Jurassic World – good to have the dinos back

Another sequel to Jurassic Park, one of the most beloved films of all time, the idea filled most with half hope half dread. Another JP3 could be the final bullet to the head for our favourite dinosaurs, or could someone with skill possibly recapture even a little bit of that original magic? Luckily while although (expectedly) not a patch on the original, Jurassic World should see hard-core fans pleased, with enough references to the original with little cynicism and all the fun of what a summer blockbuster should be.

22 years after the ill-fated Jurassic Park failed to open due to an ‘incident’ the island off the coast of Costa Rica is finally getting some good luck, with the park now fully operational and packed full of tourists. Park manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is trying to juggling her visiting nephews and also her boss who wants to see their new attraction, the genetically modified horror-dinosaur Indominus Rex, a dinosaur so frightening they hope it will reinvigorate interest in the park, as people have now become a bit complacent to boring old T-Rexs. As expected things go wrong, and what secret genetics were used to create Indominus allows it to escape, followed by carnage, this time with crowds. Luckily Velociraptor tamer Owen (Chris Pratt) is on hand to lend his expertise, despite the meddling of the pesky InGen Corporation, intent on seeing what capabilities dinosaurs could have in a warzone.

There’s plenty of story going on, and a lot more characters than were used to. While some aren’t fleshed out too well, the overall movement of the film and the combining of threads work well. The InGen military side is rushed, possibly as the filmmakers are hoping a sequel might need them more, but it stops the film rehashing the same story again and finds a way to make the franchises most overused element, the Raptors, used in a fresh way.

Director Colin Trevorrow, on only his second film, clearly has love for the franchise, with plenty of references to the original while never overdoing it. What he can’t recapture in the big set pieces, as by now we’ve all seen way too many special effects to be amazed, he manages to recapture in the smaller moments, making the mid-section set pieces where the dinosaurs are seen less the most entertaining. He also manages to put in some of the comedy he used so well in his debut feature Safety No Guaranteed giving, some small but nice moments to Jake Johnson.

It’s not all good; the kids are awful, with a throwaway line about divorce for whatever reason we never know. The leads are only ok; confusingly with actual innocent park tourists dying around them they still find the mood light enough for witty quips at each other.

It’s a really good three star film, but I’m being generous because it’s got feckin dinosaurs in it.

UPDATED 7 JULY 2015 – I actually will take that fourth star off as it’s one of the worst offenders of product placement I’ve seen in cinema.

3 out of 5