Entertainment Monday: Jurassic World ( 6 July, 2015)

My first Jurassic Park movie was back in 1993 when some family friends came over to babysit me. I was 7 years old at the time and I remember being in awe over the special effects. I loved the sense of adventure about the film and the thrilling running away from dinosaurs moments. I have since watched all the Jurassic Park movies and I was excited over this new movie.

Jurassic World takes place 22 years after the first three movies. The dinosaur theme park has finally opened and is being managed by Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard). Claire is a workaholic who is under pressure from her boss and sponsors to provide a new dinosaur that will bring in the crowds. They advise her to make a dinosaur that is scarier and bigger than a Tyrannosaurus Rex as people are not easily impressed as they were years ago.

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So, the park geneticists create Indominus Rex which is indeed bigger and scarier than any other dinosaur in the park. Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a park ranger argues that the dinosaur is too dangerous but his misgivings go unheeded.

I was waiting for it all to go wrong. The Indominus Rex does escape its enclosure as predicted and it starts terrorizing everyone in the park. Other dinosaurs get released out of their enclosures adding to the chaos. Claire is also worried about her nephews Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) who she invited to the park. The children are missing and she must find them.

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I thought this movie was good and fit in with the rest of the Jurassic Park movies. The movie was exciting and good entertainment for the whole family. It was fun to see Jurassic World functioning as a real amusement park which is the first time it happens in the series. I liked looking at the rides, animal demonstrations, and the main street with concession stalls, restaurants and information centre.

 As a serious and boring adult, I kept on imagining what the inquiry investigation would be like if the park was real. There were several safety issues that resulted on the loss of life due to incompetence and inexperience of the staff as well as lack of safety measures in the park i.e bunkers or even doors that lock.  You would think they would have worked that out after all the terrible stuff that happened last time. But I know it’s a movie.

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There are some critics that argue over the fact that the dinosaurs don’t have feathers in the movie. For those that don’t know, it is now believed that dinosaurs had feathers due to some evidence found years ago and the fact that birds are descendants of dinosaurs.  The movie does address this with the fact that their dinosaurs are mixed with other animal DNA and that they are not true dinosaurs.

I thought the cast were good but the main stars were the dinosaurs of course. Chris Pratt’s character reminded me of Sam Neill’s Alan Grant from the first film. I think he’s great as a leading man and I look forward to watching more of his films.

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I also liked Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing. I’m glad that she wasn’t a damsel in distress nor was she so feisty that she couldn’t accept any help from anyone. I enjoyed how her character changed from viewing the animals as assets to seeing them as living beings.

 I like how there are always children in the Jurassic series as they are the ones that mostly embrace being at the park as well and they are also bring out the protectiveness from the adults. I thought the two child stars were okay but my favourite children from the series are Lex and Tim from the first movie as well as Kelly from Jurassic Park 2: Lost World.

I heard that there will be some more Jurassic movies will be made. This time around, the movies may follow a story arc instead of being standalone like the previous movies.

Do you have a favourite Jurassic Park movie?