By Dan Doherty
Chances are if you love movies, you love Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. Released in 1993, the film revolutionized special effects and redefined blockbusters. Now, 22 years later with two sequels in between, the park is re-opened in Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World, and we finally have a worthy successor to Spielberg’s original masterpiece, and while the film suffers due a few issues in the script department, it is still a wonderfully gleeful and awe-inspiring summer blockbuster.
Getting the negatives of the film out of the way first off, there are a few times where the film’s writing feels a bit wonky. When you have a film that has been in development for such a long time and gone through various script tweaks and rewrites, script problems are bound to arise more often than not. The main plot of the film is pretty simple and solid, so the issues do not show there. Where the film’s script falters is an abundance of subplots being introduced. The B-plot that gets the most focus is Vincent D’Onofrio’s character, who works for InGen, wanting to take control of the dinosaurs on the island to use them for military use. This story felt like a lot of scenes involving it were cut due to time constraints, and it also did not feature much of a resolution and left some characters involvement in it up in the air. Piggy-backing off of that point, another weak link in the film was D’Onofrio’s acting. Usually very good in each performance he puts in, D’Onofrio felt like he was in an entirely different movie than everyone else at points, and his performance was incredibly over-the-top in a bad way. Other subplots that are introduced without much of a resolution are that Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins’s parents are going through a divorce, and while it didn’t detract much from the film, it just felt sort of unnecessary.
Getting into the positives, there is a lot to celebrate in Jurassic World. Getting into the acting first, Chris Pratt (aka Chris P The Dirty G) is absolutely fantastic in the lead role. Playing somewhat against type while still maintaining the charm he brings to his other roles, he continues to show his prowess as an up-and-coming movie star. Bryce Dallas Howard (NOT Jessica Chastain) was also very good in her role and had a strong character arc, and her chemistry with Pratt was top-notch. Other performances in the film included Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins, who played brothers and the nephews of Howard’s character spending their Christmas vacation at Jurassic World. While at first the two of them irritated me, I eventually warmed up to their characters and enjoyed following their storyline. Another one of my favorite performances in the movie was Jake Johnston as Lowry, one of the workers at the park. Johnston’s comedic timing is typically on point and he delivers some of the funniest and best lines in the film. Barring D’Onofrio, the entire cast did an excellent job in each of their roles.
Moving over to the film’s direction, Colin Trevorrow did an excellent job taking the reigns of the franchise and serving the original film justice while not just trying to duplicate it, and he also included a lot of in jokes to the previous film that show he is a huge fan of the franchise as a whole. I was apprehensive about him taking the job on such a big film after his only previous feature was Safety Not Guaranteed, a very good film for sure but completely different from the scale of this one. However, Trevorrow definitely proved that he was the perfect choice, and he directed all of the scenes very swiftly, brought a lot of intensity to some of the dinosaur sequences, and had his own style and flair. He may not have nailed the heart and wonder that Spielberg did with the first film, but he definitely nailed the spectacle.
While the film is at times predictable, has wonky writing and questionable CG at points, and D’Onofrio overcooked his role, it does not change the fact that Jurassic World is an extremely fun return to old fashioned summer blockbusters and was an incredibly entertaining spectacle.
4/5 Stars.
Summary: Dan Doherty rates "Jurassic World" four out of five stars, giving it a NotYetRated approved recommendation.
What did you think of Jurassic World? Is it the thrill ride you were hoping for? Is the B-movie serial formula wearing off or just getting started in a new age of blockbuster entertainment? Answer these potential questions and more in the comment sections located just a few scrolls down.