Thursday, October 29, 2015

Jurassic World

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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