Movie review: ‘Jurassic World’

FloridaGator80

With the release of “Jurassic World,” the “Jurassic Park” series moved into my film franchise stratosphere occupied only by the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” efforts – original films that had worthy successors, but not every part of the series can be considered good. You can find any one of a number of franchises that stink (just take your finger off your nose and you’ll immediately smell “The Hangover’s” terrifically awful sequels – click here for my look at that franchise), but “Jurassic World” continues its franchise in a most visually spectacular manner and has a solid plot and only some deficiencies in characters. You simply can’t go wrong with “Jurassic World” and the only film in the franchise not worth visiting again (or for the first time, for that matter) is “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” from 1997.

‘Jurassic World’
(2015; 124 minutes; rated PG-13; directed by Colin Trevarrow and starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and Vincent D’Onofrio)

YES, THEY KEEP GOING BACK TO THE ISLAND …

(NOTE: I expanded this review with additional opinion and trivia and the updating of links on July 5, 2020.)

I’ve been reviewing mostly older films on this blog, but I’m breaking ranks today and doing my first review of a film actually released in the year that I’m doing the review. I’m writing about the wonderful “Jurassic World,” which does a solid job in extending a neat franchise and has already hauled in more than $1.6 billion worldwide. I watched it for the first time this past weekend and the extra 53 cents for the Blu-Ray rental was worth the price at Redbox.

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“Jurassic World” is true to the franchise and, with one reservation, makes a neat updating of the story that will certainly lead to a fifth film in the series. It also brings a new generation of actors into the realm of dinosaurs and I was especially impressed with both leads – Chris Pratt, whose “Owen Grady” is a worthy successor to Sam Neill’s “Alan Grant,” and Bryce Dallas Howard, whose “Claire Dearing” is excellent, too, as a somewhat successor to Laura Dern’s “Ellie Sattler” (Dern’s character was a primary player in the original, but just a bit part in the third film).

I especially liked how director Colin Trevarrow did a few nods to the original with little details such as seeing charging dinosaurs in a vehicle’s mirror and even the downshifting of one of the park’s original jeeps that two youngsters manage to get going during an escape from a dinosaur. Your memory of the first and third films (I don’t think about the awful second one at all) gets tweaked in these moments and is a really a nice touch by the director.

The “Jurassic World” storyline is familiar: An island park off the coast of Costa Rica has dinosaurs; the park has problems; and people die. In this case more than just a few, which is unlike the original and third, in which there is only a limited number of humans served up on the dinosaurs’ menu. Here, it is a generation after the third film and the park has been open for years and is preparing for its newest attraction: A hybrid predator dinosaur that’ll re-energize interest in the park (apparently seeing dinosaurs has become somewhat passé in the future).

Of course, a couple of kids are visiting the park (they’re coming to see their aunt, who is in charge of operations) and then stay pretty much the focus of the film. The big bad dinosaur gets loose, wreaks havoc and the park’s raptor expert has to pull everyone’s chestnuts out of the fire – with help from the aunt, who turns out to be a pretty badass herself. Finally, there are some twists and turns in the plot that are creative and do not detract from the film.

Here is a rundown of part of the primary cast:

  • Pratt does a very solid job as the headliner here. He doesn’t evolve his character like Howard does her’s, but his maintaining the stoic, conscience-following ethics as the trainer of the deadly velociraptors is the cornerstone of the film. Pratt never wavers in his solid presentation of a man in control of each and every scene. I’m not terribly familiar with Pratt’s generation of actors, but I cannot think of another who could do as good a job here. Pratt has also been in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and on TV’s lauded “Parks and Recreation.” I remember first noticing him as a ballplayer in 2011’s “Moneyball,” where he good but not remarkable. He’s part of an upcoming movie project titled “Cowboy Ninja Viking.” Despite the title, it sounds interesting.
  • I was most impressed with Howard, who is the daughter of award-winning director (and one-time actor) Ron Howard. She moves her character from a rigid, stereotypical female executive to one who shows a human side and finally to a real … well, badass. Plus, her badass component isn’t forced on the audience as many films do in establishing a female character as heroic. Howard’s “Claire” evolves throughout the film and she manages it with aplomb, which is something few young(er) actors can do – and even screen legends couldn’t always pull off. Her talent allows the character’s evolution to be smooth and I’m sure the filmmakers will have her in the next one. Howard has also been in “The Help,” “Terminator Salvation” and “Spider-Man 3.”
  • A Primetime Emmy nominee, Vincent D’Onofrio, veteran of TV’s “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” does a solid job as “Vic Hoskins,” who is head of the company’s security division and knows a bunch of secrets that drives the behind-the-scenes decision making. D’Onofrio, who was memorable as “Pvt. Pyle” in “Full Metal Jacket” (click here for my review), has a hulking, menacing presence with his stout 6-foot-3 frame that comes less from his size and more from his talent. He has a way of permeating each of his scenes in a way the other actors do not. In addition to his 141 episodes on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” D’Onofrio has been in “Men in Black” and “The Break-Up” and earned his nomination for an episode of “Homicide: Life on the Street.”
  • The versatile and prolific Irrfan Khan plays “Simon Masrani,” who is the CEO of his own company and owns the park. His character has a conscience and he does a good, but not equal, job that Richard Attenborough did as “John Hammond” in the original. Still, Khan is smooth and professional and doesn’t stumble in any way. He had a total of 151 acting credits since his debut on TV in 1987. You might remember him from “Life of Pi,” “Slumdog Millionaire” or “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Tragically, he died at 53 in April 2020 of a colon infection.
  • Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins are brothers “Zach and Gray Mitchell” and they’re at the park to visit their aunt, played by Howard. Neither actor excels or manages to elevate his character, but they don’t do a bad job – always a good benchmark for a young actor in a spectacle film. Simpkins was in “Insidious” and its sequel, while Robinson was in “The Kings of Summer.” Although younger, Simpkins has more than twice the acting credits than Robinson, but the experience doesn’t show here.
  • Although he has a small part as control room worker “Lowery Crothers,” I enjoyed the work of Jake Johnson. He projects his limited character beyond what was intended and we needed to see more of this character (maybe he comes back in the next film). Johnson’s character has just the right amount of cynicism and shows his mettle by hanging in until the end. Johnson has been in “21 Jump Street” and the TV series “New Girl.”
  • Finally, BD Wong reprises his role of “Henry Wu,” who is the scientific brains behind the dinosaur enterprise. He has obviously aged appropriately from the first film (his initials had periods then as B.D.) and, for whatever fully unexplained reason, his section does the dino-DNA stuff but doesn’t let anyone know what they’re doing – they just give them completed dinosaurs. Wong does his role right and his scenes while minimal, are excellent. Like others here, I’d like to see him in the next film. You might remember Wong from the Steve Martin “Father of the Bride” films (click here for my review of the original) and he’s also been a psychologist on the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” TV show and voiced “Shang” on “Mulan.”

