simultaneously cringe - worthy and entertaining. .. missing that spielberg touch.

Rating: 7/10 (17 June 2015)

I was 11 when Jurassic Park came out in the theaters, and like most from my generation I was utterly amazed. This movie will not illicit the same response from today's children. Spielberg (and his team) broke new ground and painstakingly created new effects that became the standard. This movie uses techniques that already exist and while these effects do look awesome, they're not awe inspiring. The "spielbergian" effects aren't the only thing missing, his storytelling style is sorely missed. No time is set setting up characters, situations, or (most importantly) SUSPENSE.
Not only is the script, at times, cringe worthy with terrible dialouge, and plot points, but no time is spent setting up these characters. This leads us to really not care about these characters, especially since only 1 of them is even remotely likable, the rest are incredibly "douchey". Making matters worse is the atrocious acting from all parties involved (all of them). Pratt is a rehashed yet wooden Star Lord, Howard is her usual C-Word role, the 2 teens are annoying, and D'Onofrio is clearly there for the paycheck. It also must be noted that none of the actors have any chemistry, watching Pratt and Howard together is difficult to say the least.
But let's be honest, nobody went to see this for the acting or the plot, they go to see the effects and the dinosaurs. On that front the movie is a success, however 3-D adds very very little to the film. While it doesn't break new ground with revolutionary techniques, it's still the coolest looking dinosaur movie you'll ever see. Despite the myriad of flaws I must say I was highly entertained throughout the entire film, which is really all I can ask of from a movie about a genetically engineered dinosaur theme park.
Did it illicit that same childhood wonder and excitement of Jurassic Park in me? Of course not, I'm a grown up now and there's no way the movie could. But it did remind me of a time I felt that way. Will the children of today be as blown away as we were? Probably not, they have much more sophisticated technology in movies now. What we experienced was mind blowingly original, what they experience will not be. But there's nothing wrong with that. Without Spielberg there was never a chance of this topping the original but again it doesn't have to, it just has to top The Lost World and Part 3. And it easily does so, anyone who says it doesn't is probably just holding on to the way the original made them feel. Let's keep in mind that no Jurassic sequel has ever been really good just good for a dinosaur movie.