Jurassic World

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Full disclosure, I have never seen a full Jurassic movie before.  But I have seen parts of them, and I dare say that "Jurassic World" carries on the tradition with well-executed epicness.

I had heard a while ago that this movie was coming out and my first reaction was, "World?  Seriously?  All the movies nowadays keep trying to be bigger and better."  Ironically, that's a theme in the movie, but I won't give too much away in case you haven't seen it.  (And it is BIG.  But is it better?  I don't know!)

My other reaction to the trailers was apprehension.  The tension of waiting for people to die is tough on me and I didn't think I could handle it.  Certainly, there are "explicit," if you will, death scenes.  You watch people die.  And sometimes it's sad and sometimes it's downright unfair, but most, though not all, of the deaths were faced bravely and/or in the line of doing one's duty and beyond, and a person can really respect that.

It's about doing one's job.  It's about family.  It's about compassion.  It's about respecting animals.  The popular theme of "using this as a weapon in war" comes up, yet again, in this movie – you can be the judge of whether it's been overused or not.  I found it credible.  SPOILER:

I'm glad that, so far, our heroes are true American heroes and reject that notion.

SPOILER ALERT:

Both the characters and the casting for them were amazing.  Chris Pratt, quickly becoming a favorite of mine, plays Owen – a man out of the Navy and a nature-respecting velociraptor "trainer."  Bryce Dallas Howard plays Aunt Claire, a higher up in the park's management who is a little too distracted to notice family or care about the dinosaurs as animals, but ultimately she has a heart of gold.  They don't particularly like one another, but when danger threatens the park, Owen and Claire go on a mission to save her two nephews from a danger they will soon meet face to teeth.

I was overjoyed to see Jake Johnson appear in this film as a prominent character – not only was he prominent but he was a respectable, lovable voice of reason.  A little nerdy, a little too down to earth for the "office," his character Lowery stands to the last for the good of the dinosaurs and to support the others.  He's also funny, which can at times be just a change of pace because he's one of the few characters who isn't too serious.

The other characters had many facets, and I was especially intrigued by the park's owner, who at first seemed like an admirable guy but who turned out to be a fool, if a brave one.

(For the following, please consult the "Movie Points" list in the sidebar.)

I want to only take off half a point for plot because there are a few developments I have to raise a skeptical eyebrow to, but overall, I was extremely satisfied with the storyline and mostly even the character development.

The morality in the movie is laudable but SPOILER the boy's parents are getting a divorce.  It's so minor in the movie, however.  Owen does swear three times, but I thought it was appropriate to the circumstance.  Overall, I only take half a point for "immorality."  Mostly, good ethics and morals are promoted by this movie.

As for theatrics/drama, I don't think you'll be disappointed.  I am often critical of CGI but I believed every moment of this movie.  Perhaps an audience with more experience of dinosaur movies would disagree, but I was very satisfied with visual believability.  Furthermore, the climax did not disappoint.  It was unbelievably epic and brought all the tension and power to a peak right at the crucial moment.

Rating: D (watching people get eaten may be too much for some children)
Points: 9/10, full satisfaction points

~Meggy