Jurassic World

Remember watching “Jurassic Park” for the first time and you had this unbelievable feeling of awe? Well, if you want that feeling again… go watch “Jurassic Park” again. At this point, I have seen the “Jurassic World” twice (Once in 2D and another in 3D), not because I couldn't wait to see it again… but more because, “Was this really what I have been waiting for since 2001?”. Unfortunately, it’s going to be easier to list what was wrong with the movie opposed to what is right with the movie.

The movie opens with a scene of 2 eggs hatching; it’s very sinister and interesting, it gives the movie a different feel than the previous 3 movies. It’s all downhill from now on. Before going to Jurassic World, we are setup with an unnecessary scenario of the parents getting a divorce and sending the kids away on this trip (this divorce is used so the kid can cry for about 30 seconds later in the movie). We arrive at the original island from “Jurassic Park” (Isla Nublar; one of ideas I liked going into the film). The park is now fully functioning with all the normal attractions you’d see at a typical theme park. This is something that I always wanted to see after seeing the original “Jurassic Park”, but for whatever reason… this isn't what I had in mind or ever wanted to see.

The park is now full of dinosaurs, so much that it’s no longer interesting to the viewer (maybe this is what they had in mind?), the dinosaurs no longer have the real life look. The first time you see the Brachiosaurus in “Jurassic Park” is an amazing scene, you feel almost as thrilled with the characters seeing the dinosaur. This does not exist in “Jurassic World”, not once was I blown away by seeing a dinosaur (again… maybe this is what they had in mind?). This may be the fact that all of its now CGI and it no longer has that practical real life look. Instead it looks like we’re watching a Lord of the Rings movie. Aside from the Dinosaurs, the park is over-run with advanced technology, technology that isn't seen in our everyday life. “Jurassic World” has holograms, advanced touchscreen monitors and driving gyrospheres. Normally, I wouldn't have any issues with this, except another part of what made the original work so well, was how believable they made the park. It felt like something you could actually see in everyday life. Having Jurassic World overrun with the advanced technology completely removed it from a possible reality. My biggest fear going in was the rumored “Tamed Raptors”, but in the end, they became the better part of the movie… which really isn't saying a whole lot.

The characters, this may be the most generic/boring part of the movie. Each character is an exaggerated cliché of what this type of person is supposed to be. We have the disconnected teenager who loves staring at girls in the park, the annoying younger brother who says things like “I can’t wait to tell mom about this!” during a dinosaur attack/chase, the business woman who cares too much about her busy job to connect with her nephews (don’t worry, she learns to love them by the end), and of course the raptor tamer who is full of tough guy one liners. I don’t feel that this is the fault of the actor, it looked as if they were doing the best they could with bad writing.

The story itself, wasn't awful, but wasn't intriguing from the start. “Jurassic Park” is great because these creatures really did exist at some point in time. Jurassic World takes that away by creating a hybrid that never existed. The movie had a way of constantly apologizing for what it was showing the viewer. The product placement was excessive, but they made it “okay” by having a character showing awareness of the parks product placement. The original park was referenced about how it didn't need all the flash that Jurassic World now has and our raptor trainer points out how unnecessary creating a hybrid dinosaur really is. With the director so obviously aware of this being one of the many downfalls of the movie, it makes you wonder why it had to be.

In the end, this movie just made me realize that I love “Jurassic Park” so much more and it can never be recreated. Also… it made me like “The Lost World: Jurassic Park”… and it’s very hard for me to like that movie.