JURASSIC WORLD
Jurassic Park is probably the movie that kick-started our fascination for dinosaurs. And now, 23 years later, we have the 4th sequel of the franchise that has, unfortunately, somewhat deteriorated over the years. But does Jurassic World have what it takes to break the cycle?
Set 20 years after the last movie, we’re back on Isla Nublar, the setting from the original movie of the franchise, rather than Isla Sorna. It’s a good touch to the series and brings back some of the old magic that many will link to the original movie.
But the magic ends there. Jurassic World fails to give enough substance to our characters. We see our female lead Claire Dearing(Bryce Dallas Howard), a typical workaholic businesswoman stereotype, and male lead Own Grady(Chris Pratt), who basically gives off Mr Badass vibes throughout the film. They are arguably the best developed characters of the movie, but the movie does little to expand on them.
While Pratt does get into his role well, being the charming rogue that he is supposed to portray in the movie, it’s relatively flat, with no insights to his character beyond his skills in basically everything needed to keep everyone alive. The rest of the cast constantly makes you ask yourself, why are they there? Our villains do a little more than annoy the audience, before leaving the audience thinking that they are interfering with the story, rather than enhancing it. The supporting cast are in a similar position, with the audience constantly asking themselves: why are they there? Even Howard doesn’t do anything substantial in the movie except tag along with Pratt.
But for all its character portrayal shortcomings, Jurassic World enhances the real stars of the show: dinosaurs. The computer generated images have significantly more life thanks to modern technology, and the dinosaurs feel more real than ever before. Of course, that is if you closed an eye on the creators’ obvious indifference to certain facts, such as our beloved Velociraptors being the wrong size throughout the franchise.
However, even the strongest point of the movie suffers criticism. Jurassic World has very strong effects, from glass shatters, to explosions. Yet, the movie omits most of the charm that made the series so loved in the first place. We see dinosaurs going for the kill, but it’s mostly censored off. We no longer see them chewing, or other natural behaviours, the whole scene is cut short with the poor victim screaming as he or she is lifted off camera before vanishing. It’s disappointing, and while that might make it more family-friendly, it robs the franchise of its beauty that kept people interested in it in the first place.
To sum it up, Jurassic World is a solid thriller, but it inherits the shortcomings of the previous films. Poor portrayal of characters, horribly wrong information on dinosaur statistics, and missing the magic of the first movie. I’d give it a 4/10 for its all dinosaur thrills.
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