Jurassic World

There’s a new apex predator on Isla Nublar, and it’s not the T-Rex. Or the Velociraptor. Nope, it’s Chris Pratt. Starlord himself has found another massive blockbuster to attach himself to, and with rumors of being the next Indiana Jones swirling, and him currently filming the Magnificent Seven reboot (or reimagining) to add “Western” to his conquests, I think it’s safe to say that he is here to stay.

Pratt plays Owen, an ex-Navy man who is training raptors like dogs with a clicker and treats. Not likely, but it presents him as the alpha right off the bat, and a likeable and humble hero who appreciates the dinosaurs and respects them perhaps more than anyone else on the island.

Jurassic World takes us 22 years after the potential disaster that was narrowly averted in Jurassic Park. The kinks have been worked out, or so Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her team of scientists, security, and amusement park ride operators think. Claire’s two nephews come to the island for a visit in hopes of repairing a seemingly hollow relationship between Claire and her sister (Judy Greer). The original film is mentioned with tongue-in-cheek humor throughout, so there is the constant undertone of “Caution: Hungry Dinosaurs” looming as the characters fall deeper and deeper into the mistakes of their predecessors. The lesson here? You can’t mess too much with Mother Nature. Obviously.

The park visitors have an insatiable appetite for bigger, badder, meaner beasties. Management is cooking up new ideas for attractions every year to keep the masses coming, and with bigger and badder comes more dangerous. They make a hybrid of T-Rex and mystery meat called the Indominus Rex, which we’re never made totally privy to its ingredients, but are given some hints along the way. Let’s just say this dinosaur is the Beast Mode of the reptile kingdom, and it has no match. What happens to a dinosaur that is too big, mean, smart, and hungry to be contained? Rhetorical question. It obviously goes on a rampage. As the visitors and other dinosaurs run for their lives, it is up to one man, yep, Chris Pratt… I mean Owen, to take down the beast and save the day.

What’s great is that my generation reveled in the magic of the original Jurassic Park back in 1993, and the magic from 22 years ago is still there. And there is a whole new generation that gets to experience it for the first time. This is the type of film that lasts because it has universal appeal. There is a reason that Jurassic Park grossed over a billion dollars worldwide. It is monumental and important. Audiences want to be frightened, they want to be entertained, and dinosaurs are just cool. Compared with the original, the special effects are even more mind-blowing, the pacing of the film is even faster, and the reptiles are less on display to inspire awe as they are for fear this time around. Jurassic World has a tough act to follow, but it does about as good as could be expected.

Jake Johnson provides the perfect comic relief and one-liners as the control room operator with an awful mustache and an even worse personality. He’s working with director Colin Trevorrow for the second time after 2012’s independent quirk fest, “Safety Not Guaranteed”. Trevorrow is a surprise pick for such a high profile film, but he delivers the goods like a seasoned veteran. A lot of the action is fast-paced and frenetic, as you would expect from any CGI-laden blockbuster, but the actors seem to integrate with the dinosaurs remarkably well.

The coolest part of Jurassic World is by far the untapped underwater aspect of prehistory, the Mosasaurs, which is just plain cool. It takes the franchise to a whole other level, and although unfortunately some of the magic is spoiled in the previews, it is still satisfying on the big screen. I think it’s safe to say that this is the most fun I’ve had in a non-post-apocalyptic landscape this year. 8/10.