Read my Jurassic World Review with Premiere Pictures

Jurassic World Review

Jurassic World is a difficult movie to judge. It is a lot better than The Lost World or Jurassic Park 3. Especially compared to The Lost World (which I love to hate) it manages to succeed as a worthy sequel to Steven Spielberg’s original 1993 movie Jurassic Park. Sadly, that is where most of the good news ends. Jurassic World is an OK movie, but not a very good one. Whereas Jurassic Park had strong characters with very clear motivations they are mostly lacking from Jurassic World. The movie centers on park operations manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) as she attempts to ready Jurassic World’s latest attraction, the genetic hybrid Indominus Rex. Claire epitomizes corporate ignorance when she readily ignores the dangers of a hybrid dinosaur to please her boss, billionaire Simon Masrani, who represents corporate greed. The familiar trope of corporate interests is pervasive throughout the movie, yet unlike The Lost World the theme is not its death knell. Instead Claire’s world is made more difficult with the arrival of her two nephews who are visiting as their parents go through a divorce.

Masrani (Irrfan Khan) persists in displaying Indominus Rex, but after visiting the dinosaur first-hand he wants to make sure the risks are acceptable. He instructs Claire to have Owen Grady inspect the Indominus paddock, as he trains raptors. There is palpable sexual tension between the two, Owen (Chris Pratt) makes a reference to the one and only date they had during which Claire brought with her an itinerary. Meanwhile nephews Zach and Gray desperately attempt to avoid Claire’s assistant Zara in order to able to roam around Jurassic World freely. As Claire and Owen inspect the paddock they discover the Indominus has already escaped. While Claire returns to the operations center Owen does a visual inspection. Members of Claire’s team activate the Indominus tracker and locate the animal as still being inside the paddock. It’s ability to fool thermal detection has allowed it to set a trap. It succeeds in killing several game wardens before it escapes from the paddock, narrowly missing Owen who has managed to hide by dousing himself with gasoline.

Masrani meanwhile sends in his Asset Containment Unit to capture Indominus. While they are en route Masrani questions Dr. Wu (B.D. Wong), the only character also found in the original Jurassic Park movie. Masrani wants to know about Indominus’ special abilities. After Wu tells him of all the special genetic blends that were necessary to create the hybrid Masrani becomes angered. Wu reminds him it was on his orders he created a dinosaur that was bigger, faster and… crueler. Meanwhile the Asset Containment Unit fails in his attempts to trap Indominus and all its members are killed. Owen asks Claire to evacuate the island but she refuses, instead she orders a limited closure of attractions. Zach and Gray are meanwhile exploring the park in the glass gyrosphere oblivious to unfolding disaster. The gyrosphere are an effective continuation to the original Jurassic Park’s scene in which two of Hammond’s grandchildren are attacked by the T-Rex while in the jeep. Claire senses that Zach and Gray may be in danger and solicits Owen’s help in finding them. Zach and Gray manage to survive the attack from Indominus due to its difficulty in breaking open the gyrosphere. They eventually manage to escape by jumping off a waterfall. That night they reach the original visitors center, covered in jungle growth. After they fix a jeep they ride off just as Claire and Owen reach the center as well.

After Claire and Owen fend off  anattack by Indominus Masrani takes measures into his own hand and flies a helicopter with armed soldiers to kill the hybrid. He merely manages to lure Indominus into the aviary which is broken open unleashing the Pteranodons. Masrani is killed when his helicopter crashes due to collisions with the flying dinosaurs. After this incident complete pandemonium breaks out in the park as the Pteranodons attack visitors. One is killed along with Zara by the Mosasaurus . The movie also becomes more unhinged. Vic Hoskins who is head of security decides that the raptors can take out Indominus and releases them followed by a group of heavily armed soldiers. Wu is meanwhile escorted off the island with most of the research materials because Hoskins tells him the park owner’s will be bankrupt by the morning. The raptors fail to kill Indominus, instead they turn on the soldiers after the hybrid communicates with them. Wu failed to mention that Indominus also has raptor genes. The raptors also kill Hoskins. Only then does Owen manage to take control of his raptors. They succeed in delaying Indominus until Claire lures the T-rex with a flare towards the fight, running all the way on high heels. The fight between T-Rex, raptors on the one hand and Indominus on the other is a close one. Indominus looks to win until, too close to the waters edge, the Mosasaurus  leaps out and drags Indominus into the water. The island is evacuated. Claire and Owen decide to stay together. The last shot is that off the T-Rex overlooking the damage of the rampage.

Conclusion

My biggest gripe is with the second half of the movie, when the plot becomes muddled by Vincent D’Onofrio character Vic Hoskins. He is man both intelligent and stupid at the same time. The continuous action also starts to drag, call it viewer fatigue. I enjoyed Claire’s character while I thought Owen was passable. While Claire grows in strength Owen remains Owen. However, many of the other characters are not interesting at all. Claire’s assistant Zara is fated to die a horrible death. Barry, Owen’s tamer does very little while Vivian and Lowery, two of the park’s techies have such minor roles they might as well have been just one character. To hide this deficiency Jurassic World can boast some snappy dialogue and witty moments, but they are not as memorable as Jurassic Park. Normally you would expect a sequel to make less of an impression in character development but 22 years after the original any new source material should at least be of the same quality. I enjoyed Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. The movie certainly has its moments, it has no major irritating flaws as did The Lost World, but it is not a great movie either. This was Jurassic World Review. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Comment below if you disagree with my review.

Score; 7.5 / 10. It can’t compare to Jurassic Park but it leaves The Lost World far behind as well.

Too sexist?

One of the controversies surrounding Jurassic World was that the depiction of Claire Dearing was sexist. Ever since the first promotion picture were released Bryce Dallas Howard was depicted as the archetypical image of corporate correctness wearing her tailored white suit, straight skirt and nude high heels. Nothing wrong with that I say. Other pictures shows her suit being smudged after being chased through the jungle by Indominus Rex. However, Bryce Dallas Howard keeps wearing the impossibly tall three inch high heels throughout the movie, with no straps to keep her feet inside the heels. I dismissed the issue as being just an element of humor. Bryce’s character Claire can’t be expected to make complete character turnaround in just 2 hours. With her keeping the high heels throughout the movie, including the scene where she runs from the T-Rex holding a flare is her way to keep her strength up and not rely solely on Chris Pratt’s character Owen. Bryce thus avoids depicting Claire as the damsel in distress. Sadly, many still continue to complain including Joss Whedon. Chris Pratt has mocked the controversy by donning a pair of red high heels on The Late Show with James Corden.