Jurassic World
Date watched: 6/20/2015
My rating: 7/10
The count of times I have seen this at time of this review: 1st
Likelihood that I will watch this movie again: Almost Certainly
I classify this as an action near time sci-fi movie.
Marginal movie of this genre that I rate above this: King Kong (2005)
Marginal movie of this genre that I rate lower then this: Men in Black
A direct sequel to the original Jurassic Park, with several references both oblique, and direct. this movie features a new cast of characters exploring a spectacular derivative of the original Jurassic Park vision.
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Spoiler information
I remember when Jurassic Park came out. I was newly married and it was the summer of 1993. I watched it and loved it and went to see it in the theater many times. I was amazed after several weeks that the movie was sold out. I don't know if that occurs much anymore today. I have always been a big fan of dinosaurs (as I suspect many kids are, especially boys). Dinosaurs are a major part of public elementary education in the United States, in my perception. It was amazing for me to see dinosaurs "brought to life", both in CGI, and also in a quasi-plausible method that was illustrated in the movie. I bought the book by Michael Creighton, and was enthralled. I have also watched Jurassic Park II and III, with a mixed reaction to both of them.
I was pretty skeptical when I saw the first reviews of this show. The clips I saw of Chris Pratt were of him being serious and all "Ian Malcom" (the character from the first and second movies who is pessimistic regarding the future of the park). I also thought some of the things looked a little silly. However, I then saw another preview and was intrigued, because I saw the comedy of Chris, which is a big part of his appeal. I would say that this movie blends his action prowess with his comedy goofiness (although a bit light on that, as his character Owen isn't very goofy - one of the other characters refers to him as "pretty bad ass", which is a pretty apt description of him).
We immediately know from the introduction of the movie that the two boys, nephews of the controller of the park, Claire, that they are safe from any real danger (meaning being eaten by dinosaurs or otherwise killed). We also know that Owen and Claire themselves will be safe as well. It would be a dark movie indeed if one of these characters were killed. The safety of this knowledge allows us to tolerate the numerous "red shirt" deaths throughout the movie. There are two deaths that occur that are mildly surprising: the death of the owner of the park, and the death of the assistant, that had been assigned to the boys. On reflection, I feel that their deaths were foreshadowed in this way. The CEO was established as a bit of a rogue, as he loved flying the helicopter, even though he wasn't very good. The assistant is established a a bit put off by being assigned to the boys, and we don't make a real connection with her.
There is also some foreshadowing of the roles that the mesosaur and the tyrannosaurus (which has been annoyingly called the T-Rex ever since the first Jurassic Park) will perform later in the movie. We have a spectacular display of might by the mesosaur in a "Sea World" type of environment, complete with the mesosaur devouring a large (dead) great white shark. We also see the tyrannosaurus being viewed by the public in its display.
The movie has a lot of balls tossed up in the air and inspection of these leads to holes in the plot in a variety of places. It is unclear exactly what is going on. What first seems to have happened is that the company overreached, and created too dangerous of a dinosaur hybrid. Then it is implied that this was purposely done, but that lead isn't quite followed up on completely. We do know that the oily character Hoskins will die a violent death. In fact, we also get the bonus of seeing Owen deck him in the face before poetic justice is given to him by the jaws of one of the raptors he thought he could waltz in and control.
Stepping back a minute, I saw two direct references to one of my favorite sci-fi movies of all time, Aliens. In Aliens, the marines engage the hive of ...er... Aliens, and are told to use non-lethal weaponry. This same scene is replicated with a group of operatives that attempt to contain the newly rampaging tyrano-chameleon-frog-raptor thing. The operatives are predictably (both by us and the prescient Owen) slaughtered wholesale, and we see them perish with their bio-display blinking out, very similarly to how the marines perished way back in 1986. Also, the slime ball Hoskins perishes in a manner reminiscent of the slime ball Burke in Aliens.
Don't read the next parts in red below if you want to read the graphic novel Aliens Book Two first.
http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Aliens_(series_2)
There is another reference to Aliens, although a bit more obscure. Dark Horse Comics published (and still publishes) a line of comics depicting the Aliens universe. In a sequel to the action in Aliens, a man named General Spears has dreams of grandeur of commanding a group of trained Aliens to rescue Earth, which has also been overrun by Aliens. This plot is very similar to what Hoskins is dreaming up, although General Spears puts a lot more personal effort into building a rapport with his murderous team before he is ultimately destroyed by them.
I enjoyed the nostalgic parts of this movie that recall the fun of Jurassic Park. The big one is the sound track, which has both the traditional soaring symphonic theme song, and in parts of the movie, a more subtle rendition (I noticed it in the old Jurassic Park building where the boys discover the old Jeep). Also, the chief geneticist BD Wong is reprising his role as Dr. Henry Wu, which was a nice little Easter egg.
Overall, this movie is fun and has plenty of action. The movie was not ruined too much for me to inspect it and find the parts that didn't quite connect, or perhaps were gaping holes.
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