My thoughts on: Jurassic World (2015)

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When Jurassic World was first announced, I had no intention of seeing it. However, as time went on and more previews were released, curiosity won out and I went with a friend to view the film. My conclusion? Jurassic World is good…sort of. The story hits many good notes but also falls flat in key places.

The film, which serves as a direct sequel to Jurassic Park (and ignores the events of The Lost World and Jurassic Park III), opens with a fully realized dinosaur park operating on Isla Nublar. The park brings in a fortune every year, but profits have been slowly declining and, in order to ‘spice things up’ a new dinosaur is genetically engineered (because that always ends well).

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This new dinosaur is dubbed Indominus Rex and it is a real piece of work. A complex hybrid, it has the ability to camouflage (though for some reason this is only demonstrated once), mask its heat signature and (among other things) communicate with raptors because of its raptor DNA. The Indominus is certainly terrifying (there’s a scene where you see the reflection of its teeth in a gyrosphere before you see it properly) but certain elements aren’t used consistently. As I said before, its ability to camouflage (which is downright terrifying if you think about it) is only seen once. If you really wanted to make this movie scary, shouldn’t it have been used as often as possible?

Of course the Indominus gets loose and the park eventually descends into chaos, which was okay to watch…for the most part. I found the scene where Claire’s assistant gets killed to be very disturbing. First she’s dragged off by a Pteranadon, then dropped several times into the Mosasaurus tank before finally being eaten by the aforementioned Mosasaurus. I really felt this moment went on way too long and should have ended with the Pteranadon just carrying her away.

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The plot point I enjoyed the most was Owen’s interaction with the raptor pack and the idea that he is their ‘alpha.’ I found the arrangement dubious at first, but as the story went on I truly believed that Owen was communicating with the raptors and they obeyed him. Which is why when it came out that the Indominus had raptor DNA and was communicating with them I had the biggest “Oh SH**” moments in the theater. Truly, that scene with the Indominus and the raptors is well done.

Another moment I liked is when the kids stumbled across the remains of the original Jurassic Park center from the first film. It had a huge nostalgia factor and I’m glad they included it. One thing I did not like about Jurassic World is it was painfully obvious that they were setting up for a sequel when we last see Dr. Wu getting hustled off the island by InGen. I don’t think anybody really doubted that a sequel was coming, but they didn’t have to be so blatant about it.

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Having the climax come down to the Indominus vs the T-Rex from the first film was really awesome, though I have major issues with how it ended. Not only did it seem anti-climactic that the Mosasaurus finished the Indominus off just like that, I still can’t see how the beast could have jumped up and grabbed it from where they were standing.

In conclusion, while I did enjoy Jurassic World for the most part (the homage to John Williams original theme was a very nice touch), I’ve never felt any desire to rewatch it in the three years since, though I am planning to see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, if only so I can see what is up with this OTHER genetically engineered dinosaur that is somehow a hundred times more scary than the Indominus Rex.

What did you think of Jurassic World? Did it live up to the hype? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and have a great day!