Film Review: "Jurassic World" (2015).

From the first trailer, the lines "'We have learnt more in the past year from genetics, than a century of digging up bones! A whole new frontier has opened up! We have our first genetically modified hybrid!" We knew that they were at it again for Jurassic World. This science fiction adventure film directed by Colin Trevorrow, co-written by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Derek Connolly, and Trevorrow. It is the fourth installment in the Jurassic Park film series. 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.

A fourth film was initially intended to begin production in 2004 for a summer 2005 release, but endured over a decade of "development hell" (or in this case, near-extinction) as scheduled release dates were pushed back several times, while the script went through revisions with various writers. However, the first signs of life began to show, in June 2011, when it was confirmed that Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver would be scripting Jurassic Park 4. In addition, in March 2013, Universal announced that Colin Trevorrow, director of Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), would be directing the film, with filming to commence in Louisiana at Raleigh Studios in Baton Rouge. As well as the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu. In September 2013, Universal Pictures confirmed the film would be titled Jurassic World and would be released in June 2015. That same month, Bryce Dallas Howard was in early negotiations to play a role, and was cast in early November. By mid-October, Ty Simpkins had been cast and Jake Johnson was being considered for a role. Nick Robinson was cast. But by the middle of November, Chris Pratt was in early negotiations for the lead role. By February, Vincent D'Onofrio had joined the cast. Irrfan Khan was also cast. That same month, Trevorrow confirmed that B. D. Wong would reprise his role as Dr. Henry Wu, and said the character would have a more significant role than in the original film. And there, at last, the film began to take on new life and the rest is now prehistoric cinematic history. 

The film stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, B.D. Wong, and Irrfan Khan. Wong is the only actor from any of the previous films to appear in Jurassic World. The performances in this film were all brilliantly portrayed, despite the some particular flaws with each characters. Such as Pratt's carbon copy imitation of Indiana Jones, Howard's one dimensional female characture, D'Onofrio's stock character, Simpkin and Robinson's underdeveloped characters, Wong's villain characture and Khan's minor role.

Jurassic World is a spectacle of special effects and cinematic nostalgia, with some of the best sequences of sustained awe and sheer terror since Jurassic Park. The film is a colossal entertainment - the eye-popping, mind-bending, kick-out-the-jams thrill ride of the summer. However, one cannot help the fact of noticing that film lacks one or two crucial elements that made the original a classic - fully realized three dimensional characters and a strong human story. Alas, it is still the best sequel of the series.

Simon says Jurassic World Receives:

Also, see my review for Safety Not Guaranteed.