The island of Isla Nublar appears and the music begins to play. The Jurassic Park melody is arguably one of the most known and loved theme songs in the whole film industry. The fourth film in the franchise, Jurassic World, directed by Colin Trevorrow, hit the big screen June of this year. The movie made an astounding $511.8 million opening weekend - it appears that people have missed the dinosaur-infested island of Isla Nublar.
The movie takes place 22 years after the events of Jurassic Park in a new fully operational park called “Jurassic World” built on the foundation of Jurassic Park. Raptors and T-rexes no longer draw the crowds, so modified hybrids are created to bring in new business. The Indominus Rex, a new genetically hybrid dinosaur made up of the DNA of T-Rex and several other undisclosed creatures, is created to increase interest in the park.
The movie’s plot is based on the park manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and velociraptor expert Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) running around the island searching for Claire’s two nephews, Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) Mitchell. Meanwhile, the Indominus Rex has escaped from captivity and is on the loose trying to kill everything and everyone in the park.
As expected, Jurassic World is a movie about giant, freakish, unidentified dinosaurs that eat people. Jurassic World makes great use of recent advances in cinematography. The animatronic dinosaurs are more detailed, more lifelike — and scarier. New sound systems make their roars deeper and louder. IMAX projection grabs the audience and brings them right inside the park. Once inside the park, however, the storyline never fully develops, leaving the audience with unanswered questions and a desire for more.
The plot is predictable and lacks suspense. The audience can easily anticipate who is going to get killed and who is going to live. Survival of the fittest has no bearing on Isla Nublar. If you are nice and pretty, you are likely to survive. On the other hand, the outcome is not as positive for those with less favorable intentions - such as the military contractor who only wanted to use the dinosaurs for military purposes.
There are holes and unexplained details within the storyline that leave the viewer confused. It is difficult to tell if Jurassic World is meant to be a sequel or a remake of the original Jurassic Park. Jurassic World has flashes that take the viewer back to the original movie not only through the musical score, but also in several scenes with hidden elements longtime fans of the franchise will notice. One scene shows the former Jurassic Park Visitors Center now overgrown and covered up by the jungle. The references are present but the connections are never explained.
The movie begins with the parents of brothers, Zach and Gray, struggling with divorce. The parents drop the two brothers off at Jurassic World to allow them to get away and come to terms with the divorce. This is as far as the subplot progresses. At the end of the movie the family unites and leaves together but we never know if the parent’s marriage will be saved or end in divorce. The stage is set in the beginning of the movie but is never developed and the audience is left seeking closure.
Jurassic World fails to fully develop its female character, Claire. The audience cannot decide if Claire should be considered one of the heroes in the movie or simply one of the characters that is lucky to be alive. Claire starts off as a strong career-minded businesswoman, but by the end of the movie appears naïve and helpless. In one of the final scenes Claire appears to be strong, and tricks a T-Rex into chasing her while in her high heels. Claire leads the T-Rex into a battle with the Indominous Rex but then quickly finds herself lying on the ground amongst the fight for no apparent reason. Her character turns into a damsel in distress, and her previous strong heroic persona is lost. The audience wants her to be the hero, but again the story does not develop her character.
Jurassic World will not win an Oscar or receive critical acclaim. But that was not the intention. It is a summer movie meant to entertain families. Jurassic World meets expectations in that it is a dinosaur, action-packed movie with great special effects. It misses an opportunity, however, to develop a compelling story with characters that leave a lasting impression on the audience.