A Lot Better Than Expected

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2015)

I have to admit, when I first seen the trailer for this film, I groaned and rolled my eyes uncontrollably at almost every single moment (the clip of the "trained" raptors especially) just like I do with many of what I personally see as pointless reboots, cash cows and unnecessary sequels that seem to have taken over Hollywood in the past few years. Maybe I'm just a boring sceptic or maybe I just expect more from Hollywood and wish it would get back it's golden days (the 90s in my opinion) sooner rather than later. But last night, I thought I'd give this one a shot (mainly because I had a nostalgic craving for man eating dinosaurs feasting on stupid people) and I have to say it was worth it because I left the cinema feeling pleasantly surprised which to be honest, is all I really wanted from this movie.
As the movie began with the introduction of the clichéd, vomit inducing suburban family, I feared the worst but after the first ten minutes when that awe inspiring theme tune started up as the camera pans over this all new ultra modern but inevitably doomed park, I couldn't help myself but feel like a little kid again watching the scene from the first movie when you first see the island in all it's mysterious glory.
For the next two hours, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The dinosaurs look fantastic, the clichéd characters grew on me, (even the kids, but I mean, what's a Jurassic Park movie without annoying children?) the plot was predictable yet satisfactory even if some scenes did make me roll my eyes and left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth (is it just me or did anyone else almost expect the T-Rex and the raptor to shake hands after tag teaming the Indominus Rex?) and most of all, the battles between the dinosaurs were incredibly well choreographed and were definitely the highlight for me mainly because they returned everyone's favourite man eating monster to it's former glory after it was disgracefully humiliated in that god awful JP3.
So all in all, aside from the forced romances, cheesy scenes, too many one liners, half assed character development and lack of Jeff Goldblum, I think it was a great way to spend two hours, particularly if you watch it without comparing it too much to the first two movies. I give it a solid 7/10.