Play It Again, Sam: Jurassic World

Welcome back to the second installment in my new series, Play It Again Sam,.  The concept of this series is that I will revisit movies that I originally didn't like (but most people do), and give it a second chance.

I was not a huge fan of Jurassic World during my initial viewing.  I found it to be a mildly entertaining sequel to one of my favorite blockbusters of all-time, Jurassic Park.  It didn't offer anything new to the series, and seemed to make all of its (dino-sized) profits based solely on nostalgia.  As my friend argued, the film is full of plot holes and unimaginative action sequences that we've already seen before.  The characters are completely one-dimensional, and there are some troubling sexist undertones to the script (basically, a woman can't be successful unless she can be a mother).  Going back in to this movie, I still had all these feelings bubbling close to the surface.  But I had to know if I was right in my assessment.  Could I be so wrong about such a colossal financial success?  After viewing the film again, I can answer yes and no.

Jurassic World still has a lot of faults and the plot holes are still readily apparent.  But I think I've finally found a way to (tepidly) appreciate this film.  Jurassic World works as a basic cable classic.  What's that, you ask?  A Basic Cable classic is a film that, no matter what point of the movie you enter, you'll sit and watch it if it's playing on cable TV.  It requires no effort and provides the viewer with an escapist getaway.  Jurassic World fits right in to the world of other Basic Cable classics like countless Van Damme & Segal 90's action "Thrillers."  If you watch this movie on a total superficial level and allow your mind to melt away, it's actually a decent time.  I probably won't go out of the way to seek this film out, but if it's playing at 2AM while I'm consoling a screaming child... I'll probably check it out.

That's it for today.  See you next time when I review a film that I initially despised:  The Grand Budapest Hotel.