Jurassic World

Let me first say that I went into this movie knowing it wouldn't live up to the first movie and after all, how could it? The first Jurassic Park is one of the greatest movies ever made and to hold this movie to that standard would be unfair and only leave me disappointed and frustrated. I knew from this movie's previews and current Hollywood trends that this movie would overwhelm me with CGI, most likely at the expense of the characters and the story. So with all that in mind, here it goes.

Directing: Who the hell is Colin Trevorrow and how did he get this job?

The most glaring flaws in this movie could have been prevented had someone with more experience directing than a few shorts and one independent film been at the helm. From the incredibly painful to watch and headache inducing close-ups to the very rushed pacing of this film (especially in the first ten minutes) Trevorrow's inexperience as a director was glaringly evident. Without holding Trevorrow to the impossible standard of Steven Spielberg who has proven himself to be one of the greatest directors of all time, there was several areas where this movie proved too momentous a task for him. No failure was greater than the overabundance of close-ups which I can only assume were an attempt at creating intimacy between the audience and the characters/dinosaurs, but instead left an audience reaching for an aspirin. Worse than the headaches, however, was the effect they had on the visual presentation of the movie, especially the dinosaurs. Part of what made the first movie great was the suspense that was built by NOT SEEING THE DINOSAURS. Most who have seen Jurassic Park probably don't realize that the actual screen time of the dinosaurs is limited to only 15 minutes. What Spielberg realized with the first film is that the moments of anticipation (the puddle of water rippling, the snapping of the wired fence, the turning of the door handle from the raptor's claw) are just as exciting as actually seeing the dinosaurs. While we saw some of the this in the new movie, such as the claw marks on the wall and the realization that the Indominus Rex was still in its cage, for the most part Jurassic World relied on close-ups visuals of dinosaurs and action scenes to entertain its audience, rather than suspense. Because the audience's attention was forcibly zoomed in on so many shots, it also meant that there was a lack of grandeur that only panoramic shots such as the first introduction of the Brachiosaurus in the first film can provide. Yes people want to see dinosaurs but part of the what makes the dinosaurs appealing isn't just their destructive capabilities but also the wonder that seeing such magnificent creatures creates. I would argue the first Brachiosaurus scene in the first film is every bit as powerful as the famed scene where the T-Rex attacks the Jeeps.

While a movie is the product of a team of people, it is the director who is ultimately responsible for the feel of the film and the techniques that are used to facilitate that director's style. This director seemed like he couldn't decided between whether he was making a suspense/action/thriller or a superhero movie.

Characters:

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the main character in this film: Owen. I have not seen Guardians of the Galaxy and therefore Chris Pratt was new to me. He gave a balanced performance without being overly dramatic or cheesy. The same could be said for the boys who seemed natural in their roles and I give credit to Trevorrow here for not making them too helpless but also not exaggerating their realistically limited contributions in the face of the dinosaurs as was done with the girl in Lost World (gymnastics to take out a raptor?  Yeesh). Claire's character ironically became more whiny and forced as she progressed from a naive semi-antagonist to someone who appreciated and respected the dinosaurs. Overall the main characters were the most pleasant surprise of this film.

The secondary characters were, unfortunately, not nearly as strong as the main characters. While at times Ryan, aka New Girl's Jake Johnson, provided comic relief, the rest of the characters were not the least bit compelling. I find it hard to believe that anyone watching could really feel anger, disgust, or dislike towards Henry Wu or Hoskins. These recycled cliches of a doctor/military person who narrow-mindedly abuses research for the sake of power they don't appreciate or understand have been exhausted to the point of boredom. Wu's character was left unresolved (sequel anyone?) while Hoskins was killed the most boring and predictable way possible (at the hands of the same raptor that he didn't respect and thought from the beginning that he could control - who didn't see that coming?). Neither of these characters incited more than a yawn from me and I felt nothing at the death of Hoskins. Compare this with the characters like Dennis Nedry or Robert Muldoon from the first film, both of whose deaths were well done, clever, and left you feeling justice was done to Nedry and sad at the loss of Robert. Malcolm, Mr. Arnold, John Hammond, and even Genaro (man killed on toilet) all had distinct roles to play and this along with the interactions with other characters and the park made them an interesting vehicle for the story. You cared about them and when they died you were upset, unlike the multiple squads of park security in Jurassic World whose only seems to show us how effectively dinosaurs could kills. While I acknowledge there is great entertainment value in seeing dinosaurs eat people, the assistant's death being the best in this film IMO, those deaths are all the more compelling when you have a reason to be affected by their loss for good or bad, which was lacking in this film.

