JURASSIC WORLD (Rated PG-13)
Memory loss can sometimes be a good thing. This is particularly true when failing to remember inferior movie sequels, such as the first two that followed the success of Steven Spielberg’s original adaptation of the Michael Crichton’s novel with 1993’s “Jurassic Park.”
While we’re at it, I could just as easily forget the misfire of the three “Star Wars” prequel films that followed the great trilogy that began in the summer of 1977, when George Lucas was on top of his game.
It’s hard to imagine, but there’s a real chance that Disney’s upcoming Episode VII of “The Force Awakens” will be a welcome relief. So if the Magic Kingdom can work wonders, returning to the essence of “Jurassic Park” can do the same 22 years later with “Jurassic World.”
What’s terrific about “Jurassic World” rests not just with the spectacular special effects. The return to the basics of Spielberg and Crichton’s original blend of science fiction and boundless imagination is nicely realized in the fantasy world of a theme park filled with spectacular yet previously extinct creatures.
Jurassic World is a fully operational luxury resort, situated on an island off the coast of Costa Rica, where thousands of guests explore the wonder and brilliance of the most magnificent living prehistoric marvels and interact up close with them every day.
Overseeing every nook and cranny of the theme park is the career-driven Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), who finds herself unexpectedly saddled with the responsibility for her visiting nephews, the surly teen Zack (Nick Robinson) and younger sibling Gray (Ty Simpkins). Claire’s not exactly the nurturing type.
The most appealing central character is Chris Pratt’s Owen, an ex-military expert in animal behavior working at a secluded research base on the periphery of the main park. Given his role in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Pratt is most fitting as an Indiana Jones-type of adventurer.
Owen is years into a training study with a pack of aggressive velociraptors, over which he’s established an alpha relationship that balances the animals precariously between reluctant obedience and predatory revolt.
Willing to upset the wobbly balance and harmony of nature is the billionaire benefactor Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) who’s employed Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong), a geneticist of dubious ethics, to engineer a genetically modified dinosaur that has never walked the Earth before.
The secretive new breed designed to attract more inquisitive visitors to Jurassic World is the massive and mysterious Indominus rex.
Tourists have become jaded with docile dinosaurs roaming around freely. Kids hitch rides on gentle triceratops. The giant whale that swallows dangling sharks whole is like a Sea World attraction.
The park owner wants to satiate the public appetite for more thrills and danger, and Indominus rex may be the answer. The hybrid dinosaur is bigger, badder and with larger teeth eager to chomp on the domesticated prehistoric creatures as well as the two-legged park visitors.
Moreover, the Indominus rex is not only cruel (it devours its sibling), but highly intelligent as it fools its human minders in a brilliant escape from a seemingly impenetrable walled-in holding pen.
Meanwhile, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Hoskins, a security contractor, has problematic intentions as he appears mostly preoccupied not with human safety but trying to harness the incredible power of the dinosaurs as military weapons.
Not surprisingly, “Jurassic World,” just like its predecessors, gets its adrenaline rush from the perils that lurk to threaten key characters, here namely Claire’s nephews who are blithely rolling around the countryside in a gyroscope when all hell breaks loose.
It’s up to former Navy man Owen to step into the role of the hero, teaming up with the impeccably dressed and coiffed Claire to rescue the kids. The only thing Owen is missing is a fedora and bullwhip, but his action hero status doesn’t really require the use of any props.
In typical Spielberg fashion, there’s satisfying family bonding that emerges from the wreckage of rampaging dinosaurs. Claire grows more protective of her nephews, who are coping with the unfortunate circumstance of their parents getting a divorce that will fracture the family.
There is also the obvious moral story that tinkering with nature to create a new dinosaur made up of spare parts and questionable DNA is an act of playing God that is not going to end well.
What is likely to end well is a box office bonanza for the studio that has produced a thrilling action adventure story fueled by very impressive computer-generated special effects.
“Jurassic World,” an almost formulaic reboot of the original film, delivers the action goods in dazzling manner.
Put in other terms, the “Jurassic Park” franchise roars back to relevance with plenty of thrills and chills in the supremely breathtaking awe of the terrific dinosaur mayhem of “Jurassic World.” Fans of the original should be gratified by the exciting results.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
