I really wanted to like 'Jurassic World'. As a wide-eyed teenager watching the original classic 1993 'Jurassic Park' for the first time it seemed like a new world of entertainment was opened. As impossible as the concept seemed, the depiction of humans interacting with long extinct Dinosaurs was done with great tact and poignance by Director Steven Spielberg. Spielberg now functions as Executive Producer of the new 'Jurassic World', which is being touted as a direct sequel to 'Jurassic Park', and takes us back to the original island Isla Nublar some 20 years after the horrific events seen in the 1993 film.
Despite all the death and destruction in the original, and perhaps ignoring anything that happened in the less successful sequels, the new film depicts a fully realized Park where humans and dinosaurs can 'safely' come face to face. This is why fans of the original film and the books by the late Michael Crichton salivated over the release of the new 'Jurassic World' since we would finally see the dream of John Hammond, the founder of the Park from the original film, realized. This the film gets absolutely right as moviegoers will be left awestruck with the stunning visuals created for a fully functioning Jurassic Park.
The Plot
The Park is now owned by Billionaire Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan from 'Life of Pi') aided by Operations Manager Claire Dearings, played by the stunning Bryce Dallas Howard who you probably remember from the Oscar-Nominated 'The Help'. Claire puts the Park's success above her personal life even as her nephews visit her at work and are virtually ignored while she prepares to unveil the Park's latest attraction, the Indominus Rex, a genetically modified Dinosaur intended to lure more crowds to 'Jurassic World'. As faith would have it, her nephews get lost in the park as the highly dangerous and untested Indominus Rex escapes from its enclosure and unleashes death and destruction upon the park. Claire seeks help from 'Velociraptor Trainer', Owen Grady, actor Chris Pratt better known as Star Lord from the gargantuan 2014 hit 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. Grady is the only hope as the Indominus starts testing its new found skills by killing hundreds of the Park's Dinosaur attractions and moves dangerously close to the human visitors. There is also a sub-plot in which the head of the park's parent company security and greedy opportunist, Vic Hoskins (the always villainous Vincent D'Onofrio from Netflix's 'Daredevil') tries to use the deadly Velociraptors as weapons. This all culminates in a gigantic climax guaranteed to leave moviegoers in awe.
Surprisingly, the new film remains incredibly loyal to the 1993 original which ironically may have been to its own detriment. While 'Jurassic World' is without a doubt the best action/adventure film of 2015, it is flawed in it's attempt to sacrifice an engaging plot over crowd pleasing thrills. Here are five reasons why 'Jurassic World' is big on action but minimal on intelligent story-telling.
5. The dream realized.
Let me start with what the film gets right. Immediately what will impress moviegoers, especially fans of the original, is the way the fully functioning Jurassic Park is depicted. We saw the 'bare bones' Park in the original but listening to creator John Hammond, played by the late Sir Attenborough, discuss his dream, many fans were waiting for the moment when we would actually see a truly state of the art Dinosaur theme park. The film does this brilliantly! We see awe-inspiring aerial views of the park from the visitors' center to a monorail that runs through Dinosaur-filled pastures. We see park visitors canoeing past grazing herbivores and a petting zoo where kids can interact with baby triceratops. These visuals are the film's strongest achievements although I had a sore point with the way humans interact with Dinosaurs, but more on that later. It is unfortunate that the overall plot of the film could not be as engaging as its visuals.
4. Chris Pratt proves the ultimate Leading Man
The original Jurassic Park had some incredibly strong performances and most fans still remember Jeff Goldblum's wise-cracking batter including the line 'how do you know they're all female? Does somebody go out into the park and uh...pull up the Dinosaurs' skirts?' While there are not many fantastic one-liners like this in 'Jurassic World', Chris Pratt does deliver some strong witty dialogue and is perfectly cast as a man who has crafted the art of training Velociraptors to obey human commands. While I want to argue that the concept of controlling Dinosaurs is too far-fetched, Pratt's performance is so good that moviegoers will suspend reality for the duration of the film to enjoy his slap-stick humor and forceful action sequences. His free-spirited and adventurous character is the polar opposite of Bryce's Claire whose frigid and work-horse attitude leads to hilarious dialogue between the two characters. However, Pratt stands out as he not only masters the comedic bits but proves to be a powerhouse action star capable of incredible physical thrills.
3. John Williams' music and all that nostalgia!
Another aspect of the film that I thoroughly enjoyed were all the links and throwbacks to the original 1993 'Jurassic Park'. At the very beginning we see raptors hatching from eggs reminiscent of the pivotal scene from the original in which the Park's creator highlights how the Dinosaurs are cloned. As Claire's nephews arrive at the park and start to explore, long-time fans of the franchise will immediately recognize the roaring trumpets of John Williams' original Jurassic Park theme. In fact, the maestro's popular music is used by new composer Michael Giacchino to highlight several key scenes that harken back to the original film; the classic themes have never sounded more majestic and perfectly complement the stunning views of the park. Another great nostalgic moment happens as Claire's nephews stumble unto the old visitor's center featured in the original film. I will not provide details to avoid any spoilers but long-time fans will be over-joyed as key aspects of the 1993 film are recalled. This truly is a fantastic moment for fans who thought that the sequels never did justice to the original film and desired nostalgic reflection.
