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'€˜Jurassic World'€™ claws its way back to top

The Indominus rex dominates all creatures in her path in Jurassic World

Hans David Tampubolon (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, June 14, 2015

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'€˜Jurassic World'€™ claws its way back to top

The Indominus rex dominates all creatures in her path in Jurassic World.

When Steven Spielberg produced and directed Jurassic Park back in 1993, the movie was immediately considered one of the greatest cinematic works of all time.

The movie, which centers on genetically cloned dinosaurs and is based on the novel of the same title written by Michael Crichton, was considered the pioneer in using computer graphic imagery (CGI) and animatronics that resulted in hyper realistic modelling of dinosaurs.

Two more sequels followed '€” Jurassic Park: The Lost World (1997) and Jurassic Park III (2001). These movies achieved box office success just like the first installment but did not gain the same critical acclaim, with critics finding the storytelling in the sequels too repetitive.

And 14 years later, Spielberg, now as an executive director, presents another sequel: Jurassic World.

Jurassic World takes place 20 years after the events that took place in the original movie. In Jurassic World, Isla Nublar '€” the island located near Costa Rica that became the prime location of the original movie '€” has become a fully functioning dinosaur theme park.

The park is now owned by Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), chief executive officer of the Masrani Corporation. He inherited the park from John Hammond, who built the original park, and like his predecessor, he is portrayed as a capitalist with a balance of views on profits and idealism.

Masrani knows the park is facing challenges as dinosaurs no longer fascinate people as they used to. As a result, he orders park operations manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and chief geneticist Henry Wu (BD Wong) to create a brand new dinosaur that is '€œbigger and has more teeth'€ than any other dinosaur. Briefly speaking, Masrani wants the park to feature the most badass dinosaur ever.

To deliver on Masrani'€™s request, Wu genetically combines the genetic materials of Giganotosaurus, Rugops, Majungasaurus, Carnotaurus and Velociraptor. The results is indeed mind blowing.

The newly created dinosaur has an appearance that resembles the legendary monstrous Tyrannosaurus Rex. In addition, it also has the cunning intelligence of the Velociraptor and to make it even more lethal, it has the ability to camouflage its 15-meter-long frame like a chameleon in the depths of the forest and the ability to adjust its body temperature to evade heat sensors.

Chris Pratt stars as behavioral researcher Owen.
Chris Pratt stars as behavioral researcher Owen.

Despite the new dinosaur'€™s deadly attributes, Dearing decides to give it an unassuming, simple and silly name. She calls it Indominus Rex and in her argument, she says she chose the name because she believes the kids who visit the park can easily remember it.

Indominus Rex is so highly intelligent and unpredictable that Dearing decides to keep it locked in a very secure containment area before finally displaying it to the public.

Masrani inspects the containment area and then asks Dearing to have Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a former navy man who trains Velociraptors in the park, to have a look whether the security measures to keep Indominus Rex in containment were enough or not.

Meanwhile, Dearing'€™s nephews '€” Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) '€” are visiting the island on a holiday.

What happens next is easily predictable, especially for those who have watched the previous movies and the official trailer.

Indominus Rex escapes the containment area and terrorizes every living thing in the park and through this rampage of terror, the main cast does their best to outsmart the smart dinosaur and survive.

CGI has developed a lot in the last 14 years and Jurassic World cost nearly US$180 million to produce. With this in mind, it is fair for audiences to expect a spectacular display of special effects in depicting Indominus Rex'€™ reign of terror throughout the park.

To be honest, the CGI does not disappoint at all. It manages to present a realistic imagery of the modern and technologically advanced park along with near perfect and very lively representation of dinosaurs.

The final epic battle between the Indominus Rex and the Tyrannosaurus Rex is intensely jaw dropping and is probably one of the best CGI-developed battle scenes to have ever been choreographed.

The CGI, in short, is definitely one of the strongest points of Jurassic World but it is not the main aspect that makes the movie so refreshing and, in a way, so fun to watch.

The strongest point of Jurassic World is, remarkably, director Colin Trevorrow'€™s success in developing various human characters. In fact, the humans are the movie'€™s main highlights, not the dinosaurs.

Other than Indominus Rex and the enormous aquatic Mosasaurus, most of the dinosaurs in Jurassic World have pretty much been featured in the previous movies. The Velociraptors are still the cunning and smart hunters while the Tyrannosaurus Rex is still the alpha of all carnivorous dinosaurs. There is really hardly any room for improvement for their characters.

(From left to right) Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) roam among the dinosaurs.
(From left to right) Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) roam among the dinosaurs.

The humans, however, are amazing. Each of them manages to present different characters, good and bad, to which we can all emotionally relate.

From the protagonist side, the best characters are Zach and Gray. The brotherly love evolution developed throughout the movie is heart melting. Zach, who initially shows little attention to his little brother Gray, steadily shows more affection and that older brother protective instinct as the movie progresses.

The romance that takes place between Grady and Dearing is also beautifully crafted. As a couple, they show great chemistry as individuals who are completely different without having to fall into relationship clichés.

As for the antagonists, the most awesome baddie character is Vic Hoskins (Vincent D'€™Onofrio). Among the cast, he shines the brightest in portraying a sick military megalomaniac who has this crazy idea of controlling the dinosaurs as soldiers.

What makes him interesting is the fact that although we know he is the bad guy, we cannot help but agree and sympathize with him in some of his arguments.

Director Trevorrow also gives a sweet touch by taking devoted audiences of the franchise down memory lane by revisiting some old locations in the park that were featured in the original movie.

He also manages to reintroduce the franchise to both old timers and a new generation through a proper movie that tells a complete story '€” not just another CGI extravaganza.

If Jurassic World were a dish, it would be a dish perfectly served with well-balanced ingredients.

'€” Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

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Jurassic World (Universal Pictures, 124 minutes)

Directed by Colin Trevorrow

Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D'€™Onofrio, Ty Simpkins

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