Special Effects:

Way too much CGI but surprisingly not as much as I anticipated. Too many close-ups meant we got to see every minute detail of CGI created dinosaurs, meaning that unlike the first film where the raptors were hidden in the shadows or used very sparingly to hide the fact that they look fake. In Jurassic World we see just how artificial looking they are as we are constantly bombarded by green-screen animation that at times looks more like a videogame than real life. I could go on about this forever, but for the most part I was begrudgingly content with how much CGI was used when I consider how this movie COULD have been (ex: Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars)

Storyline:

New dinosaur is created, it escapes and wreaks havoc, ultimately it is killed. Very predictable but still enjoyable plot. I recognize that these movies aren't meant to be riddled with plot twists and for the most part the audience should know how the movie will end before it begins. That being said there were still things i really loved about the film and others that had me cringing in my seat.

First ten minutes of the film: WAY TOO CHOPPY! Felt like I was back watching the new Superman movie where everything is going 100mph and you have no time to get a feel for the characters or to get attached to the story. Thankfully the film settled down once the boys arrived at the park but it was still a little fast paced for my liking.

Scene where they reintroduce the old park's main room: By far my favorite scene in the movie. The old banner, staircase, test tubes, jeeps, painting on the wall of the raptor, goggles, all gave me goosebumps and reminded me of how much i love the original movie. I really appreciated this scene and thought it was a great move for the makers of Jurassic World to pay tribute to the reason we are all in the audience. They tied these elements in and incorporated them into the plot seamlessly. 

Gyroball tour: Also a cool part of the movie and as a sucker for the herbivore scenes I thought this was an inventive and creative twist on the jeeps from the original movie. Jimmy Fallon's cameo was also entertaining and this scene was a good way to introduce the Indominous once it had escaped its paddock. Well done. 

Scene of Owen and Claire kissing: NO. No. NO!! When will Hollywood ever learn that NOT EVERY MOVIE NEEDS A LOVE STORY!!! I couldn't help but think of how disgusted I would be had the first film sank to the level of having Dr. Grant and Ellie kiss. To do it here was every bit as cheesy and corny as it would have been then. Mad Max recently got it right in showing that you can have a very successful action film without the woman having to fall in love with the guy. It also reduced Claire's role to the helpless female which is tiresome and annoying. Please, Hollywood, spare us next time.

End fight scene between Indominous v. T-Rex and Blue (also mosasaur.): This scene started out awesome. Raptors getting killed and so they call for the first film's most fearsome carnivore: the T-Rex. i saw this as an awesome nod to the first film and a creative battle between the dinosaurs. This scene quickly became cheesy and far less enjoyable, however, when Blue made his return from being smashed against a wall. Reality of a T-Rex being intelligent enough to side with a raptor aside, the addition of Blue was completely unnecessary and undermined a potentially original and unpredictable death for the Indominous without the aide of Blue by instead having it killed by the mosasaur as the T-Rex, forces it into the water. I enjoyed the scene as good but couldn't help feeling robbed of a potentially great scene.

Music

I was really hoping for a lot more of the original score but I guess I should at least be grateful they included it.

Conclusion:

Grade: WRAP: 67%

While I did my best not to judge the film with the expectation of it being like the first movie, respect and consideration for the first film is hard to separate and somewhat owed in evaluating any sequel. I thought it met my expectations and was somewhat disappointed it could not exceed them. Too much CGI, poor and inexperienced directing, and a weak secondary cast kept this movie from being great, but ultimately it was still very entertaining just being a Jurassic Park movie and I was pleasantly surprised by the main characters and some elements of the story.