Jurassic World (12A) | Close-Up Film Review
Dir: Colin Trevorrow, US, 124 minutes
Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Nick Robinson, Ty Simkins, Vincent D’Onofrio, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, Judy Greer
This latest bite at the box-office apple makes Hammond’s comment come true.
In 1997 Spielberg milked the box-office again with The Lost World: Jurassic Park and director Joe Johnston took over with 2001’s Jurassic Park III.
Now (Spielberg plays producer) revives the franchise with another, even more riotous rollercoaster of monstrous action and suspense, which keeps adrenaline flowing once the key characters have been established and the award-worthy special effects sequences kick in
Feisty kids in peril? Check!
They’re 16-year-old and 11-year-old brothers Nick Robinson and Ty Simkins sent for a holiday to the new, improved theme park in Costa Rica.
Self-centred heroine who comes good in the end? That’s Jurassic World employee Bryce Dallas Howard who helps save the kids after first ignoring them.
Hunky hero? Check!
Former soldier Chris Pratt proves he’s no prat by saving the kids, Howard and day when the scaly villain of the piece, the mysterious genetically engineered murderous creature Indominus Rex goes on the bloody rampage that’s the film’s raison d’etre.
Mere humans are there to propel the eye-catching carnage created by a carefully calculated tsunami of prehistoric killers ranging from mini-raptors to flocks of pterodactyls and assorted monsters that makes the movie so mindlessly entertaining.
Given that man-versus-prehistoric monster movies go back as far as The Lost World in 1925, what is it that makes this latest Jurassic jaunt a box-office surefire winner?
Well, its essential aspect is that the film’s impact is visceral, rather than intellectual thanks to vivid 3-D filming.
The sequences that we see between the extraordinary special effects-driven scenes are competent and serve to make the attacks of the marauding monsters all the more exciting.
To be honest, I found the prehistoric posse much more interesting – and credible – than the mere humans who surround them.
Sensibly Trevorrow makes sure his monsters steal the limelight whenever possible. Humans are there to panic, be eaten, run and generally have a really bad time. Unless, of course, they’re in the audience and getting their money’s worth in action, suspense and thrills.
Review by Alan Frank
