Jurassic World (2015)
'Star Lord'and 'that kid from Iron Man 3' join the cast of dinosaurs in the biggest and craziest installment of the Jurassic Park series yet.
In this film we return to the original island, Isla Nubla, where 'Jurassic Park, was due to open 22 years ago. This was the scene of the tragic events which saw a T-Rex and group of Velociraptors terrorise Dr Grant, Dr Sadler, Richard Hammond and his grandkids (Lexi and Timmy). A new park, Jurassic World, has been built though and has been operating for about 10 years. That's the problem, people are getting used to seeing dinosaurs!
Now, personally, I will always be amazed by dinosaurs, but, this is the premise of the film so let's go with it. Kids want something scarier and standard dinos won't cut it! The corporate sponsors want to make more money and so Dr Wu (remember him from Jurassic Park?) returns and is again played by BD Wong to lead a team creating new dinos. Their creation this time is the Indominus Rex, a highbrid super dino that is a cross between a T-Rex, Velociraptor and various reptiles and sea creatures. This means the creations can think like a rapto, change colour for camoflage and hide its body heat. Scary indeed.
Things get even scarier when the creature outthinks its keepers and escapes! Park co-ordinator, Claire (played by Bryce Dallas Howard), has been in charge of the creation of the creature to keep the investors happy and this happens to be the weekend her nephews Zack (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins - aka the kid from Iron Man 3) come to visit. Like 22 years before, what could possibly go wrong when your family come to stay at your dino park? Well, everything.
After going off the beaten track on a ride, after their aunt abandons them for the day, the boys become the prey for the Indominus Rex. Claire needs help from the best keeper in the park, who also happens to be an old flame, Owen (Chris Pratt - Guardians of the Galaxy). Oh, and he happens to be the only person to ever successfully train Velociraptors. Next follows a race throug the park to find the boys before the giant dino does. The raptors come in handy here too.
With escaped dinos everywhere (more than just Indominus Rex), and over 10,000 park visitors, there are a few casualties of course.
This film makes use of a combination of CGI and animatronics like the original film did. It also makes sure Jurassic Park 2 and 3 are NEVER mentioned, good move. This feels like a direct sequel to Jurassic Park and that's a good thing.
There aere nice little homages to the original film and this helps bring the nostalgia to the fore. Nostalgia is big at the moment with classic film remakes and reboots (Terminator Genisys and Independence Day 2) and old bands reforming and this film feeds into that feeling. That could be problematic at times as the first film was such a classic and you can't help but compare the two.
There are some moments that don't feel right, like the fact Claire can outrun a T-Rex in heels. A T-Rex could run at either 45mph or 10-15mph depending on the estimates you believe. Either way, to sprint from one in heels is impressive (and yes, that is the same T-Rex from Jurassic Park and not a new one). Also, the Velociraptors were the big threat (even move so than the T-Rex because they were smart). In this they are the hero and is it an illusion or do they feel smaller?
Other critics have complained that recent evidence suggests dinosaurs had feathers and none of these do. The dinos in the original film don't have feather and it was believed at the time that they didn't. To keep with the original film these dinos don't have feathers. Why? Because, as Dr Wu points out, they can make them however they want, and using reptile DNA to fill in the blanks takes out the feathers. Simples!
This is a vastly superior film to Jurassic Park 2 and 3 and, although it will never capture the magic of the original Jurassic Park, it taps into the nostalgia nicely. To anyone who grew up with JP, they will love this. Also, unlike the kids in the film, kids today will love the dinos.
The chemistry between the characters feels odd at times, but the dysfunctional family comes through in the end. Besides, this is as much a cautionary tale about the corporate and commercialisation of entertainment as it is about family and dinosaurs. The product placement in the film is there not to please sponsors of the film but is rather there as an almost ironic commentary on the topic I just mentioned. It is a glorious add on in a commercialised, throw-away world in which we currently live.
