Sometimes a bad idea- in fact, a terrible, inconceivable foolish idea can make for a pretty good story. I imagine the fallout from the mayhem of Jurassic World would be an amazingly juicy subject for a documentary if Werner Herzog existed in its universe, or any director hungry enough- he’d have his share of competition.
Roughly two decades after the incident from the first film on the island of Isla Nublar, the almightly dollar has spoken and the infamous park is open for business as a Disneyland for dinosaur lovers. Park manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) hopes to impress owner Simon Masrati (a charming and somewhat funny Irrfan Khan) with a new attraction that will hopefully spike dwindling attendance: a genetically modified new species of predator named the Indominus Rex.
It’ll debut in a month, kids will screan and demand their parents buy them all sorts of Indominus toys, they both make millions and everyone’s happy, right? Well, if they succeeded it wouldn’t be a very interesting Jurassic Park movie, would it? Sure enough, the new dinosaur proves too clever for its own or anyone else’s good, and despite the help of a scruffy velociraptor trainer named Owen Grady (Chris Pratt, playing…well, Chris Pratt) it breaks free of its corridor and into the public regions of the park.
Despite Owen’s warnings, Claire and Simon try to recapture Indominus before the park attendees discover what’s happening, seeing the looming financial catastrophe ahead. As the creature grows smarter and continues to wreack havoc, money gradually becomes less of a priority to our heroes- but not to a security head (a very hateable Vincent “I’m the Goddamn Kingpin” D’Onofrio), who wants to steal the dinosaur’s DNA in order to weaponize its abilities.
The first Jurassic Park film had a screenplay co-written by series creator Michael Crichton, and it stayed true to the more philosophical aspects of the concept. Jurassic World on the other hand is mostly focused on being a fun summer popcorn movie, not painfully dumbed down but still more simplistic. That’s not necessarily a negative though, because I think it works as a nice tribute to the 1993 classic. All of the classic sweeping shots of dinosaur valleys are back (along with various elaborate looking park attractions), set to John Williams’s classic theme.
Unfortunately I now think of that one scene from Family Guy every time I hear it.
Even though the dinosaurs and their mayhem are the main draws, the humans cast is fun enough. Grady is a laid back and macho but still capable co-hero alongside the fussier Claire, and the two take turns saving and bantering with each other. B.D. Wong returns as Dr. Wu, who has a bigger, more morally ambiguous role trying to justify his thought process behind the creation of the monstrous dinosaur.
Claire’s other major arc has her desperately searching for her two nephews among the park guests, the broody teen Gray (Ty Simpkins) and his upbeat younger brother Zach (Nick Robinson). While I thought their divorce subplot was a bit clumsy, the two gradually grow closer over the course of the film, and they’re way more resourceful and far less annoying than Tim and Lex from the first movie were.
Jurassic World has an underlying message about the importance of bonding, but it’s not beaten over the heads of the audience. I think it’s a dino rampage movie written for younger audiences in mind as far as its tone, but it’s clever, fun and exciting enough for I imagine most adults.