Jurassic World

As a young boy, dinosaurs were the greatest thing on earth (well, the greatest thing that once WAS on earth) for me. I knew most of their names (like Gray in JW) and had my plastic dinosaurs fighting themselves, evil, and sometimes also good. You can imagine my excitement when I first saw Jurassic Park and I was truly blown away by the idea. I still somehow wish that I could actually experience the events in the movie, although I understand the critic that the author of the novel, Michael Crichton, wanted to express. Much of that critic is lost in the third sequel to the original movie, 22 years after its original release, at least it's hidden very deep in the plot. The scientists have created a new super- species, filled the missing pieces of DNA up with genes of amphibians that all have certain survival-powers, and it all goes terribly wrong, much because the dinosaurs are being underestimated as they always were. So is it a reboot of the first movie? At least a bit. They are referring to the first movie all the time, examples: A control guy wearing an Jurassic Park shirt proudly says he got an original shirt (shown in part 1 several times) for $150 from eBay, they run through degenerated original buildings and one time the kids even drive an original van that they repaired competently. New park-owner Masrani says that John Hammond told him on his death bed to "spare no expense", which was one of the funniest scenes in the movie, yet Masrani doesn't want to commercialize the park too much. That's where the movie starts being perfectly self-ironic: one control guy (the one with the classic shirt) jokingly suggests, in order to please the investors, to name newly bred species after companies, "so how about Pepsi-Saurus"? The movie indeed is full of product placements, I counted at least 9 brands and logos that are shown or mentioned during the film. So what is the purpose of the movie? Mainly, I guess, it's meant as a nostalgic, yet up-to-date experience/excuse for all those fans who were bitterly disappointed by the Parts II&III. It's exciting, contains a little love story, it's got wit, social criticism and excellently animated dinosaurs. It shows that 22 years after Jurassic Park, movie heroes are still being chauvinist and women are still stronger and braver as they are pictured in most (other) movies. And, finally, it fulfills every fans biggest desire: man and dinosaur, at last fighting side by side. That's probably why I'd give it an even better rating than the original Jurassic Park movie, although of course classic scenes like the shaking water glass will probably never be outperformed. Résumé: Director Colin Trevorrow manages to create an enthralling and visually stunning homage to the original which at some points brilliantly steps out of the shadow of its role model and finally puts the conciliatory end to the dinosaur universe that we, the fans, truly deserved.

I was coming into the movie with very high expectations and came out with the movie exceeding my expectations! Jurassic World is now one of my favorite movies of all time. The action sequences are intense and plentiful. The special effects are top notch. The music is wonderful(and not just John William's famous themes; Michael Giacchino's score is excellent as well.) And while the characters may not be as developed as in the original Jurassic Park, they are interesting in their own right. Chris Pratt does a great job as Owen, the raptor trainer, and Bryce Dallas Howard does excellent as Claire, the head of the park. One of my favorite "characters" though is the underwater dinosaur Mosasaur. (Every time it jumps out of the pool it's freaking awesome!) Even though a lot of people have called this movie predictable, it had a lot of twists and turns that were surprising, especially the ending. Without spoiling it, the ending sequence is one of the most epic endings that I can remember in any movie. The ending will give any true Jurassic Park fan chills.

The original Jurassic Park still is a personal favourite, it is an enormously fun, thrilling (with some nail-biting moments) and brilliantly made film, with one of John Williams' most memorable main themes and scene-stealing dinosaurs. The Lost World has its admirers, but for me it was a major step-down and one of Spielberg's weakest films, and Jurassic Park 3 was even more disappointing.

Jurassic World is not a patch on the first Jurassic Park and I didn't quite find it the return to form that it has been touted as, but for all its faults and uneven parts it is a massive improvements on the previous two sequels and is an entertaining film in its own right that does more right than it does wrong.

First things off, Jurassic World is an incredibly well-made film, it's beautifully shot with scenery that's both colourful and atmospheric and the dinosaurs look wonderful. The dinosaurs also steal the film, not just their designs but also that they're lots of fun and are scary, their scenes are great to watch and there could have been even more than there were. This is especially true with the Indominus Rex, who is chillingly bloodthirsty, when she is stalking her prey it's enough to be glued to one's seat and then jump out of it. Michael Giacchino's music score is positively stirring, and even includes themes from Williams' score for Jurassic Park, which was just a lovely homage and fits within the rest of the scoring beautifully.

The film's homages are most enjoyable and give the film a nostalgic quality, some of it is savvy and funny and while not as much as the original there's still a good of thrills and scares to be had. The latter half is often very exciting, the film is efficiently directed, doing nicely in maintaining the tension, and the acting is good (though one does wish that the characters were written better). Chris Pratt has a likable and warm presence, as well as a nice wit, and Bryce Dallas Howard is similarly good even with the most problematically written character. Vincent D'Onofrio makes a real effort making his somewhat one-note and underused character more interesting than he deserves to be and does bring some intensity.

