* WARNING SPOILERS
I saw Jurassic Park when I was 10 and it blew me away. The Dinosaurs realness factor was phenomenal and it honestly made me want to be a Palaeontologist. I loved Dinosaurs and to see them bought to life in such a grand scale earned a place in my heart as one of the best movies for that genre. So when they announced Jurassic World, my heart skipped a beat. How would they do it? What direction would they take?
Jurassic World starts with the park being open to the public for 10 years. All the failings of the previous park were seemingly worked out and the park had been running successfully. The general public could see, touch and in one scene ride the dinosaurs all in a beautifully designed environment, and all with the latest technology – they spared no expense. This truly encapsulated what John Hammond wanted to achieve in the first movie (damn you Dennis Nedry, you had to go and ruin it). I was amazed at how realistic the park seemed I mean it felt that it could be well and truly operating somewhere on an island already. Unlike the first park, each attraction or “asset” which they liked to call them was created like a ride. So the interaction with the Dinosaurs was very up close and personal. The dream to have Man and Dinosaur in a controlled setting was definitely achieved.
What I absolutely LOVED and almost squealed over in the cinema (embarrassing my partner) was the constant referencing of the old park. This was smart, instead of creating a completing different time line, they created a direct correlation between old and new. The rundown original Visitors Centre was a major scene, where it is found by accident by the kids after they leave the boundary. Upon entering, you are instantly transported back. Whilst in there, they find the banner that ultimately falls across the T-Rex at the end of the first movie. This was heart-warming and I can guarantee made every fan respect this movie just that little bit more.
Before I go into the characters, can I just say how epic Chris Pratt is! This guy is freakin cool. I mean he can say cheesy lines and makes it work, how many people can do that. Ok now back to Jurassic World. This movie doesn’t deviate from the Jurassic Park franchise character mix – Male protagonist (Pratt) with a female love interest/accomplice (Howard) Children who often need saving (Robinson & Simpkins) and an antagonist (Indominus Rex and D’Onofrio).
The character’s had some great moments, however there wasn’t a lot of development. To be fair it was supposed to be more about Dinos, but it would have been good to see more depth in some of the characters. One of the best moments though, was when the control room computer techie was wearing a vintage Jurassic Park tee. This was Gold.
Dr Wu’s appearance in this movie was also a great way for them to correlate the two movies. The only thing better would have been Hammond himself. But we all know that wouldn’t have happened.
True to form with these types of movies, the grandeur needed to be bigger. This was introduced the now infamous Indominus Rex. The T-Rex was merely a puppy to what they created to be the big bad in this movie. Part of me felt, they could have stuck with the orginal Dino cast and it would have still been amazingly awesome. I mean they didn’t have the Dilophosaurus, he was a hit in the first one. The same however could have been said about the removal of the Spinosaurus in the 3rd movie (the worst of the franchise, not even Sam Neill and Laura Dern could have saved this movie). Introducing different Dinosaurs is a double edged sword. You will have the die-hards fans hating it as it’s not what got them hooked back in ‘95 when that T-Rex first burst through that fence or the Velociraptors stalking the children in the kitchen.
But you will also get the new fans, not really knowing any different, and embracing them with open arms. I am the former. I hated the Spinosaurus and the more I think about it the more I am starting to hate the Indominus Rex. Not for any real reason, they were just that too much of a directional shift off the original ideal of Jurassic Park.
The Mosasaur, I found was a cool addition as we had never really seen a water-orientated Dinosaur, its enclosure was great, with an ability to view it both above and under the water. Its final takedown of the Indominus Rex was although surprising, thoroughly amazing!
Lastly the Velociraptor squad – when I first learnt that the movie would have Owen Grady (Pratt) training raptors, it was honestly hard to believe. The viciousness displayed by the Raptors in all of the movies has always been foremost. They would rather eat you than have your back. Somehow though, it worked brilliantly. From being in the enclosure with them, to riding alongside them on a motorbike, Pratt seemed to make it look oh so easy. The Raptors turning on their Human allies, was also a great way of showing that you can never truly train a predator completely. The Raptors – Echo, Delta, Charlie and the aptly named Blue did earn the stripes in the end though, when they fought against the Indominus Rex, while most of them perished, one at least survived, teaming up with the unleashed T-Rex to fight till the bitter end.
The ultimate thing about this movie is that you have to realise the fact that it is not real, it doesn’t have the faintest part of realism attached to it, but neither did the first one. What this movie does is create another journey into this original world where Man meets Dinosaur and that fantasy is what you should look for. If you are looking for completely logistical, fact-ridden movie, I suggest you write it yourself, as you have to put really put aside fact and logic and simply enjoy the ride. This is purely my opinion, you may however have a very different view.
Just be thankful that the theory of a Hybrid Dinosaur/person monster weapon storyline circulating a couple of years ago was never indulged.
Rating: 9/10 – the reason I didn’t give it 10 was there were just a few little things I had a problem with being a huge Jurassic Park fan boy.
See it again: Yes – Would definitely see this again. In fact I have already pre-ordered it on iTunes.
Worth my time: Yes – I have been waiting for this movie ever since there was hint of it being made and the reading some of the fan storyline theories that were going through the roof.
Take my mother: Hell yeah, – My Mum is a big Jurassic Park fan too. Like me, she is a big kid and this movie would play into that. She and I had the same level of excitement when we went on the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios. It was epic!
Talking points: If you loved any of these movies, the talking points really is the continuity of the franchise and how they were able to still keep elements of the original movie alive in the new remake.
Annoyance factor: 3/10 – Some things kinda annoyed me, but they weren’t huge. I will list them below.
- Invisible electric fences – maybe explore this a little more?! Actually show them in affect and make a little more fuss about them. I mean in the original movie, the fences were massive, steel and very visible.
- Public safety – there was one scene in particular when you saw a group of people canoeing down a river and there were Dinos all down the river bank. Despite being Vegesaurases, the people in the canoes didn’t have guides or anything. You can’t expect people to act responsibly in those situations.
- The Parent’s divorce – this was mentioned in the movie a few times, but then not really followed up at the end. Did they get divorced or not?
- Vincent D’Onofrio’s character – no explanation needed really. He was a bit of a Jerk.
- The T-Rex almost getting killed AGAIN. One of the most traumatising things about Jurassic Park 3 (aside from the movie as a whole) was when the T-Rex was killed, ah hell no, that ain’t going to be happening again!
- Lastly – most of the movie was shown across the many trailers leading up to it’s release. You sort of knew what was coming. This I feel let it down in a lot of ways.
Ranter & Banter 