Pop-Culture Friendly

Rating: 6/10 (19 December 2014)

Leave it to Spielberg to trivialize such a profound topic. The big draw is the dinosaurs. Yet they appear in only about 15 minutes of the film's 120-minute plot. Mostly what we have here are banal humans, and even an obnoxious character named Dennis (Wayne Knight), engaged in trite conversations, and exposition contrived to bring viewers up to speed. At the film's worst, viewers and the two lead "scientists" are treated to what is literally a cartoon on the relationship between mosquitoes and dinosaur DNA. The film talks down to its audience.
And there is no intrinsic need for those two kids. They are added to draw in viewers from across all age ranges. "Jurassic Park" is a popcorn flick that's pop-culture friendly. At least it's not as bad as Spielberg's "Jaws", a kiddie movie lacking in thematic depth.
The only character in "Jurassic Park" that acts like an adult is Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). He conveys a skeptical view of the intent of the Park's creator, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), when Malcolm says ... "Gee, the lack of humility before nature that's being displayed here, staggers me". He further critiques Hammond: "You packaged (your discovery), slapped it on a plastic lunch-box and now you're selling it ... What you call discovery, I call the rape of the natural world". So there is a bit of depth to the film, if only in passing.
By far the best element is the visual effects, truly spectacular. The dinosaurs look realistic and believable. These visuals are enhanced by sound effects accompanied by a subtle echo. Which, when combined with the rain forest background, create a faraway feel, consistent with the historical remoteness of the Mesozoic era in which the dinosaurs lived.
Casting is acceptable. Acting trends a bit overblown. Production and art design are almost as good as the special effects. But I did not like the overbearing and manipulative background music.
With a huge budget and a famous director, this Hollywood blockbuster aims at a mass audience. Though the visual effects are spectacular, the script gives us a childish story, with childish characters, that I find mildly insulting to the study of such a fascinatingly alien era in Earth's history.