3 out 5 stars (average)
I will never understand Hollywood’s seemingly immortal fascination with unnecessary reboots and sequels. Since 2010, reboots of popular franchises have been spewing out the back end during the summer months hoping to rekindle the spark gained from the originals. 80’s classics Robocop and A Nightmare on Elm Street were given this treatment to mediocre results, both critically and financially. However, some reboots (like Rise of the Planet of the Apes) are successful because they take the franchise into the 21st century, exploring themes and ideas that the original could not.
And sometimes, reboots are just fun pieces of escapism that are not meant to be analyzed, just enjoyed.
Jurassic World falls into that category. While it isn’t as good as the original (come on, who was really expecting that?), this film stands on its own two feet as a fun summer popcorn flick that doesn’t require you to think very hard. This seems to be what makes money nowadays, and this film is set to break box office records. Despite some questionable script decisions, Jurassic World is an enjoyable popcorn movie with a great lead performance and intense action.
The film follows Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard of 50/50) the owner of “Jurassic World”, a park where dinosaurs are on display for the general public. The park is a hugely popular tourist attraction made possible by Dr. Wu (BD Wong returning from the first film), a scientist who has been with the park since the beginning all those years ago.
To increase tourism (because apparently LIVE DINOSAURS ALONE can’t do that), the scientists have genetically engineered a dinosaur. This does not please park trainer and exhibit inspector Owen (Chris Pratt outshining everyone), who treats the dinos with the respect they deserve. It doesn’t help that he has Hoskins (Vincent D’onofrio of Netflix’s Daredevil) breathing down his neck about using the raptors as weapons of war, something that Owen would not allow. Unfortunately, the genetically-made dino escapes from its enclosure, sending Owen and Claire to find it. To make matters worse, Claire’s two nephews (Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson) have come to the park to see their aunt and thus get involved on the action.
This film is a lot better than I thought it would be. The action is very intense and most of the dinosaur effects are solid (most of them). Colin Trevorrow (the director of 2012’s hit Safety Not Guaranteed) knows how to build tension surprisingly well given that this is his second theatrical release. I’m sad he will not be returning to direct a sequel to this film (and let’s just face it, there will be one).
Performance-wise, Chris Pratt proves once again why we love him: he has charm, likeability, and charisma unlike many new actors today. He uses his leading-man abilities very well here, outshining Bryce Dallas Howard and even the great D’onofrio (who was absolutely amazing on Daredevil). Howard is giving her second-best performance here, her first being 50/50. For whatever reason, Howard has yet to give a great leading performance in her career. She’s not bad by any means, but I wish she would improve a bit. The child actors are surprisingly good (and not annoying), giving performances that seem realistic for the situation they are in (one is a teenager, the other a middle school aged kid). Finally, Irrfan Khan (seen briefly in the first Amazing Spider-Man) delivers a decent performance.
The only problems I have with the film are minor ones. First, Claire is wearing heels throughout, running in them with unbelievable ease. I don’t wear heels myself, but my sister said that it would be IMPOSSIBLE to run in them. I bring this up because there are several shots of the heels, almost as if the director wanted us to know that she was wearing them. They don’t have a payoff, seeming a bit useless in the grand scheme. Also, it is briefly mentioned that the two kids’ parents might get a divorce, but we don’t see anything to support that. We see the mother (Judy Greer, who really needs to get larger parts) saying good bye in the first scene, and then again when she calls Claire asking about the boys. We never see her and the husband arguing, so it just seemed rushed in. Finally, I felt the opening act was a little slow, but it picks up after about 15 minutes. It’s not boring, just character introductions and such.
Jurassic World isn’t as good as the original, but it does its job well, and that is entertaining the viewer. John Williams‘ great score is included here, and it’s as hard to get out of your head now as it was back in 1993. There were some kids in my theater who weren’t too scared by anything, but it depends on the kid. I actually jumped a couple times, but that’s just me. Overall, Jurassic World is a fun action flick for the summer crowd.
Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Peril