The
long-awaited fourth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise is here and has
set its sights on resurrecting the near-extinct legacy of the original. While
that first film was pretty much flawless, the sequels never matched up; the
second revolved around the boring and one-note Dr. Ian Malcolm (utilised well
as comic relief in the first, but should never have been more than that), and
the third had a dream sequence with a talking Velociraptor. Yeah.
So,
was making Jurassic World a great idea, like creating genetically enhanced
dinosaurs, or a terrible idea, like creating genetically enhanced dinosaurs?
1.
Protagonist(s)
Chris
Pratt (who’s character is called Owen Grady – but I don’t remember actually
hearing anyone call him it) is, as usual, great. His character is immediately
likeable but also very disctinct from Star-Lord; Owen is a lot more practical
and pragmatic while still retaining the charm and humour. He is also part of
what is quite possibly the coolest shot of any movie ever: Chris Pratt riding a
motorcycle through the forest with a gun on his back and with a pack of
Velociraptors in tow.
Franchise-killer
Bryce Dallas Howard (see: Spider-Man 3 and Terminator Salvation) plays Claire:
the coordinator of Jurassic World and Aunt of the two visiting brothers, Zach and
Gray. While she initially is concerned mainly with managing theme park filled
with prehistoric monsters, and decides to palm the kids off on an assistant
(which somehow is disappointing to the kids, who I assume didn’t see Jurassic
Park and don’t know how easy it is for things to go wrong), the character is
every bit as worthy of the spotlight as Owen. She steps up when the kids are in
danger and is proactive in trying to contain the threat of the Indominus Rex.
Both
characters meet the Jurassic Park standard, and thankfully neither suffer from
plot-induced stupidity to force the story into gear.
1 Mark
2.
Antagonist(s)
The
Indominus Rex is amazing. Not only does it look the best design-wise and CGI-wise
out of anything in the movie, it is probably the most threatening and vicious
dino-antagonist of any of the Jurassic park films. Thanks to being genetically
spliced from a number of creatures, this dinosaur has a bunch of abilities
which make it near impossible to stop and leads to a host of briliantly
conceived action scenes and plot twists, including the way it escapes from
containment and how it deals with being hunted by a pack of Raptors.
Vic
Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio – who was also a fantastic villain in Marvel’s Daredevil) wants to take Owen’s trained Velociraptors and turn them into a
weapon for the military. When the Indominus Rex-induced shitstorm begins,
Hoskins sees an opportunity; he brings in his own team of soldiers to help deal
with the threat and prove that the Raptors can be used in conjunction with a
human military squadron. After seeing the carnage the Indominus Rex is capable
of, his plan takes an even more ambitious turn which puts him at odds with the
protagonists even moreso than before. I would comment on D’Onofrio’s
performance, but I don’t need to – he’s Vincent D’Onofrio.
1 Mark
3.
Secondary Characters
Every
actor does a great job – special mention to BD Wong, reprising his role as Dr
Henry Wu from the original, and Ifran Khan, apparently reprising his role as success-driven-sciency-businessman
from The Amazing Spider-Man. Oh, and also the T-Rex, reprising its role as ‘Oh
my God, that T-Rex just battered a pack of Velociraptors’ from the original.
But
now to the worst part of any Jurassic Park film, the kid characters. They were
actually fine, believe it or not. The younger brother (played by Ty Simpkins,
Iron Man 3) was suitably excieteable and suprisingly inoffensive, and I’m
actually ok with the fact he was not mauled to death, which is saying a lot for
a kid from one of these films.
The
older brother, however? Wanted him dead. Didn’t like him from the opening
scene, where he’s just an exagerrated moody teen, and I didn’t like him as the
movie progressed. He’s either staring at girls like a creep even though he’s
already got a girlfriend at home, or he’s telliing his younger brother, who’s
trying to have a great time looking at DINOSAURS, to shut up.
You
know what? YOU SHUT UP.
I
assume we weren’t meant to like him, and the events of the film were a sort of
redemtption story arc from being a prick – which I suppose they succeeded in
because he did step up and keep his brother alive.
Still
a dick-head though.
1 Mark
4.
Plot
The
plot is your basic Jurassic Park plot – a bunch of people visit an island
populated by dinosaurs and things go bad. That said, this film does it better
than either of the last two films – and a plot doesn’t have to be complex to be
good.
The
idea behind this film is that all the kinks have been ironed out and the park
has been operational for a number of years. Due to people getting a bit ‘meh’
with seeing dinosaurs roaming about (a comparison to how audiences felt towards
Jurassic Park 3?), they decide to unveil a new attraction: the Indominux Rex –
or as Youtube Reviewer Jeremy Jahns dubbed it, the HolyShitasaurus. The only
problem is it’s a bit too well designed, leading to a clever escape and a ton
of mayhem.
As
soon as we get to the island and all the main characters are introduced, there’s
not a moment of boredom; you can feel the tension rising even in seemingly
inconsequential scenes, due to way the characters interact. Once the action
kicks off, the plot keeps moving forward effectively, rather than resorting to
just an hour of dinosaurs fighting.
1 Mark
5.
Action
While
there was some iffy CGI throughout (what happened to mixing Visual Effects with
Animatronics, like the original?), on the whole the action was as good as you
could get from a modern Jurassic Park film.
