Susan Granger’s review of “Jurassic World” (Universal Pictures)
This fourth installment in the “Jurassic Park” franchise, based on Michael Crichton’s best-seller, is back on track as a terrifying creature feature.
22 years after the tragic events of the original “Jurassic Park,” Isla Nublar, that island off the coast of Costa Rica, has become Jurassic World, a dinosaur theme park with safari-like excursions, rides on baby triceratopses, and a petting zoo.
CEO Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) is a visionary whose scientists, led by Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong), are preparing to introduce their newest attraction: a fiercely ferocious, genetic hybrid called Indominus Rex.
That doesn’t sit well with wise-cracking wrangler Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a “dinosaur whisperer”/behavior specialist, who has been training a quartet of velociraptors to obey his commands.
But constant improvements are necessary, stresses Operations Manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), whose visiting nephews (Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins) have just arrived.
“The park needs a new attraction every few years to reinvigorate the public’s interest, kind of like the space program,” Claire explains.
Problem is: Indominus Rex escapes from her paddock, destroying everyone and everything in her path.
And that’s just what a scheming military contractor (Vincent D’Onofrio) has been waiting for. He’s eager to see if trained velociraptors can trap the renegade reptile and, in the future, be weaponized to augment troops in battle.
Under the obvious supervision of Steven Spielberg, working with writer/producers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver and co-writer Derek Connolly, director Colin Trevorrow (“Safety Not Guaranteed”) stacks the emotional stakes while propelling the imaginative action-adventure – with nods not only to the 1993 original but also to “Indiana Jones,” “Jaws,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Birds.”
With “Guardians of the Galaxy” under his belt, Chris Pratt is the hero-du-jour, while Bryce Dallas Howard is the formulaic damsel-in-distress, forced to run for her life in “ridiculous” high heels.
But the real stars are the marauding digital dinosaurs, swooping pterodactyls, and Indominus’s adaptive camouflaging ability.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Jurassic World” is an exciting 8, a reinvigorated thrill ride.
