by Joseph Rossi
How does this new entry to the Jurassic Park franchise stack up? Pretty darn well. It’ll make you forget the last two films that left the series in shambles.
Jurassic Park was the film that made me want to purse film as a career. I didn’t know what in exactly in film I wanted to do but whatever is was, it was because of that film in the summer of 1993. To me, it was and still is perfect. A modern monster film that delivers actual thrills. The effects still hold up today. The score, perfection. Steven Spielberg made this at the height of his power and he conducted that film as a conductor does an orchestra. What I noticed is that this new director Colin Trevorrow does not have the same finesse as Spielberg but he does have his wicked sense of humor. He throws enough thrills and chills and gory sight gags to make us jump and leave us laughing. The effects team create herds of new creatures, albeit mostly CGI, which is a shame since the animatronic puppets they used in the first film look better then anything a computer can do these days. But those days are long gone and most of the digital effects are quite impressive.
Let’s face it, we are there to see dinosaurs. Tell me one person who one goes to these movies for the character or complicated narratives? The characters are just bait for the dinos and the story just makes sure our characters get from point A to point B. The true stars are indeed the animals and the latest creation is the genetically manufactured, Indominus Rex, a viscous “frankenstein’s monster” made in a laboratory to boost up the lagging attendance of Jurassic World, John Hammond’s fully realized dream. But dreams don’t last as we know in these films. The theme is always the same; man thinks he can play God, Dinosaurs escape, people get eaten, man learns a lesson. The story line, familiar of course. Hell, it’s the same basic set up as the first film. As all hell breaks loose, the two young visiting nephews of the parks operations manager (Bryce Dallas Howard) get lost and she, along with the resident dinosaur expert (Chris Pratt) must find them. Sounds familiar. No kidding.
I am nitpicking. Go for the dinosaurs and the action. And just seeing the park itself as was envisioned years before was a beautifully rendered treat. The preview audience was made up of mostly kids and while some scenes were intense for them ( the Rex attacks the kids inside what appears to be a giant plastic ball), I believe they’ll want to see it again.