All in all, this is a great film that won't ruin your view of JP like the other sequels may have done. Worth a watch and yes, if they are this good, I would like to see more sequels in the future.
In this film we return to the original island, Isla Nubla, where 'Jurassic Park, was due to open 22 years ago. This was the scene of the tragic events which saw a T-Rex and group of Velociraptors terrorise Dr Grant, Dr Sadler, Richard Hammond and his grandkids (Lexi and Timmy). A new park, Jurassic World, has been built though and has been operating for about 10 years. That's the problem, people are getting used to seeing dinosaurs!
Now, personally, I will always be amazed by dinosaurs, but, this is the premise of the film so let's go with it. Kids want something scarier and standard dinos won't cut it! The corporate sponsors want to make more money and so Dr Wu (remember him from Jurassic Park?) returns and is again played by BD Wong to lead a team creating new dinos. Their creation this time is the Indominus Rex, a highbrid super dino that is a cross between a T-Rex, Velociraptor and various reptiles and sea creatures. This means the creations can think like a rapto, change colour for camoflage and hide its body heat. Scary indeed.
Things get even scarier when the creature outthinks its keepers and escapes! Park co-ordinator, Claire (played by Bryce Dallas Howard), has been in charge of the creation of the creature to keep the investors happy and this happens to be the weekend her nephews Zack (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins - aka the kid from Iron Man 3) come to visit. Like 22 years before, what could possibly go wrong when your family come to stay at your dino park? Well, everything.
After going off the beaten track on a ride, after their aunt abandons them for the day, the boys become the prey for the Indominus Rex. Claire needs help from the best keeper in the park, who also happens to be an old flame, Owen (Chris Pratt - Guardians of the Galaxy). Oh, and he happens to be the only person to ever successfully train Velociraptors. Next follows a race throug the park to find the boys before the giant dino does. The raptors come in handy here too.
With escaped dinos everywhere (more than just Indominus Rex), and over 10,000 park visitors, there are a few casualties of course.
This film makes use of a combination of CGI and animatronics like the original film did. It also makes sure Jurassic Park 2 and 3 are NEVER mentioned, good move. This feels like a direct sequel to Jurassic Park and that's a good thing.
There aere nice little homages to the original film and this helps bring the nostalgia to the fore. Nostalgia is big at the moment with classic film remakes and reboots (Terminator Genisys and Independence Day 2) and old bands reforming and this film feeds into that feeling. That could be problematic at times as the first film was such a classic and you can't help but compare the two.
There are some moments that don't feel right, like the fact Claire can outrun a T-Rex in heels. A T-Rex could run at either 45mph or 10-15mph depending on the estimates you believe. Either way, to sprint from one in heels is impressive (and yes, that is the same T-Rex from Jurassic Park and not a new one). Also, the Velociraptors were the big threat (even move so than the T-Rex because they were smart). In this they are the hero and is it an illusion or do they feel smaller?
Other critics have complained that recent evidence suggests dinosaurs had feathers and none of these do. The dinos in the original film don't have feather and it was believed at the time that they didn't. To keep with the original film these dinos don't have feathers. Why? Because, as Dr Wu points out, they can make them however they want, and using reptile DNA to fill in the blanks takes out the feathers. Simples!
This is a vastly superior film to Jurassic Park 2 and 3 and, although it will never capture the magic of the original Jurassic Park, it taps into the nostalgia nicely. To anyone who grew up with JP, they will love this. Also, unlike the kids in the film, kids today will love the dinos.
The chemistry between the characters feels odd at times, but the dysfunctional family comes through in the end. Besides, this is as much a cautionary tale about the corporate and commercialisation of entertainment as it is about family and dinosaurs. The product placement in the film is there not to please sponsors of the film but is rather there as an almost ironic commentary on the topic I just mentioned. It is a glorious add on in a commercialised, throw-away world in which we currently live.
All in all, this is a great film that won't ruin your view of JP like the other sequels may have done. Worth a watch and yes, if they are this good, I would like to see more sequels in the future.
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