Jurassic World (2015) Review

"That thing out there... That is no dinosaur." - Owen.

22 years after Steven Spielberg wowed audiences with Jurassic Park, and after two below average sequels, Jurassic World has resurrected the franchise beyond anyone's expectations. Already, the film has broken several box-office records, with people flocking to the cinema just as the characters in the film do so to the titular theme park. Like Jurassic Park, this sequel has a great sense of fun about it, but it is also guilty of conforming to some of the clichés established in the previous films.

First the positives, which there are thankfully plenty of. With none of the characters from the previous films, Jurassic World has to establish new characters that we have to care about in order to create suspense and drama when things inevitably go wrong with the captive dinos. Our two protagonists are Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), the organiser of the park, and Owen (Chris Pratt), the park's Velociraptor trainer. Both are likeable, with Owen's sarcastic humour and swagger making for a solid action-hero lead. Pratt is establishing himself as a highly bankable star, and his performance here is filled with enthusiasm for the project. You can tell he had a blast in this role, and that makes for a fun ride-along with his character. Howard is also good as Claire, and her character is involved in a lot of the film's action, which means that we can grow to care about her and ups the suspense. Unfortunately, both characters are involved in an extremely predictable love story. Its downplayed for a lot of the film, but the early dialogue between the two makes where their characters are going to end up painfully obvious. Back to the film's strengths, there is more than enough action to satisfy. As soon as the dinosaurs break loose, there are thrilling chases, stunts, and a Godzilla-esque showdown to round things off. All these sequences are built up well, with things gradually getting worse for the park, starting with a new genetically modified dinosaur outsmarting its captors. From there, the action keeps building, with more dinos let loose and with plenty of explosions and scares. Its a feast for the eyes. Jurassic World also scores points by paying homage to the first film, but without ever coming across as a rip-off. In one scene, the museum from the conclusion of Jurassic Park is discovered, and there is a great nostalgic feel, as the place has aged just as the first film has. This moment of reminiscence is very appropriate in Jurassic World, as it is a sequel that is made with love and affection towards the original. It is a film that aims to thrill and excite, unlike the two previous sequels, which felt lacking of any sense of fun, exactly the opposite of what a summer-blockbuster series like Jurassic Park should be.

I would like to single out the opening 5 minutes or so for particular praise. It shows brothers Zach and Gray Mitchell (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins) arriving at Jurassic World for the first time. Seeing them arrive at the island with the original Jurassic Park music playing reminded me of watching the first film many years ago. The sense of wonder that is evoked from the brothers seeing Jurassic World for the first time matching my own when I first watched Jurassic Park. It was a film that left an impression on me as a kid, along with other adventure films such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones. I haven't had that feeling when watching a film for some time now, and so it was great to experience that again with Jurassic World.

Despite the brothers being involved in that fantastic opening sequence, they are the film's biggest problem. Acting wise, Robinson and Simpkins don't do a bad job, but they have absolutely nothing to work with here. Their personalities basically come down to this: Zach continuously stares at girls (despite having a girlfriend) and Gray talks a lot about dinosaur facts. That's it. There is nothing else to these characters, apart from their stupidity of going into restricted areas where they, of course, have to be rescued. I'm willing to overlook moments like that as the first film also had its moments of characters acting unbelievably stupid, such as the kids shining a torch at the T-Rex. However, the kids in Jurassic World are so bland that I didn't particularly care  when the dinosaurs started to chase them. At least in Jurassic Park, the kids, however annoying they were, proved themselves to be useful when pushed, and were involved in some of the more humorous moments. As they were involved in arguably the best sequence of the film, it's a shame Zach and Gray be involved in undoubtedly the worst scene. There is a moment where they are on a monorail, and suddenly Gray starts crying. Zach asks him why he's upset, and Gray explains that he knows that their parents will be getting divorced. Never again is this mentioned throughout the rest of the film, and it doesn't aid the drama in anyway. You could quite easily have left that scene out, and nobody would have noticed anything different about the characters, as Zach continues his staring and Gray continues his babbling about facts. Another character hampered by bad writing is the head of security operations, Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio). He's your typical Jurassic Park bad guy: he wants to use the dinosaurs as weapons, and shows no redeeming characteristics throughout the film. The character offers us nothing else, and so is instantly forgettable and one of the film's weaker aspects. My final complaint is aimed at the dinosaurs themselves. This is a minor issue, but I personally would have liked to have seen less CGI. The first Jurassic Park used a great combination of CGI and practical effects to bring the dinosaurs to life, but in Jurassic World every dinosaur is CGI. Given the first film's creativity, it would have been nice to see some great practical effects in a summer-blockbuster like this again. I always thought that having something actually in front of the camera looks so much better than having it all being created by a computer in post-production.

Though it has a few flaws, Jurassic World is easily the best of the sequels. It knows exactly what it is and fulfilled my expectations: be entertaining. It certainly is. I also have great admiration for Jurassic World paying its respects to the film that started it all. Now, should there be another sequel? No. Though I think it's going to happen given its huge success and popularity, Jurassic World finally got the series back on track, and so should end on a high. It was great to see another Jurassic Park film, and for it to be done well overall, but I would like to see something new now. Jurassic World took the only other idea left for this series and ran with it, and it did it with all the enthusiasm and fun one could expect from the series. 

Pros:
+ Pays homage to the original.
+ Plenty of action sequences, the best being the ending encounter between a new dinosaur and an old favourite.
+ Chris Pratt. He's so likeable, and his star continues to rise because of it.

Cons:
- Some bland characters, the brothers and Hoskins particularly.
- Cliché love story adds nothing and is very predictable.
- Too much CGI, some practical effects would have been nice.