When Jurassic Park landed in 1993, it was a revolutionary moment in cinema. Steven Spielberg had brought to life dinosaurs on screen that only existed in our imaginations. Michael Crichton’s bestselling book had painted a picture that in the hands of one of the most talented directors of all-time became an instant classic and an enormous blockbuster.
Fast forward 22 years and Universal Pictures is releasing Jurassic World and on its premise alone, we are seriously intrigued. The park is open and has been for a decade. Twenty thousand visitors a day come to Jurassic World to be marveled by real live dinosaurs walking the earth for the first time in millions of years. Things have been going swimmingly and with the introduction of each new “attraction,” attendance spikes. So as our story begins, park leader Bryce Dallas Howard is ready to unveil what promises to be the most vicious dinosaur ever created, the Indominus Rex (yes, it was made in a lab).
It’s even bigger than the T-Rex and audiences are going to be astounded… that is, until it breaks out of its containment facility and our movie’s danger level shoots through the roof.
Chris Pratt gets his second summer blockbuster movie in a row (after Guardians of the Galaxy) and plays Owen, a former military man/dinosaur expert who is working closely with raptors and has managed to “train” them to follow his commands. Owen’s brought in to help track down and contain the Indominus Rex and that may or may not involve him using his raptor buddies to try to stop the bloodshed across the park that the new dino is wreaking.
Pratt is fantastic and his ascent up the A-list should continue with Jurassic World landing in theaters. And on a side note, after seeing him in Colin Trevorrow’s film, we can picture him taking over Indiana Jones from Harrison Ford now more than ever. Pratt has charisma and he takes what could be a one-dimensional character on the page and adds layers to him to bring him to life.
Howard is not so lucky. She doesn’t have the highest character development, but the actress does everything she can with it. Howard has quite the character arc that is not exactly laid out effortlessly, but she manages to do with it the best she can.
But, character development is not exactly why millions flock to see a Jurassic Park movie. And they will not be disappointed with Jurassic World. The action is intense. The suspense is painstakingly built by Trevorrow. For a director whose only previous experience was helming the independent feature Safety Not Guaranteed, he shows immense talent handling an enormously scoped film and manages the ebbs and flows of action, suspense and emotion in a manner that would make the original film’s director — Spielberg — quite happy.
For that matter, fans of that first film should also be delighted with the thrills of Jurassic World.
Grade: A