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Jurassic World (2015)
I grew up with the Jurassic Park franchise, seeing the first film at probably too young an age and even read Michael Chrichton's novel well before I was at the reading level required to really understand it. Anyway, I loved Jurassic Park when I was a kid, and found some enjoyment out of the sequels as well. So, with the franchise lying dormant for a long time following Jurassic Park III, it looked like the series was over. And I was fine with that, as I thought the third film was a decent send off for the franchise, luring Sam Neill back for another adventure after sitting out The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
This brings us to 2015 and the release of Jurassic World, the franchise's fourth installment. The park envisioned by the original film is now fully operational and has become commonplace in our rapidly advancing world. The film follows Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a velociraptor trainer who is working to make raptors obey human commands, and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), the operations manager for the park, as they seek to contain a genetically-engineered dinosaur after it breaks out of its holding area.
Unfortunately, Jurassic World somewhat devolves into a quasi-remake of Jurassic Park. While it's true that there probably aren't too many different directions to take films like these, what we're given here is a film that treads on a lot of familiar ground. Unstoppable predator escaped from its cage? Check. Children of protagonist alone and in danger? Check. A lot of talk about the ethics of dinosaur cloning and genetic engineering? Check. The main difference here is that the number of potential victims for the escaped dinosaurs is noticeably higher, as the park is full of tourists when the Indominus Rex (the new creation of the genetic engineers at the park) escapes and begins wreaking havoc on the park, while also managing to free other dinosaurs from captivity in the process.
To give director Colin Trevorrow some credit, Jurassic World looks very good. It's a very sleek film. That's also part of its problem, as it often feels a bit too shiny, a bit too pristine, instead of having the grittiness or dirtiness or sense of danger that a film like this should have, and the Spielberg original did have. We end up following Pratt and Howard around while they try to save her niece and nephew from certain death alone in the park while Vincent D'Onofrio seeks to release the supposedly trained raptors out into the park to take down the Indominus Rex. This all leads to a horribly predictable climax that will leave you rolling your eyes because it can be seen coming from several miles away.
Jurassic World does have its moments, but they're mostly the moments that make you recall Jurassic Park, and that leaves you wondering why you didn't just put that film in the DVD player and give it a watch instead. Hopefully for the inevitable Jurassic World 2 they decide to break away from the formula a bit and do something unexpected.
Jurassic World (2015)
I grew up with the Jurassic Park franchise, seeing the first film at probably too young an age and even read Michael Chrichton's novel well before I was at the reading level required to really understand it. Anyway, I loved Jurassic Park when I was a kid, and found some enjoyment out of the sequels as well. So, with the franchise lying dormant for a long time following Jurassic Park III, it looked like the series was over. And I was fine with that, as I thought the third film was a decent send off for the franchise, luring Sam Neill back for another adventure after sitting out The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
This brings us to 2015 and the release of Jurassic World, the franchise's fourth installment. The park envisioned by the original film is now fully operational and has become commonplace in our rapidly advancing world. The film follows Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a velociraptor trainer who is working to make raptors obey human commands, and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), the operations manager for the park, as they seek to contain a genetically-engineered dinosaur after it breaks out of its holding area.
Unfortunately, Jurassic World somewhat devolves into a quasi-remake of Jurassic Park. While it's true that there probably aren't too many different directions to take films like these, what we're given here is a film that treads on a lot of familiar ground. Unstoppable predator escaped from its cage? Check. Children of protagonist alone and in danger? Check. A lot of talk about the ethics of dinosaur cloning and genetic engineering? Check. The main difference here is that the number of potential victims for the escaped dinosaurs is noticeably higher, as the park is full of tourists when the Indominus Rex (the new creation of the genetic engineers at the park) escapes and begins wreaking havoc on the park, while also managing to free other dinosaurs from captivity in the process.
To give director Colin Trevorrow some credit, Jurassic World looks very good. It's a very sleek film. That's also part of its problem, as it often feels a bit too shiny, a bit too pristine, instead of having the grittiness or dirtiness or sense of danger that a film like this should have, and the Spielberg original did have. We end up following Pratt and Howard around while they try to save her niece and nephew from certain death alone in the park while Vincent D'Onofrio seeks to release the supposedly trained raptors out into the park to take down the Indominus Rex. This all leads to a horribly predictable climax that will leave you rolling your eyes because it can be seen coming from several miles away.
Jurassic World does have its moments, but they're mostly the moments that make you recall Jurassic Park, and that leaves you wondering why you didn't just put that film in the DVD player and give it a watch instead. Hopefully for the inevitable Jurassic World 2 they decide to break away from the formula a bit and do something unexpected.