3.5 stars. Rated PG-13, for intense sci-fi violence and peril
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 6.12.15
We never learn.
Which is a good thing ...
because, otherwise, where would Hollywood find most of its plotlines?
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| Having managed one narrow escape after another, our besieged heroes — from left, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), Owen (Chris Pratt), Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) — wind up trapped in a lab when yet another dino-menace appears out of nowhere. These poor folks just can't catch a break... |
In a few key respects, Jurassic
World is an honorable sequel to the sensational 1993 film that Steven
Spielberg made from Michael Crichton’s riveting, way-clever novel ... not to
mention Spielberg’s almost-as-good 1997 follow-up, adapted from Crichton’s own
sequel. (Equal credit also goes to scripter David Koepp, who worked on both
films.)
We’ll just sorta pretend that the
series’ third entry, in 2001, never happened.
Which also seems to be the
attitude adopted by this new film’s director, Colin Trevorrow, and his three
co-writers: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver and Derek Connelly. Jurassic World does
acknowledge the first two films with several nice nods toward those who
sculpted this franchise so superbly. Even Michael Giacchino’s exhilarating
score references key John Williams themes from the two Spielberg movies.
Visual effects supervisors Tim
Alexander and Glen McIntosh also do phenomenal work, further enhancing the “you
are there” verisimilitude that made the first film such a jaw-dropping wonder.
It’s no imaginative stretch at all, to accept these various beasties as living,
breathing ... and highly dangerous.
Trevorrow and editor Kevin Stitt concoct
a hell-for-leather third act, with each suspenseful encounter and/or chase
building to an even better one. Additionally, the script is laden with
perceptive social commentary, taking some well-deserved jabs at our jaded 21st
sensibilities, while reminding us anew that — to paraphrase a droll 1970s TV
commercial — it’s not nice to mess with Mother Nature.
Sounds great, right?
Well ... not entirely.
Despite its many virtues, Jurassic World is marred by an abundance of unpleasant, mean-spirited and
just plain stupid characters who spend the entire film behaving like complete
idiots. On top of which, Trevorrow seems to have coached everybody to play at
hyper-melodramatic, back row/third balcony opera house levels.
That’s frankly surprising, since
Trevorrow’s sole previous credit is 2012’s droll Safety Not Guaranteed, a
little sci-fi mystery that gets its oomph from being so deliciously coy, subtle
and quiet.
So why switch gears here? Did
Trevorrow worry that his human players had to compete with their dino co-stars,
when it came to chewing up the scenery?
Whatever the reason, it’s hard to
like or admire most of these characters, including the few whom we’re
definitely supposed to root for. Brainless behavior demands the opposite; I’d
have been perfectly content to watch a few more become dino-chow.