2. Bryce Dallas Howard is no Sigourney Weaver
While I fully enjoyed the aforementioned aspects of the film, I must say there is quite a lot that 'Jurassic World' gets wrong, the over-blown plot being the most obvious. However, a lot of the storyline, which starts out well but becomes too cumbersome, depends on Bryce Dallas Howard who does not have the 'leading woman' chops to pull it off. While Chris Pratt is given most of the thrilling action sequences, Howard has her fair share of face to face encounters with flesh devouring Velociraptors and a jaw-dropping moment with the deadly Indominus Rex. However, Howard's bright red-hair and Disney Princess-like facial features render her weak against other more impressive leading women. Even Laura Dern in the 1993 film commands more respect as a heroine. This is not to say that I did not enjoy Howard's performance; as the cold, calculating Operations Manager she is absolutely fantastic. However, when it is left to her to save her nephews and take on a more physically demanding presence, her child-like features and flaming red hair come across as cartoon-like rather than a woman who is capable of out-smarting a genetically enhanced creature. This takes a significant chuck of the film's credibility as Howard is given much to do. In fact, I can scarcely recall any scene in which she was absent. She is a fantastic actress, however by the time the giant climax came around I found myself wishing Sigourney Weaver from the 'Alien' franchise would bust in with her shaved head and hardened facial features and show the Indominus Rex how a true 'leading lady' takes care of business.
1. Dinosaurs are visually striking but plot likes depth
For moviegoers seeking a special effects extravaganza the big question is of course how frightening are the Dinosaurs. 'Jurassic World' delivers exceptionally well as the Dinosaurs, particularly the Indominus Rex, raise the bar quite on the 'fright factor'. I particularly admired how the filmmakers subtly and gradually reveal the terrifying creature adequately building tension within the audience until mid-way through the film when the striking killer is revealed. There are many surprises that surround the film's main Dinosaur including a stunning twist when it was revealed which species' DNA was used to the create the never-before-seen creature. I will not provide details to avoid spoilers but the twist adds an entertaining complication to the action-packed climax. Other creatures are also visually impressive including the giant undersea Mosasaurus seen swallowing whole sharks, the winged Pterosaurs which escape and attack park visitors and of course the deadly Velociraptors. The visual effects are a vast improvement over the classic look of the 1993 original film.
Fantastic visuals aside, the film's overall plot leaves room for criticism. I did enjoy the intelligent way in which the writers draw parallels between the way in which the Park needs new entertaining attractions like the Indominus Rex to keep attendance high and the way in which modern moviegoers demand more eye-popping thrills from their movies. In fact, I have to admit that my interest in 'Jurassic World' would not have been so high without the inclusion of the Indominus Rex in the plot. Since the original film, there have been hundreds of films on Dinosaurs raging havoc, hence the film-makers made the genius decision to include a never-before-seen terrifying creature as opposed to simply rehashing the other familiar Dinosaurs. The parallel between our need for more thrills at the movies and Jurassic Park's need to maintain high attendance with new bigger and better genetically modified Dinosaurs is brilliantly executed.
However, this intelligent writing does not translate to the remainder of the plot. As mentioned before, Chris Pratt's character is able to train and control Velociraptors which is an idea, while entertaining, requires moviegoers to completely suspend reality in order to accept. I found this part of the plot too implausible for me to enjoy the overall story-line as Pratt is seen using hand signals and the tone of his voice to stop the carnivores from attacking him. We do not need an expert to explain how unlikely and far-fetched this seems especially since humans and Dinosaurs have been separated by millions of years and there is really no way of predicting how the two species would interact; humans gaining the upper hand from such ferocious creatures seems improbable. In addition, the way in which the park's visitors leisurely interact with the less dangerous Dinosaurs also proved to be a major distraction since despite the creatures being herbivores, their very mass would prove dangerous as one false move would crush a human. I admire the filmmakers for their imagination but this gives 'Jurassic World' more of a Disney-fantasy tone rather than a serious science-fiction thriller. I will admit the tone of the 1993 original was also bordering on child-like fantasy, but the new film takes realism to the edge and throws the audience right over.
The action sequences, while providing a pulsating tension, also lacked a sense of realism. The Indominus Rex proved to be a terrifying villain, however due to the cartoon-like way in which the action-sequences were directed I never felt as if the leading characters were in any actual danger since they simply seemed to be constantly escaping the teeth of the Indominus and the Velocirapters in the nick of time. Many supporting characters are killed in some horrific ways by the sinister Indominus, however the way in which the leads treat danger as a triviality was quite a distraction and it felt as if one was watching a Saturday afternoon feature rather than an actual blockbuster. The family-friendly tone of the action sequences may be the film makers way of staying true to the original film as many will recall the Tyrannosaurus Rex devouring an unfortunate character from off of a toilet in the 1993 film. However, this is not 1993 and some moviegoers demand a more dark tone to their thrillers in the vein of Game of Thrones. Such a tone is painfully lacking from 'Jurassic World'.
The climax of the film can either be deemed 'ridiculously good' or just 'ridiculous'. My reaction to the culmination of the film fell somewhere in between. As the Indominus finally comes face to face with the lead characters all bets are off for a truly visual feast including a shocking cameo by a beloved character from the original film. I will not provide details to spoil the climax but this is without a doubt one of the most stunning visual effects climatic battles seen on film in recent memory. However, once again the audience is challenged to suspend reality and fully accept that these long extinct creatures would behave in such an implausible manner and that human beings would actually be able to survive such perilous circumstances. Visually, audiences will be left breathless. However, anyone seeking even the smallest fraction of believability will be disappointed.
I highly recommend this film to moviegoers seeking a good, old-fashioned action/adventure. It is a perfect companion to the original story and delivers a more thrilling and engaging plot than the previous sequels. 'Jurassic World' expertly delivers a visual feast that is sure to please any science-fiction fan. Even fans of the original will be fully satiated by the numerous connections to the original film. However, should you be seeking a darker, more edgier action film 'Jurassic World' will not provide you with that ominous, foreboding tone we have come to expect from modern day blockbusters. The film more or less plays to a mass audience avoiding any real since of overt violence while maintaining a PG-13 fantasy tone. That said, I can guarantee that no other film of 2015 will provide such a magnificent banquet for the eyes.
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