"Jurassic World" (2015)

I scanned this movie a year back. I had no idea what the project was but saw some really cool footage. A lot of random shots in Hawaii. I found out later it was the latest Jurassic park movie.

The movie is pretty good. It’s weird because movies go through a lot of visual FX, color and edits. It felt familiar. Finally having seen the movie, the effort was really good. Obviously there is very little in terms of wonder the first one had. In fact, they address it directly. Dinosaurs aren’t what they use to be.

The story is about a couple who send their kids to hang with their cool but career driven aunt played by Bryce Dallas Howard. She is about to release the ultra-hip new hybrid dinosaur. Why? Because every year needs to be bigger, badder and up to date. And she’s just the business minded bitch to get things done.

I found this to be indicative of movies in general. The “old” is no longer good enough. People want the latest and greatest. And so, by pushing the envelope, of course it can only go wrong. Yes, we know where it goes. It’s the same path and nothing new. BUT, it does just what you want. And it has fun moments. A set up even is very similar to a scene from “Aliens.” They pair her up with Chris Pratt, a raptor trainer. This concept could’ve been the downfall, but it actually turned out to be actually effective due to Pratt’s performance. He’s very earnest.

Personally, this is what summer movies are about. I was reminded of the original “Jurassic Park.” A ride. And though it goes to levels of eye rolls…for the most part, this movie is a crowd pleaser. There are things that do suffer. The movie seems to run out of gas towards the end. And it feels as if we’re missing scenes. For instance, the corporate shill, played by Vincent D’Onofrio has a subplot with weaponized raptors. We get it. What we don’t know much about is why. He is the Wayne Knight, so driven by monetary potential. Except, they don’t address the tragedy that was Jurassic Park’s fiasco. They do mention it in passing, but it flies by. In the scheme of the Jurassic franchise, I consider this to be 2^nd next to the original. I think it comes down to whether or not we like the people in these movies. “The Lost World” was so slap dash and messy. The third one was confusing. A family gets lost in a nearby island next to the original Jurassic Park, so they recruit Sam Neill to help them find them. They tried to inject the feeling back, but was really a pale comparison as it was missing that chemistry with Laura Dern’s character (which only appears in the beginning). This one is all about the new brand. We establish new characters and I really like them.

The audience I watched it with, had a great time. The laughs were in place. The screams and reaction at the appropriate place. And a few that I laughed but seemed to go over the head of the crowd. This movie needs to be seen with a big group of people. It’s the start of the summer.

UPDATE: "Jurassic World" is tipping towards the 200 million mark over weekend. Crazy.