Jurassic World (2015) - Movie Review

Jurassic Park is one of the most famous and iconic films of all time, and one that stays in a lot of peoples' memories. I remember watching Jurassic Park from a very young age and absolutely loving it, even if I was disappointed that the dinosaurs didn't win in the end. I tried to watch The Lost World when I was younger but found it very boring, and I've heard nothing but bad things to put me off Jurassic Park III.

So, here we are in 2015 with the fourth installment of the franchise - Jurassic World. Its aim: to bring back audiences' nostalgic memories of Spielberg's classic with a new story, new cast and new dinosaur, in the form of the genetic hybrid, the Indominous Rex.

If there's one thing I can't fault in the film its that it truly succeeds in its aim. This is a very worthy sequel to a film it couldn't possibly top, but fits snugly alongside. I can't deny that I felt like a little kid again throughout the film, and I really like the new elements added for this sequel.

The film is set twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, and follows Jurassic World's park operations manager Claire Dearing (played by Bryce Dallas Howard), who is trying to introduce a new attraction to the park, causing geneticists lead by Dr Henry Wu (a small returning role for B.D. Wong) to make a genetic hybrid of various different dinosaurs to create the ultimate dinosaur - bigger, better, scarier - in the form of the Indominous Rex. However, when the Indominous escapes, Claire gets help from Velociraptor trainer and animal expert Owen Grady (played by Chris Pratt) to save the park's 20,000 visitors from the creature - including her two nephews on Isla Nublar.

Its the typical Jurassic Park plot, with lots of running away from dinosaurs - with the Indominous Rex being the USP for this film. That said, its not particularly interesting. For the ultimate dinosaur, the I-Rex doesn't seem particularly threatening, although maybe that's more because of the film's family audience. Jurassic World is probably the scariest of the franchise so far, with a brilliant sequence following the Asset Containment Unit's heart-rate as the Indominous picks them off one by one, and a terrific sequence towards the climax utilizing the Velociraptor and ACU head-cameras.

These unique approaches to the action scenes are all done very well by director Colin Trevorrow, who successfully manages to bring a Spielberg sense of wonder to the film. It takes about 20-30 minutes before we actually get to see the dinosaurs, but its time well spent to build up the big reveal and set up the main characters and plot, very much akin to the original Jurassic Park.

Its also great that Michael Giacchino gives us a very John Williams-esque score, with the highlight being when the Jurassic Park theme plays as the park opens. Giacchino is a fantastic composer and this film proves to be no exception.

The acting is all pretty good from the cast. Chris Pratt seems a little wooden compared to his performance in Guardians of the Galaxy last year, but does a good job with Owen Grady; Bryce Dallas Howard does a good job as Claire; but I was really surprised by how good Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins were as Calire's nephews Zach and Gray. They weren't actually that annoying, and they didn't seem too helpless, actually progressing the plot through their actions instead of screaming at the dinosaurs.Vincent D'Onofrio as Vic Hoskins, however, felt very much like a cartoon character who didn't really belong in this film. I'm not where it was the actor, the writing or the direction D'Onofrio had been given, but he just seemed too over the top and silly for this film.

There also seemed to be quite a few things being left open for a sequel by the end, which did annoy me a little, considering the actual story was so standalone. It was also nice to see themes from the original theme of the consequences playing God were used effectively and modernized. The whole basis of the Indominous Rex was that the corporate manages of Jurassic World wanted a bigger, scarier dinosaur, very much creating a metaphor for the film's own existence, with even one character talking about how great the original Jurassic Park was that it didn't need genetic hybrids. These are very metaphorical scenes, which did seem a little on the nose, but I suppose its part of the film's moral.

As for the dinosaurs themselves, I won't deny that the CGI isn't great, and I would have much preferred to have seen some animatronic dinosaurs in the film. There are many shots that seem like they should have used animatronics as opposed to CGI, especially as the CGI really isn't that realistic. Its not bad, but the dinosaurs still don't look as good as in the original film. I'm not sure what's missing exactly, but they just don't look as good. One of the other let-downs with the dinosaurs is that the Indominous Rex doesn't seem particularly different as a threatening dinosaur. It just seems a bit like a standard dinosaur at the end of the day.

I can't deny though that I had a lot of fun with Jurassic World. Its a great tribute the original Spielberg classic modernized for a current audience, and it felt like Colin Trevorrow and crew really did want to make this film, as opposed to the studio throwing out whatever rubbish they could get away with. So yeah, I thought Jurassic World was a fantastic film and a worthy sequel to the original.