7/10

We return to the park of the world’s first extinct creatures, 22 years after the original classic, in “Jurassic World”. In this installment, the dinosaurs now belong to a fully functioning theme park, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new dinosaur attraction is genetically manufactured to re-spark visitor’s interest. When it backfires horribly, the workers of the park race to minimize the damage and save the everyday visitors of the park. Jurassic World might lack the suspenseful climax’s of the Spielberg original, but it more than makes up for it in continuing magic in the CGI field, as well as social satire on the root of money being the evil that embraces even the most terrible of all ideas. To me, this film was the sequel that all fans deserved after one of the most innovative films of the 90’s. The film does juggle a lot of side plots, but it’s very carefully paced along a 1 hour and 55 minute roller coaster that above everything else was just a fun popcorn flick. One of the things that worried me after seeing the film’s first trailer months ago was the believability of a mother who sends her children to a park known for it’s horrifying accidents. While that problem may still be there, the film chooses to embrace how ridiculous that sounds with many comparisons to today’s zoo’s and the way we hold our most exotic creatures prisoners. It all results in a cash grab among our own human concerns, and the film requires it’s audience to stop and soak that desire in. The casting was solid enough, but i do wish the supporting characters were more than just a one-note villainous stereotype. Characters (and dinosaurs even) change attitudes at the drop of a hat, and i wish the script focused a little more on adding the necessary layers to make me feel empathy towards their portrayals. It makes for a bit of predictability at a time when the film could really choose to shock and awe it’s audience into making some chase scenes more than just a cliche. That’s not to say that Chris Pratt doesn’t make the most of his role. His scenes serve as the best parts of the film, and that is mainly because of everyman Pratt’s sarcastic delivery against the characters who know less than he does. This film definitely opened the eyes of what little doubters are left that this character can’t do Indiana Jones justice. One scene i did enjoy was a call back to the original park featured in the 1993 original. The scene serves as kind of a watching of classic memories on VHS for anyone who was growing up when Jurassic Park made the world feel it’s roar. It’s all a touching moment that i didn’t want to see go. The aerial shots of the park and it’s surrounding attractions establish a sentimental charm of nostalgia that will be hard to ignore for any fan of the original films. Overall, i think Jurassic World is the second best film of the franchise, and serves as a more than acceptable sequel for such a polarizing shadow. It’s a movie for the escapist in all of us, and it shows us to just sit back relax and enjoy a movie without all of the standards. The park is back open and it will never be the same again.