Movie Thoughts: Jurassic World (2015)

• Released: June 12, 2015
  
• Directed by: Colin Trevorrow
  
• Running time: 2 h 4 min
• Rating 4/5

Synopsis

The dinosaur park is finally open, however trouble arises when a genetic hybrid dinosaur escapes and wreaks havoc among the other animals and park guests. The current park operations manager and a raptor trainer will have to come together in order to try and stop it.

My Thoughts

Say whatever you want, I genuinely still think this is the best Jurassic movie after the original Park. I have seen both sequels in the original trilogy and didn't particularly like either of them, they were just okay. But this start of a new trilogy is genuinely what I liked.

It's really a breath of fresh air because for the first time we actually get to see the park open and operating. It genuinely looks like a place rich people would visit for their amusement (let's face it, entry to this park is probably expensive as hell). We get to see various enclosures, projects that are undertaken with the dinosaurs, park shows and attractions; it overall feels like a complete park. 

The human characters are arguably pretty weak, but we do still get some good moments out of them. I do like how Owen has this semi-bond with the raptors that doesn't keep them completely in control but does mean that they follow his orders to a certain extent. Claire has some decent moments with her nephews and Owen, but I will admit that the human cast in this feels very stock-y and not the most thought-out. However, the entertainment value of the movie is still very high.

The whole concept about hybrids I've always been pretty lukewarm about as the Inodraptor doesn't look all that unique, kind of just like a a generic white theropod. It does have some cool abilities, but overall I feel like having a hybrid just wasn't necessary to the story. The other dinosaur designs aren't scientifically accurate, anyways, so why bother with this excessive hybrid nonsense?

But the movie has a lot of good to make up for it. Great action scenes that may be a bit goofy (looking at you, Claire outrunning a T-rex on high heels) and over the top, but it works. The final showdown between the raptors, T-rex and Idominus was pretty dang cool and overall I just like the overall movie a whole lot.

I will say that I'm still a little disappointed with how little practical effects they used, like at some points it even feels like they animated over the animatronics. But overall it does look pretty dang good, albeit not as good as the recently released Dominion.

Now that I've reviewed the entire World trilogy, I feel like I deserve a cookie for doing it in the exact wrong order (first movie two, then movie three and now movie one).