THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Everyone knows the story of how Jurassic Park, a theme park of cloned dinosaurs, was a failure that was bound to happen. But ever since then, some wondered how would it look if it was a temporary success. In 2015, we finally saw that reality.
PLOT
Jurassic World takes place 22 years after that event and now, the park was given a second chance thanks to the funding by Simon Masrani, founder of Masrani Global Corporation, after acquiring iNGen in 1997 and became personally entrusted by John Hammond as a dying wish. Zach and Gray Mitchell go to the park in Isla Nublar to bond with their aunt Claire Dearing, the park's operation manager, while their parents Karen (Judy Greer) and Scott (Andy Buckley) are divorcing each other. Claire is unable to make time for them as she gets occupied with her job, but tends to make it up to them by buying them VIP passes for each ride and are watched over by her assistant Zara (Katie McGrath). At work, Claire has pitched the park's first genetic hybrid to investors, known as the "Indominus Rex". She does show off the paddock to Masrani, explaining that it's eaten its sibling. Despite being impressed of the latest creation, he advises Claire to let the paddock be inspected for vulnerabilities that may be overlooked. Particularly, he wants the Velociraptor trainer and ex-Navy member Owen Grady to look into it. Claire does agree to talk to him, despite the awkwardness that they had a failed date. He does visit the paddock but upon arrival, there is no sign of the creature on thermal imagining and he notices claw marks on one of the walls. Claire drives back to the control room and calls employee Lowery Cruthers to check its whereabouts. He checks it and sees that it's still in its paddock. This is not good because Owen went in with two other employees to inspect. When noticing the hybrid, he avoids it as it breaks out of the paddock and takes two lives. Claire orders the Asset Containment Unit (ACU) to take it down with non lethals, which disappoints Owen because he believes it should be executed before it could cause anymore casualties. The ACU does find its tracking implant, meaning that it clawed it out and remembered where it was originally injected. The I Rex kills all of the squad after getting the jump on them, by revealing its ability to camouflage. Seeing this, Owen demands the park to be evacuated but Claire is against it because she knows it'll never reopen from this. Masrani meets the park's lead geneticist Henry Wu and requests to know what genes were mixed up of to make the hybrid. While it's only known to have the genes of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Henry shares that the abilities come from cuttlefish and tree frogs. He reminds Masrani that he blindly approved of it to create cool attractions. Knowing that he made a mistake, he plans to shut down the park which'll include seizing Henry's work, once the I Rex is dealt with. As Claire decides to close attractions on the north of the resort, she finds out that Zara lost her nephews. She calls Zach but with little reception, he does share that they're in the Gyrosphere ride. She goes with Owen to go rescue them. When the boys go off course, they see a group of Ankylosauruses but escape from the ride when encountering the I Rex. When Claire & Owen reach the attraction, they realize that the hybrid is killing for sport as it killed a herd of Apatosauruses but not eating them. The boys find the old Jurassic Park Visitor Center and repair a Jeep to return to the park. Claire and Owen do miss them within seconds, but avoid the I Rex. They escape with their lives when it gets distracted by a helicopter flown by Masrani himself. He is accompanied by two officers to stop the monster and he chases it down to an aviary of pterosaurs. When it breaks through the wall, the winged creatures attack the helicopter and Masrani crashes to a tragic demise. As Zach and Gray reach the park, the pterosaurs head that direction as well and attack the guests. Zara gets scooped up by a pteranodon and dropped Mosasaurus Lagoon, swallowed by the only aquatic creature the Mosasaurus. They do meet up with Claire and meet Owen, but the adults find out that iNGen's Private Seurity Division has taken over the park after Masrani dies. The leader of the division Vic Hoskins now tends to use the raptors to handle the I Rex. This dissatisfies Owen because he was always against the idea of them to used for a military purpose. He and his comrade Barry (Omar Sy) choose to join the hunt and follow the four raptors (Delta, Echo, Charlie and Blue) into the jungle to find the hybrid. When they do find it, it is than revealed to also have raptor genes when being capable of communicating with them. Just as the creatures are done speaking, the raptors attack Hoskins' soldiers and the I Rex escapes