Jurassic World

The Park is Open.

Like most kids born in the '90s, I grew up watching Jurassic Park. And, like I'm sure many of us were, I became obsessed with dinosaurs. So, I'm sure you can imagine my excitement when it was revealed that a 4th Jurassic Park movie was going to be made.

Just got back from watching it and I'm happy to say that it exceeded my expectations for a movie that has been sitting in development hell for the better part of  2 decades. This being said, the main story itself is admittedly not all that original. In fact, it is exactly what I would expect the plot from the original JP to be had the park been open. Let's put it simply here; park full of genetically engineered dinosaurs, dinosaurs get loose, crazy stuff happens, people die.

The difference in this movie compared to the original is that the dinosaur that gets loose is a hybrid of several dinosaurs. Created to bring in more excitement to an already bustling park, the Indominus Rex is the big bad in this one. Although you could argue that greed was more the villain than anything, considering that it was that which allowed the I-Rex to be created in the first place.

Bigger. Louder. More Teeth. Indominus Rex.

As far as the characters go, I think for the most part, they are pretty well written. Granted, they are not Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler or Ian Malcolm, but they stand on their own and are pretty likeable as well. And the dinos have their own standouts as well. The Velociraptors in JW are a unique character in and of themselves.

Now speaking of the raptors, I was initially very skeptical when I heard that Chris Pratt's character Owen would have trained the raptors. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that that wasn't quite the case. I actually really loved how that entire aspect was handled, it also made for a few kick-ass scenes, one of which was very reminiscent of a scene in a prior movie.

Jurassic World did that a lot actually. From small subtle references to earlier films (and one to Firefly/Serenity), as well as a couple quite obvious references, the movie was chock full of easter eggs. Enough that I feel the movie deserves at least a second watch to catch them all. It was this attention to detail that really won me over. There was even a subtle nod to a scrapped idea for the script that most people probably would miss.

Jurassic World gets a solid 7½ stars

Overall, the film was everything I could want in a sequel to my all-time favorite trilogy of movies (yes, even the third one has a special place in my heart). The plot was lacking, but honestly, how many possible stories can you get out of a dinosaur park where things go wrong? That being said, I liked it, especially the epic ending. If you are a fan of the original films, I recommend you give this one at least a single watch. It's worth it. Plus, it appears that it has been left open for a potential sequel as well. Jurassic World 2 anyone?

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