‘It’s gonna be just like taking a walk in the woods, 65 million years ago’ – Jurassic World (2015) Review

When the very first Jurassic Park film was released back in 1993, I don’t think anyone would have expected it to turn into one of the biggest film franchises of all time, but it’s mixture of adventure, science fiction and disaster proved incredibly popular. Two sequels followed soon after with The Lost World in 1997 and Jurassic Park III in 2001. But it wasn’t until 2015 when we were taken on another adventure with the dinosaurs, with Jurassic World.

Set 22 years after the events of Jurassic park, we return to Isla Nublar and enter Jurassic World. This film tells the story of a popular and successful dinosaur adventure park and it’s plunge into chaos when a new genetically modified dinosaur escapes and goes on the rampage. With the parks manager Claire desperate to keep her nephews safe in the carnage, dinosaur trainer Owen trying to save lives and an investor interested in using the park’s dinosaurs in combat, Jurassic World is a great example of the adventure/disaster genre working very well.

 

Bryce Dallas Howard plays the role of Claire, the parks manager pressured by both the owner and the investors into creating bigger, scarier dinosaurs to boost attendance figures. With the escape of the newly created Indominous Rex, she turns to dinosaur trainer Owen, played by Chris Pratt, for help to save the day. The chemistry between Howard and Pratt is believable with their interactions proving both comical and rather sweet in places. Before watching this film, I had only seen Chris Pratt as lovable goofball Andy Dyer in the successful comedy series Parks and Recreation and I was suitably impressed by his performance in this very different role of action man Owen.

Featuring a few clever references to the previous movies and a number of memorable standout lines in reference to the science behind the creation of the dinosaurs and mankind’s relationship with the creatures their science have made, the story line bounces from one action sequence to another at a good pace. Whilst a little predictable at times, the well developed and believable characters are enough to keep most people interested.

With impressive special effects allowing for the creation of convincing dinosaurs, the animals become characters in their own rights. From the indominous Rex to Owen’s gang of velociraptors, it’s safe to say that special effects have vastly improved since the original Jurassic Park

In conclusion, as someone who doesn’t usually go for adventure/disaster movies, I have to say that I quite like this one. Despite it’s plot lines of once extinct dinosaurs going on a rampage, the characters are believable and not over the top and the story doesn’t get lost in all of the action.

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