Jurassic World is the second best Jurassic film... but that's not saying much.

Jurassic World Movie Review

by Brian Wezowicz

When people ask me why I love movies so much, I point them to an exact moment in time:  the moment I first saw Jurassic Park in the theater.  Sure, Star Wars and countless Schwarzenegger films already had me hooked, but from the moment the credits rolled in Stephen Spielberg's epic Jurassic Park, I was blown away.  To see something so magnificent on a big screen forever changed the game for me.  I was felt the magic of the movies and I've been trying to get back that feeling ever since.  Jurassic Park isn't a perfect film, but it had the perfect blend of action/adventure and emotion depth to it.  That being said, Hollywood has been struggling to make a good Jurassic movie ever since.  The Lost World had some genuine excitement to it, but it was bogged down by a horrible third act where a T-Rex gets loose in San Diego.  And the less said about Jurassic Park III the better.  Each film earned less than the previous and were less in favor with the critics.  But like the tagline "life finds a way," so too does the Jurassic franchise.

I have to admit that I was less than enthused by the initial trailers for Jurassic World, but then the positive reviews started rolling in and the movie went on to THE BIGGEST OPENING IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY!?!?!?  And so I felt like I had to see what all the fuss was about.

As it turns out, my initial disgust was slightly overblown.  This is a mildly enjoyable monster movie that really struggles when you are forced to think about it.  There are dino-sized plot holes that are harder to avoid than a pack of wild raptors.

Jurassic World is set 20 years after the events of Jurassic Park.  John Hammond's (the creator of Jurassic Park) vision is now fully realized.  Jurassic World is now a fully functioning theme park destination with rides and attractions galore.  There are some nice throwbacks to the original film sprinkled throughout the opening of the film.  Two brothers are sent to the park while their parents secretly finalize their divorce.  This movie continues the Jurassic franchise's tradition of horrible child actors alive.  The two brothers make Sophia Coppola's performance in Godfather III seem Oscar worthy.  They have no emotional depth to them.  We're supposed to care about them, but I can't even remember their names.  They're sent to JW to be looked after by their aunt (played stiffly by Bryce Dallas Howard), a stereotypical "uptight" working woman.  Howard's character is too busy to watch after her nephews and leaves them alone to explore the park.  You see, business is slowing down at JW and she's in charge of the rollout of the new "attraction," a genetically modified super dinosaur, the Indominous Rex.  The park hopes it will turn around the downward trend in attendance.  Chris Pratt, who continues his Hollywood hot streak, serves as the game master.  He is the only voice of reason who challenges the company on the morality of genetic modification.  Pratt seems a little out of place in this film.  He doesn't ever seem comfortable delivering some of the more serious lines in this film.  I think he may have shattered the record for the most one-liners ever delivered in one film.  I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, but I had trouble getting into the notion of Chris Pratt: Raptor Whisperer.

Before long, the new monster breaks out and all hell breaks loose.  There's some genuinely thrilling action sequences, but third act gets bogged down with too many quick cuts and dino closeups.  There's also a baffling military subplot to this movie that will lead into the sequel.

I'm giving this movie 2.5 stars out of 4.  It works just fine as a mindless action romp, but struggles to live up to the T-Rex sized hype.  If you're a fan of the series, you'll welcome this chapter as a marked improvement over the third film, but not by much.  The search for a good Jurassic sequel is still on.