Overall Grade: (B-)
The famous dinosaur franchise comes roaring back to life in full form in terms of the adventure delivering plenty of exciting moments, that were close enough to masking an extremely weak story-line, making it still entertaining overall.
Synopsis
After years of work and endless amounts of money a new theme park has been opened on the original site of Jurassic Park. With the stakes being so high to make the park a smashing success, scientists have created a massive hybrid dinosaur to give visitors something never before seen. Although they have no idea what this beast is capable of, until it breaks containment.
My Thoughts
Fourteen-years have passed since “Jurassic Park III” underwhelmed in the minds of viewers despite raking in large worldwide box-office profits. After the release of “Jurassic World” and the record setting earnings it is clear there it still a high interest in the dinosaur franchise. Not many familiar faces are present but the old story is referred to often making it a very good sequel in the series, and after it was over (for me) it was the best film since the original. Toss in Hollywood’s new golden boy Chris Pratt fresh off his success in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and you have star power to add to surely great special-effects.
I was excited to see this film as I was a huge fan of the original, yet as I walked out of the theater and tossed my glasses in the recycle bin I was left entertained but mildly disappointed. Without question there were awesome adventure sequences and creative dinosaur visuals. The action was rampant and there were handfuls of thrilling dino-killing, not to mention great backdrops and eye-popping settings all captured with great camera work. Also the advancement of the parks design was colorful, futuristic and unique.
However despite all these things, without developed characters or an intriguing story-line, you are left with a turn your brain off summer ‘popcorn flick’ and in that aspect this film was a smashing success. What this film was missing was the thrilling script that pulled you deep into the adventure so when the suspenseful moments arrive you get the most out of them. Not to be forgotten having characters who you can learn to like to thus generate any real interest in their outcome of the story.
“Jurassic World” tells a disappointingly generic tale with a high amount of predictability. Not soon into the film you can see the story will not build much and everything will hinge on the special-effects. Then came in the angle of the story involving the character played by Vincent D’Onofrio, and to his credit, his performance was very good, given what he had to work with. But the sub-plot his character was involved in took the script from generic to absurd. The rest of the cast was good enough to pass the eye-test with good performances, yet their single layered and shallow dialogue didn’t help build any connection. Chris Pratt was also not bad in his role and he definitely passed the hero test.
The 3D could have been much better and there were times when I forgot I was watching with glasses as the depth in the layering was thin with nothing really coming even remotely deep off the screen. I was hoping for more given this film seemed perfectly suited for 3D. I expected depth like the scene in the recent “Hercules” where the massive wild boar blasts through the tree and his nose, tusks and shards of woods come bursting deep into the audience. But they never came.
Overall this new film in the series was tons of fun and it did entertain. It was a fast paced adventure with the true feel of the Jurassic world being captured. It would have been great to have a little more in regards to the writing creation but hey what can you do, it’s a summer blockbuster and it was enjoyable. Deep down I didn’t think it would surpass the original but it was definitely a close runner up only missing a few elements from making it ultimately greater. “Jurassic World” is still a crazy ride and worth a watch on the big-screen.