Jurassic World (June 2015)

Official Australian release date: 11/6/15. Viewed: 13/6/15.

Director: Colin Trevorrow

Actors: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

‘Jurassic World’ (or Jurassic Park 4) is set 22 years after the original film (and 14 years after the last film), on the same Costa Rican island, with it now a fully-functioning theme park. Why anyone would open or invest in it after the events is another story altogether and never really mentioned! Owen (Pratt) is the Sam Neil replacement and is charming and solid throughout and Claire (Dallas Howard) is the Laura Dern replacement and becomes less stuck-up and annoying as the film progresses. Jake Johnson (Nick off ‘New Girl’) is great as the computer tech in the control room and gets a few funny moments – a more than admirable job as the Jeff Goldblum replacement!

The film keeps a similar formula to ‘Jurassic Park’ – two kids, a concerned parent-figure (but not the actual parents – why are they never with their kids?), a dinosaur escaping and everyone running for their lives! There’s some nice throwbacks to the original too – the score motifs, the kids stumble into the foyer of the memorable final scene, the original/distinctive jeeps are seen, Dr Wu – the geneticist – is played by the same actor, Hammond is mentioned a few times and there’s a heard of Gallimimus at one point. I was glad to see more Stegosaurs and also to see Ankylosaurs for the first time in the series.

My main issue was the similarity to some aspects of ‘Jurassic Park III’ – there’s a dinosaur bigger than Tyrannosaurus Rex that kills everything; there’s Pteranodons that get loose and their consequences never properly dealt with; and the Velociraptors aren’t really treated as vicious killing machines until it’s needed in the story. However, it doesn’t really need to make much sense when there’s so many great moments of tension, then action, then surprise throughout – and some genuine wonder with the Deinosuchus in the Sea World part. A well done final scene(s) cap off an enjoyable experience.

Overall: An exciting return-to-form for the series – there will be more!

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.