The special effects in “Jurassic World” are wonderful and a nice extension of the original and third films (remember, I’m not mentioning the execrable second one), which both were state-of-the-art back in the day. I especially like the aquatic Mosasaurus and you just know you’ll see more of it after its early introduction. The special effects are special here because they enhance the experience and are not the reason you keep watching the film.

My one reservation is Pratt being something of a “raptor whisperer” (not my phrase; I’m borrowing it from another review I read when the film premiered) and the defender of dinosaurs. It’s more a part of the story than Neill’s awe of dinosaurs and a higher opinion of them than some people in the original and third films, but I’m not sure it’s a good component of the film. In any case, Pratt overcomes this flaw with an otherwise superior performance.

I’m not sure what’s in store for the next installment of the “Jurassic” series, but I hope it can meet the high standard set by Trevarrow in JW.

All in all, you don’t notice the film’s flaws (a plot that needs a bit more explaining or why Pratt is such a devotee of raptors or where he got his experience) and that’s great. “Jurassic World” is a wonderful “escape” movie, too, but too many people probably think of that first when they think of the film.

“Jurassic World” might stay the No. 1 film of 2015 as it is tops as I write this on Nov. 22, 2015, with $652.1 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. Of course with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” coming out on Dec. 18, it will probably power past the staggering total this year by “Jurassic World.” “Jurassic World” has nearly doubled last year’s No. 1: “American Sniper.” Worldwide, “Jurassic World” has raked in more than $1.6 billion, according to Wiki. The current No. 2 film is “Avengers: Age of Ultron” with $459 million and coming in at No. 3 is “Inside Out” with $356.1 million.

UPDATE: “Jurassic World” finished the year at No. 1. PS: Since I’m writing an update in 2020, I can tell you the sequel to “Jurassic World” came out in 2018 and let me give you a hint – “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” is a piece of garbage (click here for my review). Also, here are the other films from 2015 that I’ve reviewed:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Feeding a shark to the Mosasaurus is an homage by Trevarrow to Spielberg, who directed the legendary “Jaws” from 1975.
  • The original title of the film was “Jurassic Park: Extinction.”
  • The park’s control center was modeled after one at the Universal Studios park in Orlando.
  • A website indicates that the “Jurassic World” park opened in 2005.
  • Executive Producer Steven Spielberg, who directed the first two of the franchise’s films, came up with the idea for the “gyrosphere.”
  • Singer Jimmy Buffett was a “running tourist” in an uncredited role.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “The first Jurassic Park film to not have animatronic dinosaurs created by Stan Winston, as he passed away in 2008. Instead the animatronics were created by effects studio Legacy Effects, a company formed from Winston’s former workshop staff. One of the shops in Jurassic World, Winstons, is named in Stan’s honour.”
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “Jeff Goldblum’s character Dr. Ian Malcolm can be spotted on the cover of a book that is read by Zara (Katie McGrath) on the monorail ride in to the park. A copy of the same book, titled ‘God Creates Dinosaurs’ is later shown on Lowery’s (Jake Johnson’s) desk in the control room when he is first introduced. A book by Malcolm about his first trip to Jurassic Park was mentioned in both The Lost World and Jurassic Park III.”
  • Click here for IMDb.com’s extensive trivia page about “Jurassic World.”

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Published by FloridaGator80

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