However, Jurassic World does contain some large problems. Not all the acting works, Judy Greer for my tastes was annoying in places and the children's acting was often too forced and their back story goes nowhere. The script and story are uneven, with the script it has its moments but it can be a bit muddled, as a result of trying to do too much at times, some of the dialogue is very weak and can induce cringes and some of the reversals are really out of place. It also could have done a much better developing the characters, because they felt very underdeveloped and clichéd, especially Claire, and any character arcs come off clumsily or aren't explored enough, particularly for the children. Owen and Claire's romance can slow the film down and does contain some forced dialogue. The story is at least never really dull, and excites more than it limps, but at the same time it does lack the wonder, consistent suspense, smartness and originality that Jurassic Park had. It does feel like a too predictable rehash at times, does feel muddled tonally, the exposition in the first half hour does go on for far too long and doesn't really say anything interesting and the ending is too silly and anti-climactic for my tastes.

All in all, uneven and not on the same level as the original Jurassic Park, but a very entertaining well made film and by far the best of the sequels. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox

OK, I read the 2 novels before the original movies came out, and was hooked back in 1991/92 when the original movie came out. Fell in love! And really have enjoyed the 2 sequels for what they're worth. Then, came out with Jurassic World, used our favorite Starkilled... and we have an amazing movie. I'm still riding a high from seeing it last night. It was just so good. I spoiled a few moments for myself, but overall was still surprised at the ending, despite it's Mortal Kombat predicted finish. The CGI was top notch and had us really believing these creatures were real. A worthy movie to see over and over again. I really do not want to spoil a THING. I would not say this movie is sexist in anyway... not sure where people picked up on that, but will say it is heavy on the testosterone(did I spell that correctly?). Which isn't a bad thing. Jurassic World has a wonderful build up, some good personalities, and a few main 'side characters' are killed off! We see some personalities actually change through the movie. Claire, Zach, and even Gray and Owen to some extent. I'll say this: Claire learns some humility and heart. Zach learns real love over shallowness to some extent, Gray learns true courage, and Owen (with already enough faith and trust) gains even more (and a fan club). Though the one character who comes back... I wonder if they grew his character more from a twisted version from the original novel. (Real the original novel!)

Don't let the trailers anger you, you will root for the raptors, and you will LIKE IT! The raptors aren't exactly 'tamed', barely. Think Dug from Up. This is the true sequel to the original movie Michael refused to give Spielberg years ago... instead Creighton wrote about irregular students outside of the norm, attached to a character akin to Spielberg's personality, and gave us a more boring version of Malcolm (that sung Dixie no less), and Harding, who was a woman who to was hard to understand and not very likable. And the end of the second book was... lackluster to say the least. Not want Spielberg wanted. Still a good novel and fun read.

The island is back, the locations, the look, and we see some of its 'history' (wish we saw more of the attractions). This is the true sequel and it the summer smash for 2015. If you like the original Jurassic Park movie, you can not miss out on this movie. It fits so well, and open enough for a few questions and a sequel. Which makes one think... they could... no wait, can't say it. It might spoil the ending! Ha ha! They do mourn a character that dies. A plot twist here or there... the final fight is simply amazing. Cool tributes to the original movie (and Stan Winston - there's a building named after him, look for it, I saw it!) This was an excellent movie and a definite 10 in my book. Easily rewatchable.

Please note, it seemed a little more gory than the previous movies with a little more blood. The cursing was actually minimal. I wouldn't take anyone under 7 or 8 to see it. The gore was kind of cool though. More detail than we had in the originals other than "I think this was Gennaro..." Great movie, plenty of dino on dino fighting action. Don't listen to the naysayers. No contrived endless conversations about dinosaur behavior here.

Successfully expands from park to world. Truly, it's a Jurassic world after all. Even though Steven Spielberg didn't direct it, he's still the executive producer. The visuals were thrilling and spectacular and so was the plot line. As the time passes on, the visuals get more artistic and realistic. This trilogy series never wears out it's welcome, I wonder what they will think of next… Jurassic Space? I hope this film continues to receive critical acclaim as it's a dazzling popcorn thriller and it's emotionally and visually exciting.

I think in the fifth film, there should be dinosaurs in space or the dinosaurs are attacking aliens. The CGI gets better as the years go on and it successfully replicates and in some ways improves the behaviours of the dinosaurs when they react with humans with the dinosaurs violent behaviours sure to thrill the entire audience!