As of yesterday, I have watched Jurassic World twice, so I figured I should probably write a review for it, because my GOD is it good!
Jurassic World is the fourth film in the Jurassic Park franchise, and has been a long time in the making. Originally, a fourth film was supposed to be made in 2004, but was scrapped for many reasons, but following the sad death of Richard Attenborough, the actor who played park owner John Hammond, Jurassic World was commissioned in his honour. Fans of the original three films have been hesitant to see what this film could bring to the franchise, scared it would be a giant flop that wrecked the magic of the trilogy.
Let me tell you, they have nothing to fear. Jurassic World is possibly the best film of the franchise, and not just because of the new special effects. The story line is better, the dinosaurs are better, it's like everything got stepped up a notch and got kicked into hyper drive, creating the incredible film that is Jurassic World.
So what exactly happens in this film? Is it the same as the previous three? Dinosaurs get loose, people get eaten, hero saves the day? Well, yes, but what else is Jurassic Park for? The dinosaurs aren't going to win, the film also isn't going to be a family visiting to the park, having a lovely time without a single hitch. These films are about the park failing, people getting eaten in gory ways and well, cool dinosaurs. The franchise has never strayed from that, and I doubt it ever will, it's what it does best, and it's what people love.
Yet, even though it's a similar story line to the first three, this one is different. Things such as the fact that the park is working at the beginning of the film, has been since 2005, and business is booming. Thousands of people flock to Jurassic World every day to see the dinosaurs, and nothing has gone wrong yet.
Until the scientists make a bigger, scarier dinosaur to keep the people coming in. They've created the Indomonous Rex (if that's how you spell it, let's just say it's scary in 3d and 2d) a dinosaur bigger than a T-Rex, created specifically to be bigger, scarier and to 'have more teeth.' And what happens when it's eight weeks away from being revealed to the public? It gets loose, breaks out of it's cage and causes havoc! People are eaten, dinosaurs are killed, yet more dinosaurs are set loose to try and take this thing down. Nothing is taking it down, and it's up to Owen (Chris Pratt) to save the park and figure out how to stop this monster from destroying everything.
Now I can't tell you much about how they stop the rampage, who lives or who dies, what other beasties come into play (you can probably guess though, it's Jurassic Park we're on about) but I can say this: the final showdown is incredible. The dinosaur attacks are fantastic. And overall this film is just plain amazing. I loved every single second. I laughed, I cheered, I nearly hid behind my best friend in fear in several places. Jurassic World doesn't pull it's punches, it's a thrill ride from the first second, without straying too far from the original trilogy.
References to it's predecessors are peppered throughout, some of the old tropes are back (as in, children screaming, everyone gets covered in mud etc) without making the film feel like a throwback. This is without a doubt a homage to the original trilogy, but doesn't seem like it's trying too hard to recapture the magic, it just does it effortlessly.
From beginning to end, this film grips you and takes you on a thrill ride that only Jurassic Park can do, while making you fall in love with dinosaurs all over again. I've seen it twice now, and I can't wait to own the DVD to watch repeatedly in the comfort of my own home,
If you get the chance, go and watch Jurassic World, it is without a doubt one of the best films coming out this year. And don't forget, if you see a dinosaur, run.