A mixed bag

Rating: 7/10 (11 June 2015)

I was so excited for this film. I went with my dad.
The film opens with two lads, prepping themselves to visit a theme park with dinosaurs. Amongst that, Owen is a worker at the park and is renowned for having a special relationship with the raptors. He also has a slightly frosty relationship with one of the women who has a role to play in the maintenance of the park.
Soon, it is discovered that, to maintain people's enthusiasm for the park, that a totally new breed of dinosaur, indominus rex, has been created. Upon inspection of her paddock, it is assumed she has escaped. However, she has cleverly fooled the park personnel into believing this. In truth, she is still in her paddock and kills two of the observers and Owen narrowly escapes with his life, using his own brand of trickery to fool the indominus rex.
As news of her escape spreads, It is discovered that the two boys have disappeared. They have foolishly gone off course in one of the park's mobility vehicles and been attacked by indominus. An act of bravery on their part, ensures they survive.
Then, indominus' rampage gives way to other dinosaurs causing havoc and it is a race against time for the park personnel to stop indominus rex. The efforts include using trained velociraptors to attack indominus, with unexpected results and when it's realised the raptors are insufficient to stop the indominus, the tyrannosaurus is lured from its paddock, right into the midst of a duel that pairs velociraptor and t-rex against an unstoppable force. For all their efforts, the demise of the indominus comes from an unexpected source (a rather daft twist).
I enjoyed the film for the most part and it is a typical summer blockbuster. Compared to the first trilogy, it isn't a patch really. The film gets to the action too quickly and moves at a pace that's uncomfortable. There isn't enough development. I didn't like the fact that Dr Wu was made out to be a villain, really, even if it was an intriguing direction for the character to go in.
The other characters are mainly bland and don't have any real depth to them - the exception to this are Ty Simpkins and Chris Pratt. Some of the other portrayals were OK, if not overwhelming.
The effects, though, are top drawer and I was kind of underwhelmed by the indominus, in truth. The masosaur was much more interesting, I believed. It's not given enough screen time, yet there is little it can do. The aviary sequence, I felt, was too similar to the third film and speaking of sequences, there isn't a set piece worthy of note, which was disappointing.
Yet for all this, it isn't a bad film, just not the vehicle one may hope for. It's certainly an entertaining film, though,. You won't leave disappointed, in that respect, but you won't leave overwhelmed, either.