A few weeks ago, Mad Max: Fury Road became the fourth entry in a 30-year old franchise, “continuing” the story set up all those years ago. I don’t think it is necessary for me to tell you just how much The Best Fury Road actually is, but in case you’ve been living under a rock (in a dead, post-apocalyptic desert-world) for the past few weeks, I’ll say this: It is very much The Best. Fast forward to today, and we have Jurassic World, the fourth movie in a 14-year-old franchise, trying to “continue” the story set up all those years ago. While the promotional material made me cringe, laugh, and shake my head, the end result ruined a perfectly fine subtitle I had in mind for this review, “more like… Jurassic Worst”, because it’s not the worst. In fact, it’s rather average.
I revisited Jurassic Park and The Lost World earlier this week for the first time since I was 10 or 11 years old, and while I still loved the original movie, the second one which I couldn’t even remember much off was a let down. I don’t think anyone needs to revisit the third one, though I do like it more than most. However apathetic I was towards Jurassic World pre-screening, I’m surprised to say this may be the second best in the franchise. It’s fun and thrilling at times, but it lacks the sense of wonder and awe we found in the first movie(s). Instead, it sets its focus on the tired and dull, feeling more like the most recent Godzilla movie than an aspiring dinosaur-adventure.
Jurassic World
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Release Date: June 12, 2015
Rated: PG-13
Jurassic World is set twenty-two years after the events in the first movie, and takes us back to Isla Nublar, now a fully functioning dinosaur theme park. It’s been running successfully for years, but now visitor rates are declining because, as Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire puts it, “no one is impressed by dinosaurs anymore.” This short, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it piece of dialogue sets up the entire movie, from narrative to structure and concept. Because, on a narrative level, no one cares about dinosaurs anymore, a new attraction has to be revealed: a genetically-modified super-dinosaur! But as one can imagine, this super-dinosaur decides to break free and eat a lot of people. On a structural level, the fact that no one cares about dinosaurs anymore, allows director, Colin Trevorrow to make this movie without indulging in the inherent awe-inspiring nature of dinosaurs. Conceptually, as I said above, it speaks volumes about Jurassic World as a genre movie. The film is less related to its predecessors, but more so a close cousin to the modern high-concept monster-disaster movies.
The plot is simple, but I didn’t expect – nor want – anything else. Two young boys (Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson) arrive at Isla Nublar to experience the theme park in all its functioning glory, while Chris Pratt loves and respects his Raptors because he’s just that chill and awesome and cool, and everyone loves Chris Pratt – even Raptors, which the previous Jurassic movies always said were the most dangerous dinosaurs of all. Even an uptight businesswoman like Claire has a soft spot for Chris Pratt, and she doesn’t even want kids, nor does she know how old her nephews are, so you know she’s an uptight businesswoman, because… character development.
This was my biggest concern going in, and unsurprisingly, it is my biggest fault with the movie as a whole. The characters are so poorly written and developed, it’s almost offensive to the cast. There’s no nicer way to put it, sadly. It’s a real shame to see talented individuals like Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Jake Johnson go to waste, because they’re given nothing to work with here. They’re all caricatures, stripped down to the most simplistic and banal. The worst has to be Bryce Dallas Howard, who I actually feel bad for. Dallas Howard is a nuanced and versatile actress, but any and all of her talent is tossed aside by the screenwriters. It’s not exclusively lazy character development either, but rather the fact that she’s created as she is to contrast and support the free-spirited nature of Chris Pratt’s Owen. And of course Owen will change Claire “for the better” throughout the movie, because any business-focused woman who doesn’t want children is an inherently bad person, and needs a man to change her. However bad that is, both Chris Pratt and Jake Johnson still managed to charm me from time to time, but that’s only because Chris Pratt and Jake Johnson are my charming man-crushes, not because the movie does them any favors.
But let’s talk positives: The movie is fun and action packed, and Chris Pratt is charming as hell. As soon as the super-dinosaur escapes and starts eating people, the movie gains a lot of points. I was really cynical about the idea of a genetically-modified dinosaur before seeing the movie, but I’ll happily eat my own words of cynicism and criticism if it means a better movie, which is the case here. Having the big baddie be GM allowed for a lot of creative freedom to come up with and construct quite a few fun and original action set pieces. I’m always hesitant to say too much, but the so-called Idominus Rex has a few tricks up his sleeve (Disclaimer: Although the Idominus Rex has longer arms than the T-Rex, it does not have actual sleeves.)
Mr. Idominus Rex takes a stroll across the island, eating anyone who comes in its way. At one point he smashes through a huge aviary, allowing a flock of pterosaurs to fly wild across the island killing people. There is one scene, in this PG-13 movie, that albeit bloodless, is pure torture porn and really shocked me. Sadly, not in a good way. The rest of the pterosaur-attack is fresh and fun however, as the scary winged creatures has been sorely missing from the previous movies – save a few strange minutes in the third movie. As the conclusion comes closer, the humans, dinosaurs, and the super-dinosaur converge at the central plaza of the theme park, and it becomes a full-fledged Godzilla movie. It’s grandiose and fun, but it’s a formula that’s been done to death, and Jurassic World adds nothing new to it. For those who want to see a simple, mindless monster-flick, I think this conclusion will satisfy, but for those wishing for something more, it lacks a lot.
Even with all its problems, there’s a lot to like about Jurassic World. The scenes with the Idominus Rex in the wilderness are unique as far as dinosaurs killing things go and fun to watch. It’s surprisingly well choreographed, and luckily, the CGI isn’t terrible. There was a lot of talk about the CGI and its lack of detail in recent months, but it’s clear that they’ve spent some time trying to fix it. While it still isn’t the best, it seems more alive and works much better with its environment than we saw in the trailers – especially the fish-tank-dinosaur. However, as someone who always want CGI to be a last resort – a way for a director to enhance the practical – it is too obvious at times. It doesn’t help the movie that we’ve been spoiled by George Miller and Mad Max: Fury Road recently, but for what it’s worth, Jurassic World does well with what it has.
In the end, I think Jurassic World will split the audience. There’s no doubt in my mind that tons and tons of people will love it, but I’m equally sure tons of people will dislike it. I fall in the middle. I found its venture into monster-flick-territory somewhat boring, judged by what it is – and not what I wanted it to be – it does its job decently. In a post-Fury Road effects and Godzilla-monster world, however, it doesn’t reach those highs. Far from it.
