Jurassic World

          If there was one moral to be taken from the original Jurassic Park trilogy it was that you probably shouldn’t make a theme park containing feral dinosaurs – but should Jurassic World’s director, Colin Trevorrow, have heeded the same advice? The answer, thankfully, is no. This is because although Jurassic World cannot match the sense of wonderment that pervaded the first film, it is still two hours of glorious, popcorn cinema. 

Set 22 years after the first park failed, Isla Nublar is now the world’s premier tourist attraction, with over 20,000 visitors streaming through the gates every day. However, to keep attendance high and board members happy, the team behind the park, headed up by the brisk Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), decide to create a new dinosaur. Yet this is no normal beast. Imbued with a smorgasbord of killer characteristics, I bet you can’t guess what happens.      

As Claire appositely mentions early on, “people aren’t interested in dinosaurs anymore”, and herein lies the struggle for Jurassic World; 22 years ago, seeing a dinosaur brought to life was ground-breaking cinema, but now we see worlds colliding and warmongering aliens on a constant basis. What World manages to do is to showcase its visual splendour with the same dramatic tension that made the original Park so iconic. Indeed, far from being a shadow over all of the film, the original is thankfully only mentioned in passing (watch out for Jeff Goldblum Easter eggs). In this sense, Trevorrow manages to manoeuvre the tight-rope of respect and emulation quite admirably.

The opening to the film does feel ever-so-slightly rushed. It seems that everyone involved was keen to create some loose character dynamics before throwing them into the crucible of a dino-rampage. We have the angsty teen (Zach) and his nerdy brother (Gray) coming from a fragmenting family. There’s straight-laced Claire, shifty doctor Henry Wu and a pretty one-tone villain in the form of Vic Hoskins. Indeed, having seen Vincent D’Onofrio steal the show as Daredevil’s very own big-bad Wilson Fisk (Netflix it ASAP), it’s a shame that he wasn’t given as much creative licence with this role. That’s not to say that he’s a bad character, it’s just the circumstances seemingly necessitated a categorically evil antagonist. I have of course not mentioned Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady, whose character arc seemingly goes from cool to “badass” in one fell swoop. However as is to be expected, the joy in this film comes not from setting up the dominos, but in watching them fall. 
  

And they fall spectacularly. The monster that the lab creates, the Indominous Rex, is one scary lizard, and the chaos it creates is punchy and visceral. Moreover the climatic end to the film features a gloriously air-punch-worthy moment. This was clearly a picture that the SFX and artistic team would have revelled in making. Throughout, the film boasts a gorgeous aesthetic which indulges in the childish reality of seeing the park fully operational whilst also making the dinosaurs tactile. Although Spielberg’s opener contained impressive animatronics, World is able to push this technical bracket further.
      

Yet beyond this, one of the most pleasing elements was the tone of the film. Without a doubt there are some clichéd action-movie tropes knocking around here, however a lot of the biggest smiles in the film come from the subversion of these. Chris Pratt oozes charisma, in a similar way to his role in Guardians of the Galaxy, however major points have to go to the character of Claire and her portrayal by Bryce Dallas Howard. Claire’s thawing from ice queen to action heroine manages to avoid the sloppy, lazy and outdated caricature of a damsel-in-distress. Another action movie cliché is dealt with hysterically between Lowery (Jake Johnson – Yes, that is Nick from New Girl) and Vivian (Lauren Lapkus), but I will forgo the punch line.  Therefore, although this isn’t necessarily a character-driven picture, there’s enough clever scripting to make you at least care about the protagonists’ fates.     
  

Fundamentally, Jurassic World is impressive in the sense that it knows what it is. If you’re expecting scientific accuracy and rich character development then you may be disappointed. However if you want to re-kindle the love you felt for a once dilapidated franchise whilst enjoying a funny, visceral and punchy popcorn film, then this is the perfect way to start the Summer Blockbuster season.

(PS. Can someone please just give Chris Pratt the lead in an Indiana Jones reboot please?)