again. Although Charlie briefly recognizes Owen, she is killed by a raptor. As the others chase Claire, she drives away in a veterinary vehicle and the boys defend themselves by hitting Delta with an electric prod. Barry takes cover in a log when Blue chases him. Owen catches up with them and they make towards the control room. When they pass by the genetics lab, they encounter Hoskins and that Henry Wu (who already left the island by helicopter) works exclusively for iNGen and manipulated Masrani to create the I Rex so that could be used as a military weapon. Delta than appears and eats him. Owen, Claire and the boys get cornered by the three remaining raptors. But Owen is able to reestablish the connection with them. When the hybrid returns, they rebel against it. This results to it knocking Blue unconscious and killing Delta & Echo. When Owen and the boys get cornered by the beast in a gift shop, Claire calls Lowery, who hasn't left control room yet, to open 'Paddock 9'. When it opens, she summons the veteran Tyrannosaurus Rex by flare to fight the I Rex. The latter overpowers it, but is able to be outnumbered when Blue gets back up to fight it as well. When both dinosaurs corner it to Mosasaurus Lagoon, the said creature comes from the water and drags it underwater with her. After Blue and the T Rex give each other a respectable look, both head off into the night separately. Once that happens, the remaining group and Lowery head to the visitor area of the park. As Zach & Gray reunite with their parents, Owen & Claire decide to stay together. The film ends with the T Rex roaring on one of the park's helipads, claiming the island to be hers once again.
THOUGHTS
Due to my youth, I was not born when the first two were released. Nor was I old enough when the third came out. When this fourth entry came to theaters, I didn’t hesitate on having the experience moviegoers had with the predecessors. I ended up enjoying this film so much that I would later see it in a theater for a second time, which is something I rarely do. And that proves how good it is. Looking back, I truly believe that Colin Trevorrow finally became the one to successfully recapture the magic Steven Spielberg had first brought. Going past the original novels of Michael Crichton was not an easy feat, yet made it feel like maybe this would be something he’d write because that’s how creative this was. I definitely enjoyed the score Michael Giacchino here more than I enjoyed Don Davis' from the third because you felt the adventure that was progressing. With that in mind, I was relieved that he stuck around to compose the follow ups after this. This sequel works because it has a better execution on the franchise's original message of how it is never a good idea to control nature because life will always find a way, and technology is no match for that no matter how advanced it becomes. Speaking of which, the excessive amount of visual effects definitely makes the movie more memorable as the dinosaurs look more real than ever. I do respect that there was still a use of practical effects, which was used during the scene of the dying Apatosaurus. Each film always gives us new dinosaurs to behold and of all the new ones, it was mind blowing to see the Mosasaurus. While it looks bigger than it should be, you don't exactly think about that because it makes you terrified of going into the water. Aside from the aquatic behemoth, the visuals are best used on the hybrid Indominus Rex. This was a creature that gave chills throughout because of how sadistic and power hungry it acted. Knowing that it only acted that way because of improper socialization comes to show how zoos should not treat their animals. Maybe it would've been a useful weapon on a battlefield, but only if given the opportunity to properly socialize. Knowing that it had so many traits, it made sense that multiple dinosaurs had to take it down. It never crossed my mind to see a raptor and a T Rex fight together, but I can't deny that it was badass to see. I'm not sure if those two would ever pull it off in their time if provoked by a bigger beast, but I do admire that even they had some form of respect when the conflict ended. The final thing that makes the movie memorable is the performances from the cast. We all remember how hilarious it was when Chris Pratt made a video pretending to get a call from Spielberg that he would get casted for 'Jurassic Park 4'. The video originates from a DVD special feature, for the second season of Parks and Recreation. So when I first heard that the casting was legit, I still thought it was a joke until marketing began. Now that I've seen the film, I believe the actor gives a good performance out of Owen Grady, presenting him as a headstrong person to those he leads, while being empathetic to the dinosaurs (specifically the raptors). Someone like him is the exact kind of person to hire for zoos. Bryce Dallas Howard had her own interesting performance as Claire. Throughout, she is noticed as a workaholic but has to break from that mold to save her family. Her relationship with Owen blossoms because he is able to show her that there is more to the world than relevance. When she saw the Apatosaurus die, she started to appreciate nature and create a newly found confidence to be a better person. While she didn't hesitate shooting a Dimorphodon to save Owen, she was at her most brave when staring at the T Rex face to face. Saying all of this makes her as much of a great protagonist as Owen, aside from running in high heels in an entire day. Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins don't exactly carry the story like the adults do, but they do bring some kind of heart. They were an interesting and brotherly dynamic as Robinson shows off Zach as a levelheaded teen who's uninterested with everything, while Simpkins presents Gray as the younger and hyper brother. They're not sure how cope with their parents' divorce but after what they go through, they clearly create a bond that is stronger than what they had before. Since they survived, I do hope this brought them closer with their parents as well. Jake Johnson made Lowery a memorable character for his own fondness of dinosaurs being intrigued of the failure of Jurassic Park. He ends up becoming relatable because he was self aware that making a hybrid is a bad idea, like Ian Malcolm would. Whatever he's doing after the park's incident, I hope he finds comfort as the world around him drastically changes. The late Irrfan Khan easily made Masrani a likable character because he is more of a kind and scrupulous person. The difference between him and Hammond is that he quickly decided to own up to his mistakes once they happen. And the fact that he tried to handle the situation personally made the respect towards him grow exponentially. He was someone who cared more of doing the right thing than worrying about financial recovery. So when he died, it definitely was a bummer because of how selfless he was. Vincent D'onofrio was another interesting addition to the cast as its human villain Hoskins. He is another person who has good intentions, but acts arrogantly to get things done. Using dinosaurs and hybrids for military purposes sounds interesting, but he chooses to not entirely think it through as in ignores the empathic connection needed to create trust with the creatures. So when Delta kills him, I wasn't phased because he is another one that had it coming. We knew that someone from the first film had to return to keep older fans invested. So it was a welcome surprise for BD Wong to return as Henry Wu. This time around, he is completely fleshed out as a devout person in his line of work. He chose to stay with iNGen after Hammond's death because despite their own different set of intentions, they were able to allow him to innovate. Since he doesn't care what they want, he'll be ruthless if he has to to continue progress. Just because this is the franchise’s best sequel does not mean it didn’t have issues. It is pretty tense for Owen to save an employee who accidentally fell in the raptors’ paddock, due to attempting to catch a loose pig. My question is why would the pig be a big deal if it’s supposed to be a meal for them? If they were low on pigs, that should’ve been acknowledged. I find myself confused on how Gray was the only kid sprinting towards the T Rex paddock when it’s about to be fed a goat. The problem with it is that despite many kids already there, there weren’t other kids rushing over like Gray. T-Rex is described as the most popular dinosaur and I would’ve find the scene more believable if a few more were making a run for it. I want to respect Claire but she makes a lot of bad decisions: she waits three months to get an expert to see the I Rex, not share all the details of its creation to give a better evaluation and calls Larry in the car when she could’ve done it in the paddock. These mistakes do set the story in motion, but had she thought it all true, things would likely have slid easier for everyone. Also, when did Owen get the removed tracker? Having it does help the raptors find the I Rex, but it’d cool to see him find it during his time with Claire. And lastly, the one thing that confused me near the climax is how the said creature does not even try to talk to the T Rex and convince it to kill the remaining humans. Since it talked to raptors, I’m confused on how it didn’t consider on doing that. However, you’ll still enjoy this movie a whole lot. In conclusion, Jurassic World lives up to the hype by resurrecting an old theme and being capable of raising its bar of excitement. If you’re somehow tired of binging the first three, see this one as soon as possible.
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