An adventurous journey to the Spielbergian world of chaos and carnage
A Potpourri of Vestiges Review
By Murtaza Ali
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
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| Jurassic World (2015) - By Colin Trevorrow |
Our Rating: 7.5
IMDb Ratings: 8.0
Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan
Country: USA | China
Language: English
Runtime: 124 min
Color: Color
Summary: Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitor's interest, which backfires horribly.
Jurassic World is a 2015 American sci-fi adventure film directed
by Colin Trevorrow. The movie’s screenplay is co-written by Rick Jaffa, Amanda
Silver, Derek Connolly, and Trevorrow himself. Jurassic World stars Chris
Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D'Onofrio, B. D. Wong, Ty
Simpkins, and Nick Robinson in major roles. The fourth installment in the Jurassic Park film series, Jurassic World is a direct sequel to the Steven Spielberg
directed Hollywood blockbuster Jurassic Park (1993). The film is set twenty-two
years after the disturbing turn of events at Isla Nublar—an island
off the coast of Costa Rica—which had forced John Hammond (played by the great
English thespian and filmmaker Richard Attenborough), the founder and CEO of
bioengineering company InGen, to abandon the theme park he had so painstakingly populated with
ingeniously cloned dinosaurs. It’s been ten years since Hammond’s vision of a dinosaur
theme park finally became a reality. The new park is named as Jurassic World
and is owned by the Indian business magnate and dinosaur enthusiast Simon
Masrani (Irrfan Khan) who has not only nurtured Hammond’s dream but has also taken it to
a whole new level.
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| Chris Pratt as Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing |
Masrani’s team of bioengineers, led by none other than the
genius scientist Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong reprises his role), have made
tremendous progress in their research and are now able to genetically splice the
dinosaur DNA at will with that of various other species, giving rise to a
hybrid breed of dinosaurs. Masrani sees it as good business as these new varieties
of dinosaurs tremendously add to the attraction of the park and keep the
visitor rates from declining. So far, so good, but, for how long can one
continue to bend the rules of nature? Sooner or later, we must all pay the
price for our greed! It’s an eventuality that Masrani and men must be well
prepared for. For, according to Murphy’s law, “anything that can go wrong, will
go wrong”. Things finally go out of control when Dr. Wu and team come up with a
T. Rex hybrid in a bid to fulfill a corporate mandate. Voila! We are transported
back to the Spielbergian world of chaos and carnage as the theme park slowly
takes the form of a ticking time bomb, ready to go kablooey at any given moment.
In a race against time, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a Velociraptor expert and
trainer, and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), the operations manager of
Jurassic World must set aside their past differences and join hands to stop the impending doom that
awaits them all.
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| Indian actor Irrfan Khan as Jurassic World owner Simon Masrani |
Jurassic World is everything it is supposed to be and more.
Needless to say, there is action, adventure, fun and frolic, and loads of creepy
dinosaur mayhem. As one would expect, Jurassic World employs cutting edge CGI
and VFX and the excellent 3D effects make it an experience of a kind. There’s
no denying that these technical factors make it quite unique in comparison to
its predecessors. While the movie fails to match the cinematic brilliance of
Spielberg’s epic dinosaur extravaganza, Jurassic World nonetheless manages to fulfill
its promise of being a perfect Hollywood summer blockbuster. Late American film
critic Roger Ebert wrote in his review of Jurassic
Park: “The movie delivers all too well on its promise to show us dinosaurs. But
consider what could have been. There is a scene very early in the film where
Neill and Dern, who have studied dinosaurs all of their lives, see living ones
for the first time. The creatures they see are tall, majestic leaf-eaters,
grazing placidly in the treetops. There is a sense of grandeur to them. And
that is the sense lacking in the rest of the film, which quickly turns into a
standard monster movie, with screaming victims fleeing from roaring dinosaurs.”
Ebert was perhaps more interested in the possibility of a constructive interaction
between the humans and the dinosaurs. It’s good to see Jurassic World finally
take a few steps in that direction—as evident from the scenes wherein Chris
Pratt’s character tries to train the Velociraptors.
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| Owen Grady trains the Raptors in Jurassic World |
Overall, Jurassic World can best be described as a visual feast for
action-adventure enthusiasts. But, the movie does offer some nice and punchy
one-liners. Perhaps, the best ones get delivered by Simon Masrani, the most impactful
being: “The key to a happy life is to accept that one is never in control.”
Then there is one delivered by Dr. Henry Wu: “Monster is a relative word; to a canary,
a cat is a monster… so far we humans were used to being cats.” Jurassic
World in addition to being a high octane summer extravaganza also serves to be a
relevant critique on growing consumerism and corporate excess and mocks the human
desire for profit. While the theme part is a manifestation of the human desire,
the T. Rex hybrid certainly represents its worst side. The acting performances
in the movie range from average to good. While Irrfan Khan makes his presence
felt in the limited screen time he gets, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard add
a spark to the movie with their solid performances. The rest of the cast does a
decent job of supporting them. Jurassic World is a highly entertaining piece of cinema that takes
us on an adventurous journey to the long forgotten Spielbergian avenues of madness
and confusion, thereby allowing us to relive our childhood memories. Highly
recommended!
Readers, please feel free to share your views/opinions in the comment box below. As always your feedback is highly appreciated!
References:
1). IMDb
2). Wikipedia
Jurassic World (2015) Trailer
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Too much info. There should have been a spoiler alert in the beginning of the review. If you give out quotes and scenes from the movie on the day of it's release... what left to see?? :-/
ReplyDeleteSeriously? All these are basic plot setting details... the real movie only starts after that (and the quotes and the scenes don't reveal much about the actual action and chaos that happens... I haven't even mentioned anything bout the Indominus Rex). Since this is direct sequel to Jurassic Park, I had to lay a premise in front of the readers. Besides, movies like Jurassic Park are watched for their visuals, action and adventure and not for their story!
ReplyDeleteWho watches which movie for what reasons cannot be decided upon by one person.To each one his/her own. A spoiler alert in the beginning would have solved the problem.
ReplyDeleteSpoiler Alerts will be in place only where there is a need for them and it is the author's prerogative and not the readers'. I hope I have made myself clear!
ReplyDeleteHi Murtaza, nice review as usual but I can’t agree with the post produced 3D in this film. It was a letdown for me. Not only did the screen size shrink (perceptively) but aerial scenes of the theme park looked like miniature shots. Pratt’s scoped rifle looked stunted and toy like. This caveat aside, I thought the film was well done for its visuals and effects. Unfortunately, I had no other option but 3D as JW is still packed in cinemas and I suspect will continue to draw the public in for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid I missed your comment... my apologies. I think you have certainly raised a valid point about 3D. To be frank, I personally am not a very big fan of 3D but I can tell you from my personal experience (I am no expert) that the effect of 3D actually varies from screen to screen. Perhaps, I should do a research of my own and try and explore its various nuances.
ReplyDeleteP.S. It's always a matter of great pride for me to receive positive comments from an accomplished film critic like yourself.