Enjoyable, but only that

Rating: 6/10 (12 June 2015)

If you're looking for a fun summer block-buster to go take all your friends to, this movie is definitely for you. "Jurassic World" offers plenty of awesome dinosaur fights and chases, good special- effects, and a story that will entertain you in the way that summer action movies do- but that is pretty much all that you are getting here.
I believe this movie is the kind of movie you watch when you're home, on the couch, maybe on your laptop or smart-phone, and you have the TV on. The movie tried to make you care and invest in characters that almost seem copy and pasted over from the first installment of the series, except it doesn't really work. I felt very uninterested in pretty much all the characters besides Chris Pratt, because he was the only one that was they took time in developing. One could argue that others were enjoyable, and I would agree if they weren't just killed off or if they took a bit more time developing their interests and motivations.
Throughout the film we are exposed to beautiful scenery and landscapes that were very pleasing to the eye.The dinosaurs looked good, but are almost entirely CGI and not enough practical effects. What made the dinosaurs look so realistic in the first and second installments of the series were the life-like animotronics used in the close up scenes, which is absent for most of this film. Don't get me wrong- the dinosaurs still looked great, just not as good as they could have been.
Chris Pratt's character was my favorite, and he really ground this movie. Unlike his other role in "Guardians of the Galaxy", he plays a down to Earth, stoic raptor trainer. He's the guy who cares about the actual people in the park, his raptors, other characters, actually understands the danger of the dinosaurs, and did not wait to act. Though, I don't find it appropriate that the weight of this movie is on Pratt's character's shoulders, when it could have included other meaningful characters like park-workers and tourists that could have made this film live up to it's name. But hey, the dude trains friggin' velociraptors for a living, and you will grow to love this character.
There were a lot of times that this movie rides the line of scientific accuracy, like certain dino-fights and executions, but that doesn't take away from the movie at all. In fact, when I saw the many abilities of the hybrid dinosaur in action, that were then explained in awestruck and furious dialogue and monologue, I was at the edge of my seat for the duration of the scene. The only problem I had with the hybrid dinosaur was that it wasn't as built up as it could have been to get that emotional punch or some kind of moment where I cover my face so I don't see the monster of my nightmares prowling around on screen. When it is not on screen, it almost feels as if it isn't in the movie.
"Jurassic World" was an enjoyable movie that I will turn to when it comes on cable, but my experience with this movie did not lead me to believe it was a great work of film.