Jurassic World

 “Jurassic Park” is one of the greatest and most iconic films ever made. Based on the Michael Crichton novel of the same name, it follows the story of Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, a paleontologist and paleobotanist, who are invited by John Hammond to his private island in Central America, where he has had a team of scientist successfully clone dinosaurs into modern times. The film was a gigantic hit with both critics and audiences, and at the time was the highest grossing film ever made. It had action, horror, great characters, and ground-breaking special effects. This film, along with “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” helped perfect the capabilities that CGI could do, letting us be engulfed in the epic adventure that director Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton wanted us to embark on. However, unlike almost EVERY action film today, the film didn't always need to use CGI, only using it for when it was especially necessary, and having the rest be done with practical effects. Even then, the film is a classic, and still remains one of the highest grossing films of all time.

The sequels, however, not so much. “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” was pretty much the sequel that divided up most fans, whether they liked it for the entertainment value, or hating it for the butchering of Michael Crichton's novel. As for me...I'm half and half with it. It's no where near as good as the first film, but I do remember quite a lot of moments from it, like the finale with the T-Rex in San Diego. Aside from that, nothing that special.

“Jurassic Park III,” this time directed by Joe Johnston, decided to do their own thing with the franchise, since there wasn't a third book to adapt. This is one of those films, where I honestly don't remember much of. That's pretty much all I can say about this one; it's the worst of the series, because of how forgettable it was.

Now the idea of a fourth film has been buzzing around so much, but has been going through development hell for so many years. Scripts were being axed, directors where changing, and cast members weren't even assembled yet. It wasn't until the start of the new decade that we finally got word of the film truly happening, and the film being directed and co-written by Colin Trevorrow.

Over twenty years after the events of the first movie, scientists have been able to find a way to not only stabilize the park, but make it into a much bigger success, Jurassic World. When the park's newest attraction, a genetically modified dinosaur, breaks loose, it's up to Owen Grady, a velosiraptor trainer, and Claire Dearing, the park operations manager, to try and take out the beast, before the park falls apart and everyone on the island is killed.

Let's get the obvious out of the way, how does the film stand? Well...It's not really a film I'd want to see again, let alone in theaters, but it has its highlights. For starters, Chris Pratt does a great job at playing Owen, our main hero. He's quirky, he's likable, and knows what he's doing, which is what I come to expect from him as an action hero. Bryce Dallas Howard also gave a decent performance as Claire, so no faults on her acting. One thing that did seem to bug me is her being able to run in heels throughout the entire movie. I mean, for a film about dinosaurs, I can only extend my suspension of disbelief so far. I also liked the idea of seeing what the park would look like if it actually did open and succeed in its success. It also adds self-awareness to the genetically altered dinosaurs, saying that most audiences are bored with plain dinosaurs and want something new, so tickets can skyrocket. It is a logical explanation, and it perfectly represents the common practices that most business go through. There are also a few action scenes that are fun to watch, having an intense feel to it for the most part.

As good as those highlights are, there is also a lot of shit in it that didn't seem to work for me. For one, the CGI was overused, and I do mean overused. I didn't think the movements of the dinosaurs, particularly with the raptors, wasn't believable, and the stuff with that glass roller ball ride was a bit hokey. I would have let it go, if it wasn't for the fact that the film makers didn't claim that they were going back to the classic roots of the franchise, only to reckon it with the finished product. But even if they did, it wouldn't have been the same anyway. Something about the original film and what a landmark it was in terms of effects, it's like we can't go any further than that with dinosaurs, so there isn't as much magic as their usually was.

The rest of the cast, I couldn't care less about. They're pretty stock cliched characters, but not in the good sense. Vincent D'Onofrio is pretty weak as the villain who wants to use dinosaurs as weapons, and the way he goes out isn't that satisfying. He wasn't enjoyable enough to where I wanted more of the guy, but he also wasn't aggravating enough to where I wanted him out as quickly as possible. He was just a blank slate that could have been played by anyone. The kids who are Claire's nephews, Zach and Gray, also weren't enjoyable. Whenever they may have had a touching moment of character development, they immediately brush it off later on in the film, never mentioning it again. It could easily be a mistake on the director for rushing it, but the acting from the kids doesn't help either. You could have cut them out, and it wouldn't have made that much of a difference. B.D. Wong reprises his role as one of the scientists from the original film, Henry Wu, but he's pretty forgettable. Sure, there's the whole deal with D'Onofrio's character, but it's not really that important. Again, you could cut this character out, and it would make no difference.

The built up new dinosaur, which is called Indominus Rex, wasn't really that special to look at. For an experiment like this, that has camouflage and the intelligence of a raptor, the look of it isn't really impressive. With the other genetically modified dinosaurs, I expected the I-Rex to have the mixed designs of multiple dinosaurs, but what did it look like? Just a blue T-Rex...lame. I will admit, the raptor training was a bit off to me, but when it got to the third act, I kind of got where it was going...up until the climax of the film. Not going to spoil it, but by the end of this film I thought to myself, “Did they seriously put that in the script?” If you've seen the film, you know what I'm talking about.

However, my biggest problem with the film is that it's BORING. Yeah, not gonna lie, for a film about a theme park featuring dinosaurs, and a FOURTH ONE at that, it feels very lackluster. Granted, it IS a better film overall than the other two sequels, but not by a whole lot. The only scenes that actually did feel exciting, were the escape from the Jurassic Park graveyard, the pterodactyl attack on the park, and the finale, the latter of which was the best part of the film. Other than that, the film feels uneventful. I mean, Chris Pratt's fun to watch, but with the scenes without him, who's suppose to keep the film entertaining? D'Onofrio? The kids? Some other jackasss I don't give a damn about? Yeah, I don't think so.

Overall, “Jurassic World,” while not the worst of the franchise, is a film that doesn't really deserve all the hype and praise it gets, and isn't something I'd pay to go see in theaters, let along more than once. If you're interested, I'd say wait until it's on TV or up for rental. Be glad that I didn't have that much hype for this film to begin with, otherwise I would have given it a much more than it deserves.

Rating: 5/10