This film was thrilling and enjoyable, but couldn't let go of the past.

Rating: 7/10 (14 June 2015)

Jurassic World is the fourth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise and deals with what would happen if the dinosaur theme park eventually opened. I am a huge fan of the first two Jurassic Park movies (the third one was only okay) and their narratives on the relationship between man and nature so I was excited to see what this movie could add to that. There is a new narrative that I think actually adds quite a bit to the lore of Jurassic Park. The writing was quite good. There are quite a few scenes that focus on the creation of the dinosaurs in the park and humanities illusion of control over them. Unfortunately there are also a lot of small details that ignore major concepts from the first two movies, especially in the theme park ride designs. Not a single one of the rides shown in this film would last a day in the first two films, and some of the designs wouldn't even work in real life (like giving the customers control over the safari vehicles that allow them to move into the animals' territories instead of an automated path or tour guide). There are also many small plot points that were taken straight from the first film. Despite this, once everything begins to fall apart and the focus falls from the attractions, the film really picks up and keeps going till the end. This film is more of a disaster flick than a survival flick, but it manages to feel like a survival movie for most of the core scenes. Most of the characters are well done. They are simple, yet relatable. The only problem I have here is the two brothers. They had a small story arch that was way deeper than it needed to be and in the end went nowhere and did not resolve itself. The special effects were fantastic and while there were times where it was obvious that C.G.I. was involved, there were more times when I couldn't tell if I was watching an animatronic dinosaur or a C.G.I one. There were many great tense moments that really dragged me in and kept me there. If you were a fan of the first couple of films, you will probably enjoy this one. It isn't as good as the first two, but still excellent.