“Jurassic World” is a must-see

Uzma Rentia, Staff Reporter

“Jurassic World,” the fourth installment of the renowned Jurassic Park, opened in theaters on June 12, 2105 to great commercial success, to say the least. It has currently made over 524 million dollars, and counting. In my opinion, this movie was the most gripping of the series. The animations and graphics were captivating and more than realistic. However, the movie did have some glaring issues, from unaddressed plot lines and subtle hints of sexism.

“Jurassic Park” is set 22 years after the first film. An new park, Jurassic World, has been running successfully on the previously uninhabitable Isla Nublar. However, in order to attract more guests, billionaire owner, Simon Masrani, wants to create a bigger, crueller, dinosaur. Thus, the Indominus Rex is born, an amalgamation of T. Rex, raptor, and a host of other non-prehistoric animals. The animals it is comprised of inadvertently give the Indominus various methods to evade capture, such as being able to camouflage itself . Ultimately, through its abnormally high intelligence, the Indominus tricks the park manager, Claire Dearing, and Velociraptor trainer, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), into letting her out of her cage. Meanwhile, Dearing’s two nephews are running loose in the park – with no one aware of their whereabouts. This sets the ball rolling for the remainder of the film. Dearing and Grady attempt to take down the unrelenting and seemingly indestructible Indominus, all while trying to locate Dearing’s nephews, the angsty teenager Zach and precious tween Gray.

In general, ‘Jurassic Park” was beautifully done. Though the eventual outcome was predictable, many of the scenes had me gripping the edge of my seat. Interspersed, and occasionally intertwined, between scenes of gore and battling dinosaurs was some of the best animations of dinosaurs that I have ever seen. The depiction of Mosasaurus was especially realistic, and in many ways, the most intimidating dinosaurs of the film. Additionally, the bond that Grady and his Velociraptors had was very “How to Train Your Dragon”-esque and gave the movie an interesting edge. Watching Grady struggle to maintain the trust between him and his pack as the latter’s loyalty shifted to the Indominus was perhaps the most suspenseful part of the film.

Despite the many positives of the film, there were some choppy plot lines and aspects of the film that would have been better off dropped. Mid-way through the film, Gray begins tearing up over the impending divorce of his parents, yet moments later, he is completely fine and the plot point was never brought up again. Additionally, the character of Vic Hoskins, head of InGen security who wants to use Grady’s Velociraptor’s for military use, was too much like a more headstrong version of Nerdy from the first film. Not to say that the hostile relationship between Grady and Hoskins was not a plus to the move, put the makers should have made Hoskins a less irritating characters.

All previously mentioned issues are minor drawbacks to an otherwise great movie, however, the worst offense “Jurassic World” commits is its depiction of women. It felt as though we had regressed, rather than progressed, from 1993, when ‘Jurassic Park” came out. The first film’s Ellie Sattler was a strong women who could hold out on her own perfectly fine without Dr. Alan Grant. She wore practical shorts and shoes and delivered some of the most empowering lines in any movie, such as “women inherit the earth” and reprimands one of the male characters for implying that women are not good with directions. Claire Dearing, on the other hand, attempts to run from the Indominus in heels and is later mocked for it, makes all the wrong decisions, spends most of the movie relying on Grady to be her savior; Grady at one point more or less tells her that he is in charge and she must listen to him.

Despite errors, some minor and others glaring, “Jurassic World” is still a must-watch. With its amazing animations, superb acting, and refreshing characters, “Jurassic World” bound to be the summer movie of 2015.