Jurassic World Review

At the beginning of 2015, there were two movies that caught my eye for the same reason. And this wasn't a good reason. They were both continuations of beloved franchises that I thought were going to absolutely bomb. Based on the trailers and everything else I was hearing about them, I just thought there was no way they were going to be good or satisfy fans of the franchise. Jurassic World was one of these movies. As you may have guessed, I was not looking forward to this movie. I conceded to my friends' pleas and went along with them to see it, however, and ended up being pleasantly surprised. This isn't exactly the next Jurassic Park, but it was an enjoyable summer blockbuster, which is all it needed to be.

I'm not going to sugarcoat my review of this film or tell you things that you don't need to know when deciding whether to see this movie. If you're a fan of the franchise, you've probably already seen it. If you're not, hopefully this review will help you discern whether or not it's something you'd like to see.

The cast is one of the movie's greatest strengths. Chris Pratt, quickly turning into Hollywood's new golden boy, leads the way as Owen Grady, a character straight out of the 80's. In many ways, Grady was reminiscent of Indiana Jones, at least to me. Even his outfit looked like it was modeled after the classic Indy attire. Jurassic World has confirmed for me that I would be perfectly fine with Pratt taking up the mantle of Indiana Jones, which has been rumored lately. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Claire Dearing, the operations manager of the park. I was convinced she would annoy me based off of the trailers; that being said, she did a fine job and had some good scenes opposite Pratt.

Vincent D'Onofrio, though not inhabiting a compelling character, had a strong screen presence and some entertaining moments. No one else really stuck out to me, though Irrfan Khan, Jake Johnson, and Lauren Lapkus all had some funny moments throughout. The two kids in the movie were fine, but could have been played by any other combination of two younger actors.

Jurassic World is a reminder that dinosaurs are still cool. No matter how old people get or how desensitized people get towards things they used to love, dinosaurs are awesome. I didn't hate the CGI as much as I thought I would, but there were still moments when I thought the effects could have been touched up a little bit. Nothing will ever be able to top Spielberg's original robotic dinosaurs, no matter how advanced the CGI technology gets.

And of course, these dinosaurs provide the main source of entertainment. Whether it's just observing them, or seeing them in action, they are simply fun to watch. The Indominus Rex was a really effective villain that legitimately scared me in a couple parts. And the action sequences, particularly towards the end and during the finale, were all well handled and really exciting, with the film culminating in a fight sequence that may rival the 2014 Godzilla's finale in terms of pure monster movie spectacle.

All this being said, the movie had quite a few noticeable flaws, some of which I completely expected to see. The writing was nothing special; the characters' dialogue was functional but uninspired and the story itself was basically a retread of Jurassic Park's plot for the most part. The characters themselves were all caricatures, none of whom I found compelling or interesting enough to care about. The one exception to this may have been Chris Pratt's Owen Grady; he was someone I would have liked to have learned more about, and also someone I would have liked the movie to focus a little more on rather than Bryce Dallas Howard and the two kids.

It also takes a few weird turns that felt almost meta. I would have loved to have seen it go this route similar to the 21 Jump Street reboot, however it seems to forget about any intention to do so and goes full-on standard blockbuster mode. I wish they would have picked a consistent tone rather than pick and choose multiple that didn't mesh well together. I think it would have really been great to see a more self-aware blockbuster during the day and age when audiences are always looking for bigger summer movies. The film does touch on this idea, but doesn't dig deep enough to leave a lasting impression.

Additionally, the movie goes on for a bit too long. It clocks in at about 2 hours, but I thought they could have cut down 15 or 20 minutes which would have made the film a little lighter and more enjoyable as a result. Most of this unnecessary filler comes towards the beginning, as once it gets going, it doesn't let up until the end. However, for the first half hour or so, the film was a little lazy getting off the ground.

I do hope that this review proves helpful to anyone who is on the fence about seeing Jurassic World. As a summer blockbuster, it does its job; it's exactly the type of action-packed, humor-filled spectacle that audiences love this time of year (which is made evident by its box office-shattering numbers). It's not going to win any awards for its writing or acting, but it's an enjoyable popcorn thrill ride that will please franchise fans and also casual moviegoers looking for a good time. I had very little expectations for this movie going in as I previously mentioned; I suggest you temper your expectations as well and simply enjoy it for what it is.

B-