Asset Out of Containment

Have you tried not cloning Dinosaurs?

Spoilers Ahead





So, how awesome was Jurassic World? Answer: Pretty damn. It doesn't match the original, since nothing can, but it's at least on par with Lost World and better than JPIII - and this is coming from someone who loved both of the sequels.

Actually, one of the things that still had me tilting my head in confusion was the complete lack of mention of the fate of Isla Sorna and Site B. JW goes back to the showroom of Isla Nublar where InGen - now a subsidiary of Masrani Global - has finally gotten Hammond's dream up and running successfully for years. They've caught THE original T. rex, are working on training programs for the Raptors, and in fact Dinosaurs are becoming pretty old hat.

So of course they genetically modify a brandy new species that they know nothing about nor they can control that has bits of the most deadly creatures in the fossil record in order to keep things interesting. This goes about as well as you'd expect.

Just goes to show - you should ALWAYS listen to Jeff Goldblum.

Our newbie, the Indominus rex, doesn't quite look up to what has been hyped - but how could it, really? Despite all the animals that officially went into it, it looks more like a messed-up Allosaur. Although this was never addressed in the movie, I still think that thing has human DNA (opposable thumbs are a dead giveaway).

The new characters are interesting enough. Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire gets some good character development, and most of the others feel well-rounded enough (or at least not complete cut-and-paste from the previous films). Chris Pratt's Owen strays a bit into cliché "badass manly man" for my taste, but he has some genuinely funny moments and I adore his relationship with the Raptor pack. Oh yeah, I love the raptors in this movie: Blue, Charlie, Delta, and Echo really drive home how these are actual animals rather than just monsters (though they do let their predatory instincts shine).

The ending is actually kind of unrealistic and fanservice-y, but I found myself not caring one bit because it hit all of my nostalgia buttons perfectly and, blatant appeal as it was, it still fit in plot-wise, and I do feel as if there's room for yet another story if they feel they can do it justice.

Oh, and for all the paleontologists crying that the animals are stuck in the '90s without updates based on what we've discovered since then, this film gives us a version of Wu's excellent speech in the first original book about how if the owner really wanted the animals as natural as they claimed, they'd look completely different; They're explicitly engineered to what the public expects.

Again,if you're a fan of the series, then this should not disappoint one bit. Look for a holographic cameo by a "nice dinosaur" and a reference to who really should have won JPIII's battle of the titans.

Open Paddock 9!


P.S. to all other reviewers, THIS IS A SEQUEL, NOT A REBOOT! Get your terminology straight for the love of cake.