Five-word Review: Wonderfully Nostalgic Fun, Entertaining Blockbuster

Rating: 6/10 (26 June 2015)

1993's ground-breaking Jurassic Park is a film of might and magnificence, and is one of my favourite films of all time. The two sequels were, in a word, disappointing. The Lost World had some good moments (the long grass) but was just so stupid at times (I've attempted to burn the memory of 13-year-old gymnastics vs. velociraptor out of my brain.) Jurassic Park III had fewer good moments. So, after all the rumours throughout the late-2000s of a Jurassic Park IV finally resulted in the announcement of Jurassic World in 2015, I was pretty excited if a little tentative. Then came casting announcements and trailers and I, like the rest of the contacted peoples of the world, like Chris Pratt after Parks and Recreation, The Lego Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy. In addition, more great actors were cast like Bryce Dallas Howard of The Help, Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire) and Vincent d'Onofrio, so fantastic recently in Daredevil.
But how was the actual film? The answer is: pretty damn great. Having grown up watching and loving Jurassic Park, I was ready to appreciate every moment of nostalgia and call-back to the original film (emphasis on the lack of plural on original film.) And there are plenty of such moments, such as the way John Williams' incredible, timeless score is heard in Michael Giacchino's well-adapted new score (the first time those first four eerie, haunting brass notes of the original theme play in this film made me grin in delight.) The triumphant theme is first heard when panning over the real Jurassic World, a decision which was met with negativity by some but for me was wholly appropriate and nostalgic enough to warrant shivers when seeing the park, now fully open and (initially) functional. The visual effects are top-notch, rendering a terrifying Indominus Rex as the monstrous hybrid antagonist, a jaw-dropping Mosasaurus devouring a whole shark like a fish finger and a pteranodon attack which is far superior to how they were utilised in Jurassic Park III.
Bryce Dallas Howard is a good surprise in this film. Though the bankable, popular Pratt was at the forefront of the marketing campaign (and with good reason! http://tinyurl.com/q4e84hl) it is actually Dallas Howard who is the main character of Jurassic World, in my opinion. She holds up well, despite an insistence on wearing high heels for the film's duration. The only returning actor is BD Wong, reprising his role as Dr Henry Wu from Jurassic Park in a good role. The child actors are decent and luckily not irritating, rounding off a cast that is good, even if talented actors like Omar Sy and D'Onofrio don't have sufficient character development.
The main problem with Jurassic World is probably the flat script, with dialogue lacking in any inspiration or quotability. Luckily the actors portraying the characters are likable enough and their characters generally sufficiently interesting to tie over scenes without prehistorically-induced destruction. Pratt doesn't appear until quite a while in, but it's a supremely cool introduction. The raptors are great in this film due to their relationship with Pratt's character Owen, who has developed their relationship to the point of mutual respect, but it does end up (without spoiling anything) that raptor attacks occur and the way they are done is fantastic - even better than the long grass sequence from the Lost World but not quite as spine-chilling as the kitchen scene from Jurassic Park. Overall Jurassic World is highly entertaining and will make for 2 hours of great fun which doubles as brilliant nostalgia for anyone who grew up watching Jurassic Park and its sequels. If you don't expect a cinematic masterpiece on the level of Jurassic Park and you can get over some poorly-written dialogue and character decisions, you'll have a great time. 8.1/10