'Jurassic World' looks like low-to-mid-range Spielberg
It鈥檚 been 14 years since the last of the three previous 鈥淛urassic聽Park鈥� movies, so you can鈥檛 exactly accuse Universal Pictures and Steven聽Spielberg of racing to cash in with 鈥淛urassic World.鈥�
Not much has聽changed in the interim, aside from the fact that Colin Trevorrow, with聽only one small prior movie to his credit, has replaced Spielberg as director, although in terms of its thrills and graphic design, it still looks聽like a low-to-mid-range Spielberg effort.聽
The world in 鈥淛urassic World鈥� harks back to Spielberg鈥檚 1993 original, dispensing with the back story of the two previous (and much less聽successful) entries.
The dinosaur theme park, located on a Costa Rican island聽reachable by big boats, resembles a cross between the Universal Studios聽tour and a mini-Epcot Center. Tourists mingle with genetically engineered聽herbivore dinos; the main attraction is a sea monster that shoots up out of聽his aquarium tank to gobble a great white shark dangling from a hook in midair. (Too bad the guys in 鈥淛aws鈥� didn鈥檛 know about this.)
Thrill-wise, it鈥檚聽all rather benign, which is why a secret project is about to unleash a scary聽new聽T. rex聽鈥� Indominus rex 鈥� that hopefully will boost attendance.
Into the great maw of Jurassic World troops teenage Zach (Nick聽Robinson) and his geeky younger brother Gray (Ty Simpkins). Their aunt聽Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) manages the place but, aside from getting聽them VIP passes, doesn鈥檛 really keep an eye on them. She wears high聽heels in the jungle 鈥� that should tell you all you need to know. She also聽has an abrasive connection with former Navy stalwart and raptor wrangler聽Owen (Chris Pratt) that can only mean one thing 鈥� romance ahead! 聽
Alas, their chemistry, as inevitably they flee Indominus and Co., is聽something of a fizzle, and the two boys are never sharply enough defined聽to make us care if they get gobbled or not. And since we know they won鈥檛聽be, the tension with these two is even slacker. But Trevorrow and his co-screenwriters (Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly) do bring聽some nice low-key touches to the thudfest, and action is satisfying, if not聽galvanizing.
It鈥檚 nice to know, too, that in the intervening 14 years,聽corporate greed 鈥� personified here by Vincent D鈥橭nofrio鈥檚 bad guy, who聽wants to convert the raptors into superdrones 鈥� is as ripe as ever. And聽speaking of greed, let鈥檚 see if it takes another 14 years for the聽sequel.
Grade: B- (Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril.)
