Review: ‘Jurassic World’ is fun enough that you can ignore most of its flaws

Posted on June 19, 2015

By MARK VIOLA

“Jurassic World,” which picks up the adventure 22 years after the events of the original “Jurassic Park,” is a solid summer popcorn movie, with great special effects, a seemingly endless supply of dinosaur-related action sequences and even a few characters (well, one) you actually care about.

“Jurassic World” works pretty well on its own, and movie-goers don’t need to know much at all going in other than the fact that there was a place called “Jurassic Park” and a bunch of people got eaten by dinosaurs. In this one, we soon learn that sometime later, they built a new park on the same island, this time without the people getting eaten part (at least for the first 30 or so minutes of the new movie). That being said, while no main character returns this time around–BD Wong does reprise his character of Dr. Henry Wu–fans of the original will find plenty of Easter eggs hidden throughout “Jurassic World,” which provides some extra fun.

The new characters are pretty two-dimensional and it’s easy to determine from their first scenes if they’re a “good” guy or a “bad” guy, although that could also be said for pretty much all of the films in the franchise. I recently gave “San Andreas” a very hard time for its lack of characters and the resulting lack of tension–one of my main issues with “Jurassic Park III” by the way–and the same complaint could be lodged against “Jurassic World” to a degree–there was no resulting lack of tension. Truthfully, from the moment the action started until the closing scene, the movie managed to get its claws in me and held on to such a degree that I was almost physically tired upon leaving. And yes, that is huge compliment for a movie like this.

“Jurassic World” is far from a perfect film, but it does the most important thing a summer popcorn film can do. It is fun. Simple as that. It also keeps the tension level up despite the generic characters and the predictable story line. That alone is nearly a Herculean task.

Although it is not as good as the original, it did remind me of the wonder I felt upon going to see “Jurassic Park” in a theater when I was 12. There were no bathroom breaks this time, so I can’t say if there were any crying children outside or not.

The film is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril.

(This is a shortened version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

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