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| Title: | Jurassic World |
| Director: | Colin Trevorrow |
| Starring: | Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, BD Wong |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure/Family |
| Runtime: | 2 Hours 04 mins |
| Music: | Michael Giacchino |
| Studio: | Universal Pictures |
| Certificate: | US: PG-13 UK: 12A |
| Release Date: | US: Jun 12 2015 UK: Jun 12 2015 |
| See If You Like: | Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones |
It’s been 22 years since the doors first opened at Jurassic Park. Now, with two questionable sequels under its belt, the franchise has been dusted off and scaled up in the brand new terrifying Jurassic World.
Set in a world where a child riding on the back of a baby Triceratops is just as normal as stroking a lamb at a petting zoo, Jurassic World has taken the idea of Jurassic Park to a staggering new level.
Now run by the eighth richest man in the world, Simon Misrani, the Park is home to 15 varieties of dinosaurs, all grown from test tubes in the lab.
But even though Jurassic World attracts 20,000 visitors a day, the owners still want more. And so a new breed of dinosaur is born – the Indominus Rex. Mixing the DNA of the infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex and some other undisclosed animals, this genetically modified hybrid is the park’s most impressive ‘asset’ – and also the most dangerous.
Of course, if you’ve seen the original 1993 film, you’ll know that park life isn’t as safe as it first seems and it’s not long before there’s an ‘asset out of containment’ wreaking havoc on the visitors.
Although the dinosaurs are the true stars of the film, there are some human counterparts to help them along the way.
Our leading lady is played by Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help) as controlling operations manager Claire, who shows that even though she’s sporting a sharp haircut and lives a rather robotic life, she can still tie up her blouse like a bad ass and run through the jungle in heels – this girl is ready for action.
Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) heads up the macho side of the film, playing an Indiana Jones inspired ex-Navy animal trainer (seriously, all he’s missing is the hat and the whip), who has been working with the terrifying Velociraptors. And it’s this dynamic that is the most interesting.
With a pack of four raptors, for the first time, the animals are all given names – there’s Blue, Charlie, Delta and Echo and low and behold, Owen is the group’s Alpha. Clicker training them like dogs with treats, Owen explains that he doesn’t control the raptors – they have a relationship of trust and respect.
In fact there are a number of moral issues running throughout the feature, from whether dinosaurs should be used as weapons to treating the ‘assets’ as living, breathing animals. But one of particular interest is the manner in which the dinosaurs are created. There have been many complaints over the accuracy of the appearance of the dinosaurs in the films over the years, but that is all explained by returning scientist Dr Henry Wu (BD Wong) who states that by using the genetic codes from other animals to fill in the blanks in the ‘Dino-DNA’ the dinosaurs will never look the way they did in prehistoric time.
But Dr Wu isn’t the only returning reference from the 1993 classic. Throughout the film there are gentle nods to Jurassic Park, from a branded Jurassic Park T-Shirt bought on eBay by one of the staff members to the night vision goggles used in the first T-Rex encounter, fans of the original will be left with a certain nostalgic feel.
And don’t worry; the famous T-Rex does make an appearance in Jurassic World. After all it wouldn’t be a Jurassic film without her!
But it’s the new Indominus Rex that really steals the show. At first you only catch a glimpse of the beast as it hides in the bushes of its enclosure. But once you see it in all its glory, it’s absolutely terrifying.
Another horrifying sequence sees a woman swept up into the air by a Pteranadon before being plunged into a pool where another sea beast is lurking. But before it can get to her, the Pterandadon is back to retrieve its prey. Screaming as she’s thrown back up into the air and down again into the water, it’s like a prehistoric version of water torture and one that shows the true barbaric nature of these creatures – a Triceratops ride suddenly doesn’t sound so appealing…
Although there’s some heavy CGI, the bones of the original still shine through with Executive Producer Steven Spielberg’s signature puppetry. Somehow the idea of an actor being able to physically touch and interact with an animal on set, even if it’s a prop, is more believable than knowing it’s all been created by computers.
Still, in a summer where we’ve seen the Avengers battle a robotic man in Age of Ultron and California destroyed in San Andreas, the CGI is up there with the big boys.
And every image is spectacular, from the tiny claw and beady eye of a baby dinosaur egg hatching in the opening sequence to the aerial shots of the flying predators picking off their prey – not forgetting of course the film’s ferocious finale, it’s definitely worth seeing on the big screen.
Hold onto your butts kids, the Jurassic Park franchise is back from extinction.
Michelle Norris – @Shell_Norris.
Verdict: |
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Buy from Amazon.co.uk | Buy from Amazon.com |
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