Movie Review: Jurassic World

If you were to tell fans that there was going to be a fourth Jurassic Park movie after the let’s say not fantastic sequels I do not know if they would have agreed. However in 2015 the long awaited Jurassic World premiered, and in my opinion it was better than anyone thought it was going to be. Ok so the science wasn’t exact as anyone in that background has explained; I get it but this is called science fiction for a reason. As always spoilers will be ahead. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

Jurassic World has been open for many years and is still going strong. Despite dinosaurs still being “wow” many who invest in the park, including owner Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) want to see more; encouraging Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong and the only original cast member to appear in the movie) to create more genetically modified dinosaurs, much to the annoyance of park control room employee Lowery (Jake Johnson). Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), the park operations manager and doesn’t seem to get that these are living creature, observes the newest addition to the park, the Indominus Rex; a creature created with T-Rex DNA and other parts deemed classified. At the same time her nephews Zack and Gray (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins) visit the park, after their parents Karen and Scott (Judy Greer and Andy Buckley) send them away possibly in order to avoid talking about their upcoming divorce, but are stuck with Claire’s assistant Zara (Katie McGrath). Another park employee, and one Claire had a bad first date with, is Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) a Navy veteran who is researching raptor intelligence. He works closely with four raptors, having built a bond of trust with them; however he refuses to train them for military use which is what head of InGen security Vic Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio) wants. Masrani wants Owen to look at the Indominus enclosure to ensure everyone’s safety; Owen believes that because she was raised in a cage alone she is going to be dangerous. Claw marks on the cage look like the Indominus escaped and Owen (along with two others) go in to check it out; and that’s when the “fun” begins. Because of the mixed DNA, the Indominus can mask heat, camouflage and is incredibly intelligent. Owen just barley escapes as the dinosaur becomes loose in the park, endangering many lives including Zack and Gray. Owen and Claire team up to find her nephews and must find a way to stop the Indominus. About as far as I should go without spoiling the rest of the movie.

To call Jurassic World a huge success would be a big understatement. Grossing 500 million the opening weekend, and one of the fastest films to reach a billion dollars, it was obvious how much people missed seeing good dinosaur movies. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are fantastic as the leads; Pratt is great at action and comedy while Howard’s character evolves from little miss perfect to running in high heels towards danger (p.s. that really impressed me I can barely even walk in heels.) The rest of the cast is spectacular; I personally enjoyed Johnson, Khan, Robinson, Simpkins, Wong and D’Onofrio performances. I thought the script was definitely better than the first two and lived up to but was not as great as the first one (obviously.) The special effects were much more improved; although you can still tell they are computer generated they still make the dinosaurs life like. The Indominus Rex was a very good monster, although the Mosasaurus was also impressive to look at. Of course it was good to see Rexy again at the end of the film. Overall I think Jurassic World did live up to the hype it had prior to the film premiere (and I may even call it a must see), and we can only wait and see if the sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in theaters now can grow the story more. I will try and see that as soon as possible. In the meantime if you haven’t seen Jurassic World I would rent or DVR it as soon as possible.

Movie Review: Jurassic Park

With the fifth film opening this Friday I thought it would be a great idea to finally review one of the most successful film franchises of all time. Based on the 1990 novel of the same time, this 1993 Steven Spielberg movie opened the door to a brand new world 65 million years in the making. For some reason if you haven’t seen the franchise here is a massive spoiler alert. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

Paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), his paleobotanist girlfriend Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician/chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are invited by industrialist John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), and a lawyer Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) to verify that Hammond’s new park is safe. When they get to the island called Isla Nublar Grant, Ellie and Malcolm are stunned (to say the least) that Hammond and his team, including Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong), Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson) and Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck) have recreated dinosaurs using DNA from mosquito and frogs as well as keeping the dinosaurs all girls in order to prevent breading; Dr. Malcolm quickly disbelieves this famously stating “Life finds a way” as well as dismissing the thought of controlling the dinosaurs. Grant, Ellie, Malcolm, Gennaro and Hammond’s grandchildren Lex and Tim Murphy (Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello) go on a tour of the park, called Jurassic Park, and that is when things go wrong. A tropical storm hits the island at the same time Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight), who has been bribed by a competitor to steal embryos, cuts off the security system in order to get to where they are stashed. However because of his stupidity the power goes off as well and trucks with Grant, Malcolm, Gennaro and the kids get stuck right by the Tyrannosaurs Rex area (for those who haven’t seen the film this ends about as well as you think.) Everyone soon has to find a way to survive in Jurassic Park with not only the T-Rex but velociraptors after them until help can arrive. About as far as I should go without giving away the rest of the movie.

I actually avoided this film when I was younger because dinosaurs freaked me out (also seeing people getting eaten on screen makes me nauseous.) However when Jurassic World was coming out my curiosity was getting the better of me and I finally sat down to watch all three films. My reviews for those will come later, as for this this is clearly the best of the Jurassic films so far (not just my opinion but a fact.) This is widely regarded as one of the best films of all time; not just in dinosaur but in terms of Spielberg films as well. Everyone in the movie did a fantastic job acting wise, the script was fantastic and the special effects, given how computers were back in the 90’s, were amazing. The dinosaurs in here are either robotics and/or CGI are so well done you would think they were actual dinosaurs. Of course I cannot forget about the incredible music on the background, one of the most recognizable themes in film and why Jurassic Park won Oscars for its sound mixing, editing and visual effects. While I think the three sequels, as well as the upcoming fourth this Friday, are/may not as good as this one it was still a great way to start off one of the best film franchises of all time. If you haven’t watched the original Jurassic Park I highly recommend it, I’d even call it a must see. In the words of John Hammond: “Welcome to Jurassic Park.”