Jurassic World
Director: Colin Trevorrow Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Chris Pratt, BD Wong
124 mins; Class PG;
KRS Releasing Ltd

As Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), operations manager, shows some potential sponsors around the lab at the state-of-the-art dinosaur island theme park Jurassic World, she comments that in order for the theme park to remain viable, new attractions need to be added to keep the tourists coming before the novelty wears off.

That also seems to have been the remit for director Colin Trevorrow, who has taken over the job of rebooting the franchise spawned by the enormously successful original released in 1993 and he has fashioned a bigger and certainly louder dinosaur-themed rollercoaster ride… but not necessarily a better film than its progenitor.

Twenty-two years after we met John Hammond (played, of course, in the original by the late Sir Richard Attenborough), and his vision to create a theme park where people could experience actual dinosaurs, Hammond’s dream has finally become a reality and Jurassic World, situated on an island near Costa Rica, is fully functional, playing host to 20,000 visitors daily.

With the park’s new owner, Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) seeking to keep the venue vibrant and exciting, genetic scientists led by Dr Henry Wu (BD Wong, the only surviving Jurassic Park cast member) push the boundaries ofscience to create the Indominus Rex, a dinosaur hybrid that promises to be the park’s most exciting attraction yet. They keep its genetic make up classified and the scientists have little idea what this creature is capable of.

When the dinosaur escapes her high-security pen, mayhem o ensues and Claire has to call in Owen (Chris Pratt), an expert in animal behaviour who is conducting a study with the park’s velociraptors, to try and anticipate what the Indominus will do next.

At its most basic, Jurassic World’s plot – dinosaurs go on a rampage and cause major destruction – is simply a re-thread of what has gone before, Jurassic Park parts 2 and 3 included. This is what the film does best, however, plot and character being rather thin.

Its cautionary tale of science meddling with nature and the admonishment of the big bad corporate world’s exploitation of the dinosaurs are touched on in passing; the film itching to start flexing its admittedly colossal CG muscles.

Trevorrow, hand-picked by Spielberg himself, has Tyrannosaurus-sized shoes to fill, and it has to be said that he has done a terrific job of setting up a number of thrilling set pieces.

However, unlike the park’sscientists who create the utterly terrifying new dinosaur, he brings nothing new to the mix. Scene upon scene of the brutal and rather bloody carnage wrought by the marauding creatures does threaten to bring on the dinosaur fatigue that the park’s operators are so desperate to avoid.

The characters are a little too broadly sketched to engage

Granted, it was going to be impossible to recreate the sense of mind-blowing awe induced by the original.

That said, however, when I re-viewed and reviewed the original Jurassic Park for an anniversary piece a couple of years ago, it brought back strong memories of the sense of wonder and on seeing authentic, living, breathing dinosaurs and the pure fear once hell broke loose. Key to those feelings was that the protagonists shared them with the audience.

That Trevorrow throws in certain images that are clearly intended as an homage to both original film and its director. But they only serve to evoke the nostalgia – using a flare to attract a dinosaur’s attention, the obligatory view-of-dinosaur-in-side-mirror; even Bruce from Jaws makes a brief ,if fatal, appearance.

Yet, nothing comes close to matching the abject terror brought on by the infamous water-vibrating-on-dashboard shot, or the velociraptor attack in the kitchen.

The characters are a little too broadly sketched to truly engage with them on an emotional level, especially when they are in peril. Pratt’s credentials as a leading action man with a comic bent are secure.

He certainly looks the part and he has a way with his lines that will provoke a chuckle or two, but there is little for him here to chew on.

Howard is a little damsel-in-distressy, not helped by her inappropriate business attire – which does admittedly get to be the butt of a couple of good jokes – although it must be said she does get her chance to kick some dinosaur butt when needed.

Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson as Claire’s nephews on holiday as a break from the trials of their parents’ divorce are a little samey; while Vincent D’Onofrio, as an agent from private security firm InGen that is seeking to weaponise the dinosaurs, is one moustache twirl away from being a cartoon villain.

No matter its flaws, Jurassic World certainly ticks all the right boxes to provide a couple of hours of escapist, spectacular summer entertainment – as witnessed by the film’s record-obliterating €500 million international opening weekend.

Further sequels are inevitable, but the challenge to future filmmakers in the franchise remains for them to refute Claire’s claim that “no one’s impressed by dinosaurs anymore”, before it becomes a reality.

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