Jurassic World
Year: 2015
Directed by: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Chris Pratt, Nick Robinson & Ty Simpkins
Runtime: 124 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 07/06/22
Directed by: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Chris Pratt, Nick Robinson & Ty Simpkins
Runtime: 124 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 07/06/22
Following the release of Jurassic Park III in 2001, Universal were hungry to get the ball rolling on a fourth film in the blockbuster franchise. But much to their dismay they couldn’t really get people to do it. Neither Steven Spielberg or Joe Johnston wanted to direct another film in the franchise, and whilst there were multiple scripts penned over the years Universal were never happy with the direction of the story. So, after being in development hell for the best part of a decade, eventually the pieces began to fall into place with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver being brought on as screenwriters and Colin Trevorrow down to direct. But this version of the story required a bigger investment than just one film, and so Jurassic Park IV became Jurassic World, the first in a new trilogy of films that would act as both a reboot and sequel to the original films.
Built on the ruins of John Hammond’s failed Jurassic Park on the island of Isla Nublar, Jurassic World has been a fully functioning park for a number of years. Attracting tens of thousands of guests every day to see dinosaurs brought back to life using genetic engineering. But as is the case with all theme parks and zoo’s, new attractions are key for keeping guest attendance high. With guests wanting ‘bigger dinosaurs’ and ‘more teeth’, Jurassic World’s science division has genetically engineered a new breed of dinosaur, the Indominus Rex. But when the Indominus outsmarts the park’s staff and breaks free from its enclosure, operations manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Velociraptor trainer Owen (Chris Pratt) lead an operation to evacuate the park and put a stop to the Indominus’ rampage.
Built on the ruins of John Hammond’s failed Jurassic Park on the island of Isla Nublar, Jurassic World has been a fully functioning park for a number of years. Attracting tens of thousands of guests every day to see dinosaurs brought back to life using genetic engineering. But as is the case with all theme parks and zoo’s, new attractions are key for keeping guest attendance high. With guests wanting ‘bigger dinosaurs’ and ‘more teeth’, Jurassic World’s science division has genetically engineered a new breed of dinosaur, the Indominus Rex. But when the Indominus outsmarts the park’s staff and breaks free from its enclosure, operations manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Velociraptor trainer Owen (Chris Pratt) lead an operation to evacuate the park and put a stop to the Indominus’ rampage.
Bigger and more teeth pretty much perfectly sums up Jurassic World. Despite being the first in a trilogy of new films, it is considerably larger in scale and much more violent than any film in the franchise so far. The result means it tries to toe the line between Jurassic Park’s wonderous family friendly approach to a monster movie, and The Lost World’s darker and crueller action-centric approach. Long story short, it doesn’t always work…but I would say it works considerably better than both The Lost World and Jurassic Park III.
Jurassic World is a strong start in establishing what to expect from this new trilogy, and what better place to start than with something John Hammond never managed to achieve, a working park with lots of guests. The basic premise of Jurassic World is pretty much just Jurassic Park all over again, but rather than it being a small group of experts verifying the park’s safety ahead of opening, the park is now filled with guests and therefore there’s so much more chaos.
It doesn’t take anywhere near as long for the dino-poop to hit the fan as it did in Jurassic Park, with the Indominus loose within the first thirty minutes of the film. But what Jurassic World does extremely well is weave these moments of terror and panic with moments elsewhere in the park where guests are blissfully unaware that there’s an unstoppable carnivore on the loose just a few hundred metres away. It ratchets the tension up considerably knowing that the park staff are desperately trying to get people to safety (whilst also not alarming them in the fear that the press with catch wind of the situation and the park will be permanently closed), all whilst park security and private militaries engage in battle just minutes away from them.
However, my suspension of disbelief only goes so far, and I found myself regularly unable to immerse myself in Jurassic World because of the lack of safety protocols the park seems to have. It’s kind of stupid when I say it out loud, and I almost feel like I’m nit-picking…but the fact that there is no contingency plan for if a dinosaur escapes its enclosure to me seems like a massive oversight in the planning of the park and simply wouldn’t happen. There’s no evacuation procedure, there’s no override features on any of the park’s attractions to return guests to safety, some of the most dangerous attractions are situated directly next to the main promenade of the park. Whilst for the sake of making an action film I can understand why these decisions were made, but it also took me right out of the experience because all I could think of is why was there no plan in place for this kind of situation? Because in real life there would have needed to have been plans outlined for the park to even be able to open, and each new exhibit would necessitate the need for a new plan.
Jurassic World is a strong start in establishing what to expect from this new trilogy, and what better place to start than with something John Hammond never managed to achieve, a working park with lots of guests. The basic premise of Jurassic World is pretty much just Jurassic Park all over again, but rather than it being a small group of experts verifying the park’s safety ahead of opening, the park is now filled with guests and therefore there’s so much more chaos.
It doesn’t take anywhere near as long for the dino-poop to hit the fan as it did in Jurassic Park, with the Indominus loose within the first thirty minutes of the film. But what Jurassic World does extremely well is weave these moments of terror and panic with moments elsewhere in the park where guests are blissfully unaware that there’s an unstoppable carnivore on the loose just a few hundred metres away. It ratchets the tension up considerably knowing that the park staff are desperately trying to get people to safety (whilst also not alarming them in the fear that the press with catch wind of the situation and the park will be permanently closed), all whilst park security and private militaries engage in battle just minutes away from them.
