To an entire generation of people the word Jurassic carries so much more than a scientific connotation. Instead it is associated with a since of ah and wonder that Steven Spielberg brought to so many audiences twenty plus years ago when he allowed the public to enter Jurassic Park. To a majority of early 30 somethings and people in their 20’s the Jurassic Park franchise is synonymous with their childhood’s, whether it be through the first fear they ever felt in a movie theater via the T-Rex or Velociraptor, or opening up those same Dinosaurs under our Christmas trees. Therefore the job of Director Colin Trevorrow was the sacred mission of carrying on that legacy of magic laced terror that so many of us grew up with, so does Jurassic World live up to that legacy?
In the sense of providing audiences with an original new adventure on the level of the 1993 film the answer is probably not, however Trevorrow does succeed in giving audiences an action packed nostalgia ride. While Jurassic World is not ground breaking it hits all the beats of a quintessential Spielbergian summer blockbuster. And in someways the film does improve on the original, by providing maybe the most heart felt and terrifying scenes in all of the franchise, as well as it’s biggest and baddest Dino of all the Idominus Rex.
One way this film is elevated is through the star vehicle it ends up becoming for Chirs Pratt. While originally it was an honor for Pratt to headline a Jurassic film, this film will be remembered as the one where Pratt solidified himself as an A-list star. Pratt is now just as much of bad ass as he is a comedic talent, as proven by his memorable performance as Owen Grady! Not only did Pratt elevate the film as a whole, he found chemistry with everyone he was on the screen with from Bryce Dallas Howard to the Velociraptors.
Ultimately Jurassic World is a very meta analogy of itself. While the new Jurassic World theme park may be bigger and shinier than the original, and lives up to founder John Hammond’s motto of sparing no expense, there is just something missing. Which is very reflective of the film, while it may be a great film in and of itself, it never truly transcends itself above the original.
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