic World, helmed by Colin Treverrow this time round. If you come into it expecting to hold-up to the original, then you will be disappointed. This iteration is definitely a different style of Jurassic Park while it hits the classic beats from time-to-time though you cannot deny it that it definitely an enjoyable experience on its own merits and it uses the nostalgia factor in a satisfying way without feeling phoned in.We return to the island of Isla Nublar 22 years since the Jurassic Park incident, and the park is now open for a good number of years, but the audience is now getting bored of dinosaurs (somehow..) so the genetic scientists cook up a new species of dinosaur that is bigger, smarter with more teeth, the Indominus Rex. However when it escapes, it is up to dinosaur behaviourist, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and the rest of the crew of the Park to handle the situation before it goes out of hand, however in true 'Jurassic' fashion, things do not go exactly to plan.
Let's start at the eponymous resort. It is very refreshing that we finally get to revisit the original island of Isla Nublar which with updates, looks better than ever. The resort/park is meticulously detailed, littered with all sorts of attractions where you can look at the different dinosaur species first-hand in a hamster-ball, or see the genetic scientists doing their thing or watch a dinosaur movie at an IMAX screen. This park pretty much what you can call a glorified zoo mixed with Universal Studios and Disneyland, not unlike the dinosaurs don't you think? There is something grand and darkly poetic about seeing Dr.Hammond's vision come to life. The attractions are fully designed and well thought-out which makes this park seem plausible enough and for this reason it really immerses you in this world .This movie is quite the watch just for the park alone.
If you look at the story of Jurassic World from a very general perspective will seem like a re-tread of the same ' running from a dinosaur' story, but it is by far the most interesting and better motivated story than the previous sequels combined with really interesting new underlying themes and plot-lines that refresh the whole lore and forwards it in a natural progression such as gene-splicing dinosaurs to attract guests, which does 'up at the ante' with the fact that people are getting bored of just seeing dinosaurs which works both in respects to the film world and the real movie audience in terms of how we have seen the evolution of special effects. These ideas are well presented in the movie, though they take the back-seat to the action ( a bit too common with summer movies this year, I've noticed) but nothing really cringe-worthy. The story does take some time to start where it only starts to take-off after the first hour and even far into the second act there is a feeling that there is lack of 'epic' if you will. However it is in the third act where you will start to get your money's worth and it is the highlight of the movie, which is why I shall not spoil though if yo have seen the movie, you will probably agree with me. Also unlike the previous sequels, Jurassic World is able to recapture some of the wonder and awe of the original, largely due to its premise of the 'open park' and there are also references to the original park, some bigger than others, and there is a logical inconsistency as to why they exist since I should expect them to clean the island before construction. Speaking of logical inconsistencies, the radios over here are so conveniently malfunctioning and overall park security still hasn't quite improved for some reason that even though it is funny for a few giggles, is seriously immersion-breaking. I must address that Chris Pratt playing dog whisperer with velociraptors does not feel as far fetched than most people would assume and frankly have used this relationship in a satisfying way.
The human characters are written well, though most of them lack depth. Chris Pratt as Owen Grady is definitely a very likeable hero much due to the contribution of the buoyant personality Pratt is and he leads the movie effortlessly and also his character is not a generic wise-cracker and his humour is toned-down and he is an all round bad-ass.It looks with this one he has solidified his screen presence as a star. He is another important reason for you to watch this movie. Claire is arguably the main
character in the movie since she is really the only character who has a clear arc from an uptight businesswoman who is ignorant to someone who really cares for dinosaurs as beings. Bryce Dallas Howard also puts up a very good performance and certainly lives in the active, no-nonsense character that Claire is. Though you have to put up with a rather forced/unnecessary romance between Owen and Claire .The brothers Zack and Gray played by Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins are on a sort of family vacation here and they really play off from each other.Though my investment in their story pretty much ended when they stopped just visiting the attractions and allowed to let me see the park more. Though what will come as a surprise to you is just how likeable and funny Jake Johnson is as Lowery, part of the monitoring crew of Jurassic World who sits in the new command centre. Lowery is just a really likeable character and Johnson's performance just makes him that much more than just comic relief. We also have Vincent D'nofrio, Kingpin himself, as the head of security at the park and again he is 'love to hate him' kind off person he is a major player in the story, without getting in to spoilers. Special mention goes to Irrfan Khan as Simon Masrani, the new owner of the park, who inherited the park from Dr. Hammond. Khan really portrays this optimist billionaire very well and it was very nice to see an owner who actually cares about consumer experience rather than profits and sees the park as a sign of showing humility to humans and how small we are in the world. I really liked his character and was quite sad that he was not used more, but he had his moments just like every other character which is a good thing.
We have finally reached the meat and potatoes of the Jurassic franchise, the Dinosaurs and there is no surprise in saying that they are the best part of the movie, not as well used in the original of course but there is a good variety of species to be found here such as the fish-like Mososaurus, Pteranodon, the iconic Velociraptors and of course the genetic abomination that is the Indominus Rex. My problem with the I-Rex is that even though it is supposed to be a like a super-dinosaur with plot convenient super powers like camouflage and such, it is really is underused for some reason since every single ability of his is just shown one-time and does not really result into something bigger like we show you what it can do bit-by-bit and then she will use everything she has in a finale. And because of the fact that the plot really focuses on a singular threat and when it is underutilised really starts to bog down the whole movie, and it starts to overshadow the other dinosaur species in a bad way. A singular threat should not really be the focus of a Jurassic Park movie since the whole premise really is that pretty much any and every dinosaur is a potential threat and we do not know how a dinosaur will react and that unpredictability I felt was missing and made the I-Rex a missed opportunity. The special effects are also really well done overall although there is still an over-reliance on computer imagery than animatronics which again prove the superior form of special effects especially in the Apatosaurus scene. The only real problem in the CGI I felt was that it seemed to inconsistent, at some parts it held-up but in others it really seemed a bit rubbery(Although it could be just me). But for the most part the dinosaurs look wonderfully photo-real. Again I said before the dinsoaurs really shine towards the later part of Act-2 and the entirety of Act-3. The climax is something that is truly the highlight of the movie and may have given us one of the best contributions to the legacy of Jurassic Park.
I think that Jurassic World (as many have said before) should be viewed as a monster movie than the classic horror-action roller-coaster that the original was, and it really is a personal preference as to which style you gravitate to. For me a Jurassic Park is all about a huge T-Rex head coming at you in total darkness with your heart coming in your throat with fear. So its obvious that I was not too into the movie here that was largely daylight and was more 'action' than 'horror-action'. A monster movie is a more accurate appraisal of this movie than calling it a classic 'Jurassic' style film though it definitely does not discredit this movie and its direction. In fact I am really quite surprised that it took 22 years for us to get a decent sequel though Treverrow and all the cast and crew have really done a marvellous job in recreating some of the magic that we sorely missed and once you see the movie you can see the passion and respect the film-makers have to the legacy of the original without it being copy-paste, and permeates through every aspect of the film from the writing to acting to the visuals and the amazing score by Micheal Giacchino (a phenomenal homage to John Williams score while adding his own stamp) and this respect to the source material helped in re-invigorating the franchise and our love for it. Does it stand any chance against the original ?, of course not, but is the only one that came closer than the others, at that alone should make it worth for at least one watch. The story is a bit long and weak unlike the tighter and focused plot of the original, it may lack the horror aspect but again just seeing that vision of the park come to life and seeing these new characters plus dinosaurs and going back into that universe is a blast nonetheless.
ps. I would suggest a front row sitting for a full experience...
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