See this movie for the dinosaurs! They're the box office draw. The human characters exist to drive the plot along for their prehistoric mega-stars. These dinosaurs have distinct personalities. Their eyes and movements are impressively lifelike. Director Colin Trevorrow went to great lengths to portray them as thinking and feeling beings. Trevorrow revealed in a post-screening Q&A, that he brought in four actors with distinct temperaments to do motion capture for each of the four key dinosaurs in the story. That plan was effective — these four raptors become your friends as the story unfolds.
Cinematography by John Schwartzman and editing by Kevin Stitt is excellent. Some of the other details of this huge box office success are lacking. The set for "Jurassic World" is old-fashioned and unremarkable for what is supposed to be a state-of-the-art World of Dinosaurs — in fact, the shoot location chosen for those scenes was an old abandoned amusement park near New Orleans. The original "Jurassic Park" musical theme by John Williams pounds out repeatedly in the beginning. I would rather have heard it as a distant low-key melodic refrain slipping through at key moments. The overdramatic track is sometimes distracting.
Many of the human characters could have used more development, and some story threads are dropped. The style is inconsistent: action thriller, comedy, parody? Bryce Dallas Howard's uptight marketing exec never takes off her spike heels — even when she's running for her life. Huh? Chris Pratt creates a charismatic if predictable hero, always maintaining a little laugh behind his eyes even when the situation is dead serious. Jake Johnson as a hapless, beleaguered control room guy, seems to be the only really grounded person in the park. I would like to have seen more of his character. We never really get to know the two ubiquitous "Disney film kids." Irish actress Katie McGrath, as the strict British nanny who totally loses control, was one of the more intriguing players. She's in a huge dramatic scene and we never see her again, though it's not entirely clear if she met her end — another thread dropped that could have added human interest. But then, this movie is about the dinosaurs, and it's a thrilling "E Ticket" ride in itself.
If you've been to Yellowstone National Park, or perhaps Africa, you know there are places where "the tables are turned" and you are the guest in the animals' world. "Jurassic World" will give you that experience. And although it's set in a completely fantastical milieu, the film presents the troubling point that there are people so addicted to the power of making a huge profit that they will sacrifice morals and humanity in order to do so. In this story it seems the animals have more integrity than some of the humans.
This is definitely a movie worth experiencing. In the end we are set up for a sequel ... and I won't be a spoiler and tell you who's left on the island.
Rated PG. 124 minutes.
Kathryn Whitney Boole was drawn into the entertainment industry as a kid and never left. It has been the backdrop for many awesome adventures with crazy creative people. She now works as a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. Reach her at kwboole@gmail.com. For previously published reviews, see https://kwboole.wordpress.com.
