This week in anticipation of the fourth visit to the world of Jurassic Park, I have woken up before work to watch the original trilogy, the first remains a stand out making you believe that dinosaurs can exist, the following 2 didn’t quite have that magic but are entertaining none the less
So on Friday I booked my ticket and headed off to Jurassic World and was pleased to report the wait was worthwhile (maybe the wait was what was needed, I found my ticket* and saw that I saw Jurassic Park 3 on 21st July 2001 so its been 14 years)
The film fills us in with all the info we need to know, John Hammond has left in his will all the details to the park to a new company with orders to keep his vision alive of a park which brings the spectacle of dinosaurs for the world to see, that has been created in the new theme park on the grounds of the first, the Jurassic World of the title and this is a massive theme park world that would give Disneyland a run for it’s money, big shows, petting zoo’s for the kids, a fantastic seaworld exhibit which sees the terraced seating go underground after the show to see the aquatic dinosaur hunt underwater, it is a fantastic vision on the eyes and it is still hard to believe all the original concerns when the first trailer was released with unfinished CGI, so with a fantastic theme park what could go wrong, greed of course, the CEO has seen falling profits since the park opened and they need a new attraction to get those customers back in
So using BD Wong’s Dr Wu character from the original, with a bit of DNA splicing a super dino is created off the park, the newly made Indominus Rex and from it’s first brief sighting, the adventure goes into overdrive, needless to say we shouldn’t mess with DNA and the newly created Rex breaks free to cause Havoc throughout the park and it’s down to Chris Pratt’s character Owen to save the day with a side mission of saving the 2 nephews Gray and Zach (Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson) of the manager Claire (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) who had managed to slip from her PA Zara (Katie McGrath who you may recognise from BBC’s Merlin, as the evil Morgana) whilst she dealt with the comings and goings of the running of the park and because it seems she’s not a fan of children
The Indominus Rex needless to say causes utter havoc killing everything in its path; it has all the power and size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex but other creatures habits which include the ability to hide using camouflage, this includes some sequences familiar to that of Predator with trees and the such like being shot up. Things get worse as the Rex has removed a tracker which could have stopped it reached the visitors of the theme park so the race is on to stop it using a fantastic 4 piece raptor team trained by Owen. Things are made worse of course as it would appear a side plot has seen the Indominus Rex and Raptors wanted by Hoskins (played by Vincent D’Onofrio) to sell to the military to fight wars to save lives
What is also great about this film are the small references to the original, see if you can spot Dr Ian Malcolm references amongst them
Can Owen save the day, I think you know the answer to that, but it’s a fantastic adventure with set pieces we have come accustomed to from this franchise, its an adventure you will want to take especially if coming in as a fan of the previous entries or just a lover of dinosaurs and more importantly you are expecting a truly cinematic popcorn film that maybe you won’t need to engage all your brain to enjoy
Jurassic World is released by Universal Pictures and is directed by Colin Trevorrow
Has a run time of 124 minutes and is rated 12a
* Yes I save my ticket stubs =)