JW is the fourth film in the series, and this time they've actually built the whole park on Isla Nublar and opened it to the public, specifically two boys. The younger boy is excited by everything; the older one only gets into it once the dinosaurs escape and start chasing them.
There are many references to the disaster of the original film. Although John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is dead the new Indian billionaire owner also believes the aim is not to make money but to teach people to revere nature. However, he inexplicably leaves the day to day running to a frosty young lady who is in the pocket of the shareholders and sponsors, demanding bigger and bigger thrills. This is an obvious parallel to the franchise itself, which is seeking bigger thrills to excite the jaded audience. Hence Indominus Rex, a genetically modified T-Rex, and loads of CGI.
Apart from being about dinosaurs, JW is about family. The mop-haired younger boy works out that his parents are getting divorced, which means the brothers have to depend on each other even more. There is a strange series of scenes with some girls smiling at the older boy and him trying to look tough, until he stops chasing girls to look after his brother. Bros before Hos. There's dinosaur families too. Chris Pratt is a soldier who specialises in training Raptors. I was pleased to see he uses a clicker which is common in animal training to signal the animal has dome something you want, although I've never seen anyone hold one in such a macho way, side-on like a pistol. It's gangster behaviour training. The raptors just about do what he says, because he respects them and they respect him.
Spoliler alert! - towards the end of the film these raptors meet the Indominus Rex, but after smelling each other and a bit of dinosaur-barking they decide not to attack it. This is because they somehow recognise that the Indominus has raptor DNA in. This is stupid for several reasons. Firstly, how would you recognise shared DNA? Secondly, shared DNA sequences are common: we share DNA sequences with chimps, sheep and even bananas. Thirdly, if for some reason dinosaurs don't attack those with the same DNA why do the two T-Rexes fight each other?
In the end though, the Raptors decide that their bond with badass Chris Pratt is stronger, as although he's not genetically related to them, he has looked after them since they were born. In a way, he's their real Dad. This is a bit like the moment in nearly all films with aliens or artificial intelligence, where it is shown that nothing is stronger than human compassion. Here it is shown that nothing is stronger than human-dinosaur compassion. It's a touching moment.
There are a few good visual highlights in the film, such as when the big fish-dinosaur jumps out it's tank, and when all pterosaurs escape. The worst special effect is when a raptor is flung against a wall and explodes, like a car that's fallen off a cliff.
There are many lowlights. Whereas Jurassic Park cleverly explained about dinosaur DNA and everything else in a way that made you empathise with the characters as they explored, in Jurassic World you are clumsily told things that you don't need to know. Who cares that the hamster balls are made of toughened aluminium? JW also uses the old I-have-enough-phone-signal-to-call-you-but-not-enough-to-hear-you-clearly gimmick no less than three times in the first hour. Three times! This device should be limited to a maximum of once per movie, or given some sort of warning with the certificate. PG-12, contains scenes of mild terror and frequent phone calls cutting out at key moments.
The Indominus escapes it's enclosure, by masking its heat signal using the fact that is has DNA from a frog that can mask infrared heat. It can also camouflage because it contains DNA of cuttlefish who can disguise themselves. This is nonsense. It was a nice idea in Jurassic Park for female dinosaurs to switch genders as nature finds a way but now they've taken it to far. Is the Indominus going to start flying because it has some strands of pigeon DNA?
My final gripe is with a very odd scene when the two boys are on the run and discover the old Jurassic Park control room, and steal a jeep. The older boy constructs a torch to help him light the way for about 30 seconds. Each stage of the torch construction is carefully illustrated. First he finds a bone, then a stretch of cloth to wrap around it, then finally he asks his younger brother "Have you still got those matches?". The younger boy looks confused, as you would, as the matches have never been mentioned before. But then astonishingly he does produce a small box from his bumbag. Why on Earth would a 10 year old boy be carrying matches in his bumbag for a trip to Jurassic World? And, even more oddly, why did the film-makers feel the need to meticulously explain the origin of the matches? Couldn't they just have been found on a bench? It wasn't even important that they made a torch. When they get to the jeep and need to repair it, the older boy then whips out another hammy line "Do you remember when we fixed up Grampa's old truck?"
Overall then: good special effects, and an interesting idea about training raptors, but pretty poor otherwise.
