The Facts:

Synopsis: Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitor’s interest, which backfires horribly.

Stars: Bryce Dallas Howard, Judy Greer, Chris Pratt, Ty Simpkins, Jake Johnson, Nick Robinson, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D’Onofrio, BD Wong, Omar Sy, Katie McGrath, Lauren Lapkus, Andy Buckley

Director: Colin Trevorrow

Rated: PG-13

Running Length: 124 minutes

Trailer Review: Here

TMMM Score: (8.5/10)

Review: The original tagline for Jurassic Park was “An adventure 65 million years in the making” and I can summarize my thoughts on Jurassic World with something quite similar: An adventure 65 million and 22 years in the making. After wading through two lesser-than sequels that were equal parts boring and silly, audiences finally are getting the sequel we’ve deserved for the last two decades. It’s not as ground breaking or awe-inspiring as the first film but it comes pretty darn close by going back to where it all started and creating a rarity in filmmaking these days…excitement.

Largely ignoring the events that transpired in The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, Jurassic World feels like the direct sequel to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film and mores the better because of it. Now the film is free from having to explain away “Site B” and the lame San Diego-set finale of the first sequel. From its opening title shot of hatching eggs leading into a clever nod to an iconic image from the original, the movie earns its stripes by introducing us to actual characters this time around, rather than walking meals on wheels destined to become dino chew toys.

Brothers Gray (Ty Simpkins, Insidious) and Zach (Nick Robinson) are leaving their wintery Wisconsin homestead for the warm weather and excitement of the Jurassic World theme park. Gray is a big dinosaur buff but it helps that their aunt Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is head of operations at the dino-themed world of wonder. There’s some thin subplot with the boys and their bickering parents but the film largely forgets about it and so should you.

Claire doesn’t have much time to spend with them because she’s in the midst of securing sponsors for the park’s newest attraction, a genetic hybrid dinosaur cooked up in the lab (governed by B.D. Wong, the only returning character that isn’t from the prehistoric era) as a way to renew interest in the park. You see, the public is bored with dinosaurs now that they are so easily accessible so the park has to reinvent itself every few years to stay financially stable. There’s a heavy amount of product placement in the film but unlike other summer blockbusters the products featured here are there for a purpose, showcasing the rampant consumerism and sponsorship in marketing today.

Fears about the safety of the containment facility of the new species means that Claire has to call on rugged Owen for assistance. Played by Chris Pratt, Owen is a retired army man that has a bond with the four raptors he’s been training and doesn’t have time or interest in the financial stakes of the park. When the clever dinosaur manages to escape (in the first of several gruesome and gruesomely thrilling sequences), Owen and Claire work together to take down the beast on the loose before she makes it to the main section of the park where 20,000 tourists are enjoying fun in the sun.

Admittedly, the media hype surrounding the film has spoiled more than a few of the surprises the theme park has cooked up in the past two decades. From a gigantic water-based dinosaur to the pterodactyls housed in a mountain aviary, there isn’t much the film hasn’t outright shown or hinted at in the ads leading up to the release. But fear not, more than a little of the fun of the film is seeing how it all comes together…and don’t forget this is the island where the original took place so keep your eyes out for well-placed mementos of the past. The finale may borrow a bit from 2014’s Godzilla but I found it to be an adrenaline-fueled reward for those of us that have waited so long for the sequel.

If I’m going to knock the film for anything it’s the violence. Yeah yeah yeah, it’s a PG-13 movie and it’s not as gory as it could have been but it’s simply too frightening to take young children too. Many an unlucky soul is eaten and they don’t always go quietly so I’m urging parents to think twice before bringing their children along with them. The violence isn’t just to humans either and I was a little amazed at how visceral a reaction I had in several dino on dino battles.

I had heard some internet buzz that the CGI was poor in Jurassic World but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s some top-notch creations here and the effects team mixes computer animation and animatronic models with skill, once again blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. From a baby triceratops giving a ride to young children to the fearsome size of the genetically created Indominous Rex there are moments in Jurassic World where I was transported back in time to the first screening of Jurassic Park.

While I doubt any cast assembled could top the original, director Colin Trevorrow has cast the film with some unexpected choices. Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) is a nice, meaty slick of bo-hunk that comes across better in the finished film than he did in a frightfully bad clip released a few months back. I’ve always found Howard to be a bargain basement Jessica Chastain and it’s true her blunt ginger bob is the most severe thing about her, but she too makes for a good female protagonist even if she’s forced to do it in a cream ankle-length sheath dress and high heels. Claims that the film has a sexist tone aren’t totally unfounded, but it feels like it comes from an old-school battle of the sexes place rather than a misogynistic one (helps that the screenwriters are husband and wife).

Making a huge leap from his first film (Safety Not Guaranteed), sophomore director Trevorrow seemed like a random choice when it was announced he was sitting in the director’s chair but credit producer Steven Spielberg (JAWS) with knowing talent when he sees it. Trevorrow keeps things tight and exciting from beginning to end, never letting the audience get ahead of the film and treating them to a bundle of scares and adventure along the way.

I’d waited over a decade for another Jurassic Park movie and wasn’t the least bit disappointed in Jurassic World. It not only honored the film that started it all but made a comfortable place for itself on the shelf next to Spielberg’s history-making effort.