The
scenes where the abilities of the Indominus Rex were shown off were always
impressive, and made sense as the film went on and more information about its
creation was revealed. I won’t spoil what they are, because it adds to the
tension when you legitimately don’t know how it’s going to attack.
There
is a ‘lunatics take over the asylum’ section of the film which really stands
out and results in a number of horrific deaths (one in particular which I’ll
get to below), as does the sequence from the trailer where Chris Pratt leads
his pack of Raptors into the hunt for the Indominus Rex.
As
for the iffy CGI, a good example is when the Raptors have their heads in vices to
keep them stationary, so you’d have thought using an animatronic head would
have been ideal – all you’d have to do is move the eyes and make the mouth snarl
– but CGI was used.
The
final fight scene of the movie eradicates any nitpicks with some of the CGI,
though. Again, I won’t spoil it, but God damn…
1 Mark
6.
Drama
Even
though you know the kids won’t die, the films does well to convey that everyone
else is fair game. There are a fair few people who are killed who were just
innocent bystanders, including one particularly brutal and drawn out death,
which I won’t spoil but is usually the type of death reserved for a villain.
Speaking
of undeserved deaths, if you’ve seen the trailer you’ll know the Indominus Rex
goes on a killing spree, hunting for sport. There is a moment where Chris Pratt
and Bryce Dallas-Howard find a dinosaur who has been savaged and lies dying on
the ground and its probably the saddest part of the film.
Occasionally,
however, the tension is sometimes undermined. For example, when Chris Pratt is
desperately trying to convince the people in charge to evacuate the island, he
pushes a guy’s dinosaur toys off his desk in frustration, and the camera
lingers on the guy’s disappointed face. You know there's an unstoppable killing machine on the loose on your island full of people, right?
There’s
a few other moments like that, such as a slow-mo hero-Raptor entrance and a
‘you’re alright, kid’ head-nod moment between two dinosaurs toward the end as
well, which mean I can’t really award a full mark.
Half a Mark
7.
Comedy
Surprisingly
for a film starring Chris Pratt, there weren’t a lot of laugh out loud moments.
That isnt a bad thing, however, as too much emphasis on humour can sometimes
derail a film and detract from any sense of urgency in the plot – see Iron Man
3 for evidence of that. Unsurprisingly, however, it was Chris Pratt’s character
who had the the best comedic moments, even if he was used more subtly than in
Guardians of the Galaxy.
There
was also a great awkward moment between two of the control room workers as they
are being evacuated, as the male character volunteers to stay behind and
operate the computers in the apparent hope the female one will honour his
bravery with a kiss. It doesn’t have the typical Hollywood cliché outcome
though.
There
is a tiny bit of unintentional comedy as well; the older brother’s girlfriend
asks him (in person) to her ‘pics’ from the island. I’m pretty sure no-one says
‘send me pics’ unless its over text. This moment repeats itself when Bryce
Dallas-Howard’s character is on the phone to her sister and accuses her of
‘using Mom’s langs’. What? Who says ‘you’re using Mom’s langs’? They’re two
grown women in their mid-thirties. Langs? Come on!
Although
there were those few strange moments and not a lot of obvious comedy, the film
used moments of levity well enough to balance out the action and tension.
And
Chris Pratt is in it, so full mark awarded.
1 Mark
8.
Romance
Unless
you count a reference to one previous ill-fated date, and one kiss after
avoiding being ripped to shreds, there was no romance.
I’m
even tempted to give a -1 Mark for
the older brother chatting up girls even though, again, he already has a
girlfriend at home.
Dick-head.
No Mark
9.
Pacing
Although
the majority of the film is well-paced, with a good balance between the human
characters and the dinosaurs, I feel that the opening ten –to-fifteen minutes
could have been cut completely. We didn’t need to see the two kids being driven
to the airport – why not just start the film from the shot of them riding the
tube to the gates of the park with with the theme building as they get closer
to the giant doors? The information lost by cutting out the scenes before that
(the fact the kids are related to Bryce Dallas-Howard’s character, for example)
is already relayed in later scenes anyway, so you’d lose nothing and get into
the good stuff quicker.
And
speaking of the good stuff, Chris Pratt’s character could have been introduced
earlier or at least have been built up a bit more before being called in –
considering the film’s entire ad-campaign was based around him.
Once
the uneccessary opening ten/fifteen minutes are done with though, the pacing is
solid and you never see so much of the Indominus Rex that you get bored of it,
like how the Spinosaurus was overused in Jurassic Park 3.
And
just for the record, there’s no way that Spinosaurus should have beaten the
T-Rex in that film.
Get out of here with that nonsense.
Half a Mark
10. Re-watch-ability
While the first ten or so minutes is a chore, the rest of
the film is everything a Jurassic Park sequel should be; tense, fun, touching
and grandiose. The odd bit of iffy CGI is easy to overlook (how many films have truly flawless
CGI? Only one: Sharktopus), and the Indominus Rex is never boring.
To be honest, I’d pay full price just to watch the scenes of
Chris Pratt and Velociraptors on a loop.
1 Mark
Overall, Jurassic World is easily the second best movie of
the franchise. I’d maybe even say I preferred the human characters in this
movie to the original, The Indominus Rex is possibly the best antagonist of the
franchise as a whole and the tension and humour were well balanced. There was
the occasional bit of obvious CGI, a slow opening and a handful of moments that
could have been handled better, but this film is a worthy successor to Steven
Spielberg’s original.
Final Score: 8/10
