Solid summer blockbuster, solid reboot of franchise, but essentially a repeat.

Rating: 7/10 (11 June 2015)

For those of us born at a certain time in the early 1990s, "Jurassic Park" was THE coolest movie of that era for kids who loved dinosaurs. Its groundbreaking visual effects and life-sized animatronics made it a very believable scare fest.
Fast forward 22 years, and you've got yourself something that's good, but not quite "Jurassic Park" good.
Our story begins at essentially the same part of the first movie about half and hour in; everyone who works at the newly built, polished, and open to the public for several years now Jurassic World park believes their system to be foolproof, the eccentric head investor wants what will wow the kids regardless of wisdom, and only one man recognizes the powder keg they are on: Star Lord.
That is, Owen Grady, played by Chris Pratt. An ex-Navy officer who now trains Velociraptors to respond to commands, is brought in to inspect the holding pen of a newly created genetic hybrid predator. The park staff, including the park operations manager Claire Dearing, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, believes that the new Indominus Rex to be the next big thing.
However, like Ian Malcolm in the first film predicted, "Life will find a way." Soon enough, mayhem ensues in a not-so-surprising manner and evolves into a perfectly reasonable "Jurassic Park" movie.
The problem is, this movie was not supposed to be just another "Jurassic Park" movie. After waiting over a decade for the fourth installment of the franchise, we were hoping for something truly groundbreaking, something to rival that of the first movie.
Three words: not gonna happen.
Don't get me wrong. This film is filled with great dialogue and well-timed humor to break up the action. Nevertheless, you can't help but be distracted by all of the none-too-subtle references to the first film, as well as the massive amounts of way-too-obvious product placement (I'm looking at you, Mercedes!)
Big picture, though. If all you're expecting is a well-paced thriller with cool dinosaurs facing off against a Guardian of the Galaxy, this has it all and more. If you were hoping for the shining herald of the next generation of "Jurassic Park", all I can say is keep looking.