Posted in: Movies | Tagged: colin trevorrow, entertainment, film, jurassic world

Jurassic World: The Jurassic Park We've Been Waiting For

Published Mon, 15 Jun 2015 18:15:09 -0500

By Octavio Karbank

And that's why you don't go to a dinosaur-populated theme park! This past weekend was the weekend of Jurassic World, and boy, what a ride! Let's take a look at the newest addition to the series! Would you believe fourteen years have elapsed since the debacle that was Jurassic Park III? Someone thought it would be a good idea to breathe life into the franchise again in hopes of getting it right and get it right they did!

People give Jurassic Park: The Lost World and Jurassic Park III a hard time. The reasoning for the latter is perfectly understandable (I must be one of the few people out there who likes Lost World), if only because they failed to match up to the majesty that was Jurassic Park, losing sight of what Jurassic Park was all about. Steven Spielberg and co. caught lightning in a bottle with the first movie, turning the world on to dinosaurs and dinosaur-science in a way that has never been matched. Jurassic Park, with its stellar cast, incredible-looking dinosaurs, and tightly constructed suspense sequences, knocked everybody for a loop! A great example, encapsulating everything that made Jurassic Park so memorable, creating its own fandom, is the claustrophobic and downright terrifying "kitchen scene". You know what I'm talking about. I saw it the other day on TV and it still scares me even though I've watched the movie dozens of times.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kWRKVNv4j4[/youtube]

[**WARNING: SPOILERS for Jurassic World below!]

No matter how many times I re-watch it, the fear never diminishes. That's quality filmmaking. However, we're not here to discuss Jurassic Park, but rather Jurassic World. Before we get started, I've noticed people, at least the ones who are critical towards Jurassic World, finding ridiculous things to criticize; ranging from the "look" of the dinosaurs and the "science" behind them, to our female protagonist running around in high heels, and even the apparent usage of too much CGI. I'm sorry, but did you want them to create real dinosaurs for the movie? Sure, you could've gotten animatronic dinos, but you also have to blend the two and Jurassic World does so with splendid finesse.

As for the science? It doesn't matter. Science folks are of course having various hissy fits, exclaiming how this and that is inaccurate. Yet what they seem to forget is they're watching a science-fiction movie. Emphasis on "fiction" and "movie". It's Hollywood. If they wanted to have Albert Einstein fly in through a wormhole on a flock of jetpack-wearing zebras, then by golly, they could do it. The science only matters insofar as it inspires people to go out and become paleontologists (or simply read more about dinosaurs), finding new and exciting species, the movie whetting their appetite for discovery.

Okay, no more tangent. On to the main event: Jurassic World. Directed by Colin Trevorrow, who made the lesser known Safety Not Guaranteed a couple years back, was accompanied by five screenwriters to do everything possible to make a movie worthy of standing alongside Jurassic Park.

Once news broke out that the film was going to be made, there was trepidation amongst fans about whether it would be any good. Of course it didn't help matters that some of the original plans for Jurassic World revolved around the idea of having human/dinosaur hybrids. Thankfully, the premise was scrapped and traded in for a less insane story.

Taking place twenty-two years after the original Jurassic Park fiasco, you know, the one where people were getting eaten left and right, Isla Nublar now hosts a full operation dinosaur theme park. John Hammond's dream has finally been realized! The only problem? Visitors are starting to get bored. They want something new and exciting; as though dinosaurs themselves were exciting enough. Ask and you shall receive as the park geneticists cook up a brand new creature: the Indominus Rex. Needless to say, nothing goes according to plan.

One of the movie's highlights comes directly from the trailer: Chris Pratt. More specifically, Chris Pratt's character, Owen, something of a loner, and his relationship with the park's velociraptors. The Internet exploded at the sight of Pratt riding on a motorcycle alongside a pack of raptors. As great as that scene is, it can't prepare you for all the exceptional moments before and after.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUJv4MivItE#t=57[/youtube]

Then you have Bryce Dallas Howard and her character Claire. There's been a great deal of discussion about our female protagonist, both positive and negative. Again the mention of running around in high heels comes up, but she not only carries her weight, but also goes through a full-on character arc unlike any of the other humans. From a frosty boss, concerned more with numbers and decimals than living creatures, to a strong individual who reconnects with her lost humanity, it's hard not to appreciate her by movie's end.

Granted you then have the annoying characters, i.e. the kids/brothers, played by Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins, acting, well, annoying, or any stereotypical bad guy behaving thuggish enough so that you don't care when they get attacked or eaten. I suppose one of the few drawbacks to these movies is that you need people acting stupid in order to advance the plot. Oh well.

You could easily perform a character study on the heroes in Jurassic World, but that would be a whole other article. It's enough to know movie showcases phenomenal instances, some of which elicited massive applause from the audience. That sense of elation balanced alongside with raw tension. The scary bits, the ones that cause many to wince in terror and fascination, work wonderfully. The further into the movie you get, the more stressful it becomes to watch. I know this because when looking around me, I could see fully-grown adults cowering, doing their best not to cover their eyes, the child inside them reawakening traumatically as they flashed back to the first time they watched Jurassic Park.

As for the dinosaurs? They're incredible! Sure, there's an abundance of CGI, but it definitely pays off. The raptors look and act terrific, same with the Indominus Rex and pretty much every other dinosaur that pops up. Being able to see the emotions of these creatures is great; the dinosaurs are stars in their own right, with their own character development and their own motivations and desires. The movie continually reminds Claire, and others, that the dinosaurs are living creatures with needs and wants, and not impassive experiments created in test tubes.

It's a theme that gets played out and never gets old. The primary reason for the Indominus's rampage, aside from it being insane, is because it literally does not know the difference between right-and wrong and how to interact with any living thing. Eventually, the creature no longer cares and decides to take out all its stored aggression and psychological issues on anything it comes in contact with. The raptors, typically portrayed as calculating murder machines, are expressive and sympathetic individuals. Never have I rooted for velociraptors more.

With Jurassic World having a financially record-breaking openings, I think it's safe to say Trevorrow and friends have a hit on their hands! With plenty of references and throwbacks to the original film, I couldn't have been happier with Jurassic World. The movie met my expectations (I was giggling like a maniac during the final showdown), and so long as the child inside you is alive and well, it will meet yours too.

Octavio Karbank is a writer and bona fide Whovian. Living in Massachusetts, you can find him on Twitter @TymeHunter and his blog www.cozmicventures.com

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