Jurassic World is the 2015 reboot of the Jurrasic Park franchise starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins, Katie McGrath, Irrfan Khan, Judy Greer, and BD Wong (reprising his role from the original movie). In an era of reboots for both movies and TV shows, it was really only a matter of time before it happened to Jurassic Park. In this movie, the site of the original park on the island of Isla Nubar is rebuilt and opened as Jurassic World. Apparently, nobody learned at InGen a lesson from the events of the first three movies and are hell-bent on creating a dinosaur zoo, which goes about as well as you expect it to. The only legacy character that appears in the movie is BD Wong's Henry Wu, who is still making new breeds of dinosaurs, which again, goes about as well as you would expect.
The crux of the story is that Park Operations Manager Claire (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) needs to "reinvigorate the public's interest" in the park. Her nephews Gray (Ty Simpkins) and Zach (Nick Robinson), fly over to visit her and get a tour of the park, but she is too busy and passes them off to her assistant (played by Supergirl and Merlin's Katie McGrath) and, of course, they get in mortal danger when things hit the fan. Chris Pratt plays the male lead, Owen, who is a velociraptor trainer, who butts heads with everyone in charge at the park, including Claire. None of the other legacy characters like Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm, or Ellie Sattler appear, although one of Ian's books is on display in one of the early scenes. The movie does have some nice tie-ins that pay homage to the original movie, some that are very obvious, and others you have to be kind of sharp-eyed to spot.
For those who get the blu-ray set, the movie looks and sounds great, as you would expect. The A/V quality is wonderful. The extras include deleted scenes, a featurette titled "Chris and Colin Take on the World" is an in-studio conversation with actor Chris Pratt and director Colin Trevorrow, a featurette titled "Dinosaurs Roam Once Again" about the updated special effects used here, a thirty-minute making-of documentary titled "Welcome to Jurassic World" that includes interviews with executive producer Steven Spielberg and producer Frank Marshall, a featurette titled "Jurassic World All-Access Pass" takes a closer look at the design of the park itself, Chris Pratt gives a brief tour of the park's visitors' center, and finally a featurette titled "Jurassic's Closest Shaves" that include attack scenes from all of the movies in the franchise.
Overall, the movie is good. It is not as good as the original 1994 movie, but I think it is somewhere between Jurassic Park II and the original movie in terms of quality. The characters make a lot of bad decisions, as they always seem to do, and there is the really goofy scene of Bryce Dallas Howard running from a dinosaur in heels. Even though you have to give her credit for being able to sprint in heels, it is pretty cheesy. And, of course, the movie continues to play into the myth that a T-Rex (yes, the T-Rex makes an appearance) cannot see you if you stand perfectly still. But there are a lot of good action scenes, Howard and Pratt have really good chemistry, and if you do not nitpick it to death and just enjoy it, it is well worth watching.
For those who get the blu-ray set, the movie looks and sounds great, as you would expect. The A/V quality is wonderful. The extras include deleted scenes, a featurette titled "Chris and Colin Take on the World" is an in-studio conversation with actor Chris Pratt and director Colin Trevorrow, a featurette titled "Dinosaurs Roam Once Again" about the updated special effects used here, a thirty-minute making-of documentary titled "Welcome to Jurassic World" that includes interviews with executive producer Steven Spielberg and producer Frank Marshall, a featurette titled "Jurassic World All-Access Pass" takes a closer look at the design of the park itself, Chris Pratt gives a brief tour of the park's visitors' center, and finally a featurette titled "Jurassic's Closest Shaves" that include attack scenes from all of the movies in the franchise.
Overall, the movie is good. It is not as good as the original 1994 movie, but I think it is somewhere between Jurassic Park II and the original movie in terms of quality. The characters make a lot of bad decisions, as they always seem to do, and there is the really goofy scene of Bryce Dallas Howard running from a dinosaur in heels. Even though you have to give her credit for being able to sprint in heels, it is pretty cheesy. And, of course, the movie continues to play into the myth that a T-Rex (yes, the T-Rex makes an appearance) cannot see you if you stand perfectly still. But there are a lot of good action scenes, Howard and Pratt have really good chemistry, and if you do not nitpick it to death and just enjoy it, it is well worth watching.
