In the years following John Hammond’s death, billionaire
Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) has continued his vision by transforming Jurassic
Park into Jurassic World, a highly successful theme park off the coast of
Central America. The day-to-day operations are overseen by Claire (Bryce Dallas
Howard), who is too preoccupied to spend much time with her visiting nephews
Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins). Meanwhile, InGen security chief
Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio) envisions a military application for the park’s
raptors, an idea that Navy veteran-turned-raptor trainer Owen Grady (Chris
Pratt) resists. When the park’s newest attraction, the genetically modified Indominus
rex, shows high levels of aggression, Masrani brings Owen in to consult, much
to the chagrin of Claire. However, it isn’t long before a security breach
forces them to work together to save lives.
Reboots are all the rage these days, so the decision to
follow up 2001’s dreadful Jurassic Park
III with a sequel instead inspired nothing if not curiosity. That curiosity
then turned to equal parts skepticism (indie film helmsman Colin Trevorrow was
tapped to direct while almost none of the original cast returns) and promise
(Planet of the Apes reboot veterans Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver wrote the
script and Pratt, fresh off his Guardians
of the Galaxy momentum, took one of the leads). Add to that the long
production cycle, the budget, and the inevitable tie-in/marketing blitz, and Jurassic World had a lot riding on it.
While the end result has some noticeable weak spots, it is far from the Apatosaurus-sized
disaster that it could have been.
By far, Jurassic World’s
biggest strength is its dexterity. It capably balances knowingness and
nostalgia and it appeals to a modern audience while still evoking the grand
sense of adventure (think old-school Spielberg) of a prior era. The film is
both a product of and a response to its own mythology. IT specialist Lowery (Jake
Johnson) is blasted for insensitively wearing a Jurassic Park t-shirt, chief geneticist
Henry Wu (BD Wong, the lone holdover from the previous films) admits to genetic
tampering to explain away the dinosaurs’ lack of feathers and other inauthenticities,
and there is a whole Asset Containment Unit trained to deal with the inevitable
rampaging dinos on the loose. Despite this, Jurassic
World still delivers plenty of audience-pleasing action. The
visually-arresting set pieces (featuring both competent camerawork and fairly
convincing effects) include vehicle chases, dino-on-dino combat, and plenty of
people placed in precariously perilous situations. In short, this is a movie
that acknowledges the grievances of the jaded among us and still gives reason
to say “Hey, that was cool.”
On the other hand, the characterization very nearly kills
whatever fun is to be had. Many of the roles are both underdeveloped and
unoriginal. Pratt acquits himself as best he can, but his character, a cross
between Alan Grant and Robert Muldoon, is dulled by a lack of major flaws.
Benevolent boss Masrani all too easily evokes Hammond before him, fat and
untrustworthy Hoskins channels fat and untrustworthy Nedry, and the kids once
again nearly doom everyone with their impetuous stupidity only to gain some
measure of usefulness much later on. The only character who comes across as
both fully formed and not a mere rehash is Claire. Howard plays her as decent-but-harried
and though she convincingly projects terror at the opportune time, she also keeps
her wits under pressure. If someone in this film had to be more than just a
type, it’s a good thing that it ended up being the true protagonist.
Some franchise films that have big shoes to fill try to
sidestep comparisons by offering a clean break with the past. Jurassic World not only addresses its
origins head-on; it makes acknowledging all that came before a central part of
the experience. While this approach has its limits – and while the sequel hook
here is cloyingly transparent – the fourth film in this series did more than
enough to win back anyone put off by the prior two. If box office returns are
anything to go by, it isn’t just the dinosaurs that are returning to theaters;
it’s the fans.
8/10
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