As Steven Spielberg turns another page of the Jurassic saga it is a tense moment for all. Can the original magic be recaptured?
Jurassic World has made UK box office history as the second film to gross over £10 million in its second week of release, reiterating the anticipation surrounding the 2015 instalment of the Jurassic saga. Surpassing any James Bond or Harry Potter film to take the two week box office crown, this modern take on the world immersed with prehistoric creatures has created a real buzz.
The movie stars Chris Pratt as a big-hearted ex-Navy seal turned velociraptor trainer, exploring the friendlier side of flesh eating raptors. In this new cuddly ‘dino’ trend, Jurassic World has opened a petting zone for kids, which provides an amusing motive to drive two young protagonists Gray and Zach to seek something a little more exciting. As the young brothers explore further into unchartered territory and out of public sight, things begin to fall apart.
Graphically so real you almost forget these dinosaurs aren’t.
Visually the film is unquestionably a triumph; with modern technology it far surpasses the capabilities of the previous films. As Zach opens the doors to the world and reveals its visual magnificence it’s a hair raising opening, helped in no small part by the fantastic musical score. The characters hold up well for the most part, Masrani (billionaire owner of the park) is kooky enough to give a suitable nod to Jeff Goldblum’s character in the original trilogy. Owen (animal trainer) played by Chris Pratt was a happy medium between comic and cool, the protagonist brothers played a very convincing duo, and the cantankerous site manager Karen made for a very watchable character.
However there were some weak points, Hoskins who appears as some form of military contractor felt like an entirely unnecessary and eventually pointless addition to the script, adding no real threat or solution to the situation. The characters are entertaining enough, but in reality they attempt to mirror those of the original movie, saved by the visually rich action scenes.
Despite not really breaking any boundaries, Jurassic World did achieve one thing, the ability to transport an adult audience back to their childhood. The cheesy scenes that would perhaps make us wince in another movie brought out chuckles, overly epic staged kills brought smiles and the predictable romance felt in some way satisfying. The general feel of the film was not as dark as the original, as a result it lost some of the edge of the seat atmosphere. This was also not helped by the Indominus Rex, while evidently clever and scary, it was not different and insidious enough to really feel like the T-Rex had been upstaged. Thankfully the overall epic nature of the film outbalanced any shortcomings.
Author – Joe, Bath Store
‘Jurassic World’ is in cinemas now, certificate 12A.
