Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 124 mins. Reviewed in Jun 2015
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It has been 14 years since the last ‘Jurassic Park’ movie graced our screens, and after its lacklustre reception, many feared the franchise would become extinct. However, to paraphrase Jeff Goldblum in the original 1993 film, ‘profitable studios find a way’. This particular instalment brings the dinosaurs on Isla Nubar roaring back to life in a confident blockbuster debut from indie darling Colin Trevorrow, guided very evidently by the seasoned hands of executive producer Steven Spielberg.
The film wastes no time dropping you into the fully functional titular theme park, boasting hundreds of live dinosaurs and over 20,000 visitors daily. The first two acts of the film hew reasonably closely to the original film. We have two young siblings visiting a relative at the park – Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) are seeing their aunt Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard). Zach is aloof and image driven, his younger brother is clever and very enthusiastic about the dinos, and Claire – who oversees the whole park – is uptight and fiscally motivated. There is a disgruntled employee with ulterior motives, here head of security Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio), and a likable but fairly clueless billionaire at the helm, Masrani (Irrfan Khan). Add former Navy employee and current velociraptor wrangler Owen (Chris Pratt) with a romantic history with Claire into the mix, and it’s so far, so similar.
After corporate pressure to rejuvenate interest in the attraction results in a genetically modified hybrid called Indominus Rex, Owen is convinced they have gone too far in the ongoing battle between commerce and nature. He is proved correct when this vicious asset breaks out of containment, and with thousands of unaware visitors (as well as herbivorous dinosaurs!) on the island, it’s a fair assumption that some won’t be making it home. Its third act twists the formula somewhat, and while it takes a fair stretch of the imagination to think that a military program using weaponised velociraptors is a good idea, it pays off with some thrilling action. Viewers with younger children may want to steer clear – this is a film which pushes the boundaries of an M rating, with some spectacularly brutal, nightmare-inducing deaths peppered throughout.
Spectacular special effects are a must in this franchise, and the film does a good job of blending CGI with more practical models. The animatronic dinosaurs are a highlight, an art form in film which has been slowly suffering its own extinction over the past decades. The cast are okay, with Pratt and Howard in particular solidifying their names as tent pole film-carrying actors. The score from Michael Giacchino is very reverent of the iconic John Williams sound which defined the previous films, and adds another layer to the scares and thrills.
Giacchino’s approach is indicative of the film as a whole. Colin Trevorrow, who also rewrote the script with Derek Connolly, has ostensibly taken the first film, and augmented its best loved moments for a modern audience displaying a much higher threshold which needs to be crossed for an effective blockbuster. Actor BD Wong, playing the only returning (human) character from the previous films, says “If I don’t innovate, someone else will”, and the whole effort exudes this ‘next level’ approach. Everything is bigger, faster, louder and crazier – if you don’t mind your entertainment worthy of comparative adjectives, then this will suit you nicely.
It may not have the same freshness that ‘Jurassic Park’ offered when it debuted over 20 years ago, but this franchise reboot is an impressive work of craft for all involved – just don’t confuse it for art.
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