However, my suspension of disbelief only goes so far, and I found myself regularly unable to immerse myself in Jurassic World because of the lack of safety protocols the park seems to have. It’s kind of stupid when I say it out loud, and I almost feel like I’m nit-picking…but the fact that there is no contingency plan for if a dinosaur escapes its enclosure to me seems like a massive oversight in the planning of the park and simply wouldn’t happen. There’s no evacuation procedure, there’s no override features on any of the park’s attractions to return guests to safety, some of the most dangerous attractions are situated directly next to the main promenade of the park. Whilst for the sake of making an action film I can understand why these decisions were made, but it also took me right out of the experience because all I could think of is why was there no plan in place for this kind of situation? Because in real life there would have needed to have been plans outlined for the park to even be able to open, and each new exhibit would necessitate the need for a new plan.
To some that may feel like nit picking, but to me it was a genuine immersion breaker…but moving on. What about the action? As I previously mentioned Jurassic World goes for the darker and more violent approach to its action as opposed to the original Jurassic Park’s more family friendly approach. This is likely an adjustment with the times as entertainment has gotten significantly more violent over the years, however the cruelty of the violence in Jurassic World has always caused some level of controversy. A lot of people die in this film, and almost all of them haven’t done anything to warrant as gruesome deaths as they receive. Realistic? Probably. But necessary? Probably not. The most well-known example is that of Claire’s assistant, Zara (Katie McGrath). Zara gets swarmed by Pterosaurs who play with her by repeatedly lifting her up and dropping her into the Mosasaurus lake, before eventually having both her and a Pterosaur devoured by the Mosasaurus. It’s an extremely distressing scene, and whilst such a nasty death could be forgiven for a villainous character, she’s done nothing wrong in this film other than allowing Claire’s nephews Zach & Gray (Nick Robinson & Ty Simpkins) to slip away from her when she wasn’t looking.
Zara is just one in a long line of victims that become dino-chow, and whilst the setting is appropriate for that, it’s often the way Jurassic World chooses to frame the violence that can leave a bad taste in your mouth. Filling a park full of people to be cannon fodder for when the dinosaurs get loose was never going to retain that family friendly nature the same way Jurassic Park portrayed its more violent scenes in 1993, but it does start to call into question a studio’s fixation on often bloody violence in what should be a family friendly film.
Jurassic World looks awesome though. Seeing an expanded and improved version of Hammond’s park up and running is truly a sight to behold. Environments are gorgeous, and the shots are very specifically designed to give you a sense of wonder, or a sense of nostalgia at every possible moment. It riffs on the 1993 film so much for its visuals that it does hit you right in the childhood, but it does so rather tastefully which is a surprise for a big, glossy, Hollywood reboot.
The dinosaurs also look fantastic. I mean the Jurassic Park films have always had great animal designs for both the CGI and animatronic dino’s and Jurassic World is no exception. The evolution from JPIII to Jurassic World is night and day, and Industrial Light and Magic have truly provided some of the most realistic looking and moving dinosaurs ever seen on the big screen.
John Williams’ score for the original Jurassic Park was also a huge highlight and I feel that Michael Giacchino does a good job of paying homage to Williams’ score but also making it grander in scale to match the larger scale of Jurassic World.
Is Jurassic Park a good film? Yes. Is it a good sequel? Yes. Is it perfect? Far from it. Jurassic World is the best sequel to Jurassic Park yet thanks to it being bigger and with more teeth, but without losing sight of what made the original Jurassic Park so beloved. Though I certainly have issues with some of the finer details of the plot, and the at times unnecessary violence, on the whole Jurassic World is a fun time for the whole family. If you’re going to reboot a franchise you could certainly do worse than Jurassic World, and it leaves the franchise in a good place going forwards.
Zara is just one in a long line of victims that become dino-chow, and whilst the setting is appropriate for that, it’s often the way Jurassic World chooses to frame the violence that can leave a bad taste in your mouth. Filling a park full of people to be cannon fodder for when the dinosaurs get loose was never going to retain that family friendly nature the same way Jurassic Park portrayed its more violent scenes in 1993, but it does start to call into question a studio’s fixation on often bloody violence in what should be a family friendly film.
Jurassic World looks awesome though. Seeing an expanded and improved version of Hammond’s park up and running is truly a sight to behold. Environments are gorgeous, and the shots are very specifically designed to give you a sense of wonder, or a sense of nostalgia at every possible moment. It riffs on the 1993 film so much for its visuals that it does hit you right in the childhood, but it does so rather tastefully which is a surprise for a big, glossy, Hollywood reboot.
The dinosaurs also look fantastic. I mean the Jurassic Park films have always had great animal designs for both the CGI and animatronic dino’s and Jurassic World is no exception. The evolution from JPIII to Jurassic World is night and day, and Industrial Light and Magic have truly provided some of the most realistic looking and moving dinosaurs ever seen on the big screen.
John Williams’ score for the original Jurassic Park was also a huge highlight and I feel that Michael Giacchino does a good job of paying homage to Williams’ score but also making it grander in scale to match the larger scale of Jurassic World.
Is Jurassic Park a good film? Yes. Is it a good sequel? Yes. Is it perfect? Far from it. Jurassic World is the best sequel to Jurassic Park yet thanks to it being bigger and with more teeth, but without losing sight of what made the original Jurassic Park so beloved. Though I certainly have issues with some of the finer details of the plot, and the at times unnecessary violence, on the whole Jurassic World is a fun time for the whole family. If you’re going to reboot a franchise you could certainly do worse than Jurassic World, and it leaves the franchise in a good place going forwards.