[Movie Review] Dinosaurs Rule ‘Jurassic World’
Genetically engineered dinosaurs live once again at the ultimate theme park for thrill seekers who have seen it all in the sequel Jurassic World, a fun ride that reminds viewers why we all fell in love with the original Jurassic Park 23 years ago.
A new threat has bite in ‘Jurassic World’.
There are plenty of awe-inspiring special effects and computer generated imagery (CGI) to make this new breed of prehistoric giants look more realistic than ever, which is pretty much exactly what the original film in the franchise did in 1993, a time when CGI was just starting to take over big budget filmmaking.
Given that every week brings a new CGI-laced blockbuster spectacle to theaters these days, producing that all important “awe” in audiences is an impressive feat in itself.
Inheriting the movie series from Steven Spielberg (who directed the first two films) and Joe Johnston (who directed the third), Colin Trevorrow pays fitting homage to some of the classic motifs of moviegoers’ original trip to the Park, but goes further in finally delivering what was only suggested originally.
Bryce Dallas Howard comes face to face with the Indominus Rex in ‘Jurassic World’.
Indeed, we finally get a satisfying look inside the theme park that was but a dream of its creator in the first film, now fully open and operational, a major tourist destination about to unveil its newest attraction.
That new addition is a terrifying hybrid of all the meanest, hungriest dinosaurs the scientists have cloned and brought back to life so far, given the foreboding name of “Indominus Rex”. I won’t spoil everything that makes this new super-mutant-dino so special, but it is both scary and believably the next step that the corporate park owners would take to keep audiences excited.
Dinosaurs roam again in ‘Jurassic World’.
Hot of his star making lead role in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy last year, Chris Pratt is a likable employee of the park, known to his coworkers as sort of a dino-whisperer who can communicate with a trio of deadly velociraptors, the small but smart meat eaters that were the villains of the first film.
Bryce Dallas Howard is the high strung boss lady of Jurassic World, who soon enough gets more up close and personal with her biggest draws than she ever planned, as she is forced, high heels and all, to go rescue her two young nephews whose futuristic tour vehicle is quickly destroyed after the cranky Indominus predictably escapes its cage and starts wreaking havoc.
Bryce Dallas Howard meets the dinosaurs of Jurassic World.
There is a slightly hinted at backstory involving the strained marriage of the young brothers’ parents, making their eventual bonding while trying to survive that much more meaningful, and there’s a romantic history between Pratt and Howard’s characters, but this movie is all about reminding us just how awesome, majestic, and dangerous the dinosaurs that once ruled this Earth truly are.
With enough nods to the Spielberg’s classic, this new trip to the ultimate Jurassic park takes what worked two decades ago, splices in some of today’s technology, and unleashes an exciting, wild thrill ride worth taking in Jurassic World.
Official Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by: Matt Artz
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Jurassic World (rated PG13) is now playing at R/C KDH Movies 10 in Kill Devil Hills.
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