With the original becoming one of the most successful and influential blockbusters of all time, the Jurassic Park franchise seemed as extinct as the dinosaurs it brought back to life after a string of truly disappointing sequels that were all horrific attempts to recapture the Spielberg-ian magic that sparked the original.
So with all of the remakes and sequels abounding these days, the idea of another "soft reboot" of the dinosaur park adventure could certainly seem like little more than a cynical cash grab, designed to be yet another blockbuster that keeps pushing the envelope in terms of mayhem. However, Jurassic World proves both that there's still some magic left in the dinosaurs we saw 22 years ago and that these creatures can still inspire awe and excitement in the hearts of all moviegoers.
Jurassic World transports us back to a completely revamped Isla Sorna, this time a functioning and beautiful theme park with all of the shows and attractions that John Hammond imagined all those years ago. It’s the culmination of the promise of the original film and it’s breathtaking to see the park many of us could only dream about, even if we already know that something has to go wrong in order for this new movie to exist.
Knowing that its audience is aware of the incoming disaster, Jurassic World becomes a meta-commentary on the movie itself by posing the idea that people will get bored by the dinosaurs unless they become bigger, badder, and scarier. Not only does this new “Indominus Rex” exist to draw in more ticket-buyers at the theme park, but it also puts the butts in seats for the movie itself.
The movie revolves around Owen (Chris Pratt), an ex-Navy guy brought in to study dinosaur behavior and train Velociraptors; Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), an uptight corporate b-word (probably the film’s most offensive character in terms of portrayals of gender); and her two nephews Zach and Gray, who have been shipped off to the theme park while their parents sort out their divorce. None of them are remotely deep characters, but it’s never really important, simply because they are vehicles to make us care about what’s happening, and I would argue the same is true for the original Jurassic Park. As long as the audience cares just enough about them, the movie doesn’t lose their attention.
So while the cast of human characters at the center of the movie feels a little thinly sketched, and many of the expository dialogue scenes at the beginning inspire more eye-rolls than anything else, it all feels in service of telling a really entertaining blockbuster story. Even if they feel flat they’re inherently likable, and as much as some scenes evoked chuckles, Jurassic World plays everything out with such earnestness it always comes off as harmless and even charming.
The silly scenes at the beginning—specifically Owen’s first exchange with Claire at his “bungalow” and his first scene discussing the weaponization of Velociraptors with Vincent D’Onofrio’s Hoskins—are balanced out by things like the thrilling chase in the gyrosphere, which rivals the T-Rex jeep scene in the original in terms of the sheer terror it inspires. Any nitpicks you could have with the film’s logic are steamrolled by spectacle, so it feels ultimately pointless to debate about its sexism or use of product placement (neither of which bothered me too much but are valid points).
In fact, things that seemed so ridiculous in the trailer, such as Owen driving a motorcycle alongside four Velociraptors, are actually quite exciting and never over-the-top. So while the climactic dino fight at the end may feel like fan service for the most part, that doesn’t stop it from being sheer prehistoric bliss.
Jurassic World is populist filmmaking in the thrilling vein of the original. All of the character moments feel earned, and the dinosaur action scenes are thrilling without ever becoming Michael Bay-style overkill. Living up to the expectations of a movie as beloved asJurassic Park is never easy, but Colin Trevorrow and his team did quite an admirable job. It’s easily the best of the Jurassic sequels because it does something we weren’t sure was possible: make the dinos magical again.