Verdict: ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫

In Jurassic Park, people and bratty kids were dropped on an island, learned about genetics bringing extinct species back, and were chased by dinosaurs.

In Jurassic Park 2, people and one bratty kid were dropped on an island, chased dinosaurs, and dinosaurs were dropped in San Diego.

In Jurassic Park 3, people were dropped on an island looking for a bratty kid and were chased by dinosaurs.

Now, in Jurassic World, people and their bratty kids visit an island, spend lots of money on souvenirs, learn about genetics bringing extinct species back and get chased by dinosaurs.

The circle is complete.

Jurassic World is a vacationing theme park that I would have loved to visit. Everything I dreamed Jurassic Park would have been when I saw the first flick, this movie brings it to life! And you’re right there with all the tourists holding dino-shaped balloons and sipping soda from a Jurassic World cup, seeing the bored, young employees mumbling “Enjoy the ride.” with every flip of the switch, and watching Megalodon gobble sharks and saddled triceratops babies carry kids around in the petting/riding zoo. The luxury resort on the hill opens up its balconies to epic vistas of Isla Nublar that you never got to see in the first one. It’s awesome and fun! But behind the scenes, there’s always the corporation watching the bottom line, and focus groups’ figures show that people are getting tired of dinosaurs.

Time to make some new monsters! Enter Dr. Henry Wu (an older, more sophisticated looking BD Wong) the brilliant geneticist who’s been with In-Gen since Jurassic Park. A scientist without empathy or emotion, Dr. Wu loves gene-splicing and he’s so preoccupied with whether or not he could that he doesn’t stop to think if he should. Just like old times! This time around, the boss sent him an email that said, “Give me something bigger, cooler and with more teeth.”

M’okay. How’s Indominous Rex sound to ya? Bigger. Cooler. And much more teeth! Oh, and it’s highly intelligent and bound to give parents nightmares, let alone kids. Looks good on In-Gen’s quarterly statement, right? Unfortunately, no one in In-Gen’s corporate structure listens to the people who work closely with these animals… that they are animals and not just “assets”. So they’re all surprised, yet again, when the “assets” get out and start doing what they do best: hunt… eat… and be wild animals.

The problem is… it’s not any ordinary “asset” this time. It’s the Indomious Rex.

Jurassic World, directed by Colin Trevorrow (who didn’t have much on his resume when he was chosen to helm this ship) is a call back to the original movie that changed Hollywood forever. JP1 was an amazing movie, steered through science and the future of genetics, the danger of thinking we’re in control of Nature, all masterfully crafted by the hands of Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton. Trevorrow forgets the second two movies even happened (thank God), pretty much accepts that Dr’s Malcom, Sattler and Grant never set foot in Jurassic Anything again and drops the movie 20 years after the events of JP1. There is no history of the second two movies ever having existed, however, there is lots of history harkening back to the first movie’s story, including Dr. Wu himself who has been busy in the lab. You’ll have a blast seeing some of the relics found in the “old park” as they call it.

In-Gen knows how to clean up after itself, that’s for sure. The problem is it keeps making messes. In-Gen security chief Vic Hoskins (I’ll always call him Gomer Pyle, Vincent D’Onofrio) struts around and grins like the guy you never want a cubicle next to, and pretty much figures the team of velociraptors that Owen Grady (Chris Pratt in full Indiana Jones mode) raised would be a perfect toy soldier in World War Three’s battlefield simply because they’re trained to do a few tricks. Meanwhile the park’s operations manager, Claire Dearing (an extremely perky but dangerously sharp Bryce Dallas Howard) has in mind that everything is under control with the push of a button or the call on a cell phone. She runs a taut ship and even dresses down an employee for wearing an old “Jurassic Park” shirt. This is a new era, after all, and it’s Jurassic WORLD now. Forget the past, this is the present. Everything’s different. We’re in control and the mistakes of the past are simply that.

Right? Right??

She’s amazing at running a park when everything works. Unfortunately, she’s not so ready for another mess and In-Gen is great at messes! That’s why they’ve got their own military ops division… to clean up messes. But even more unfortunately, this is no ordinary mess. They’ve created a monster… not a dinosaur. A monster with capabilities none of them were ready for because the genetic information it was created with is highly classified, even to the park’s owner. It’s bigger than they thought it’d be. It’s smarter than they thought it’d be. It never had a mommy or anything to cuddle it, and thus it knows nothing of nurturing. And now it’s out of its cage and racing across Isla Nublar killing everything.

This movie is a beautifully done popcorn monster flick with no apologies. All the thrills you got from the first movie are front and center and brought to the table differently. There are jump moments so be prepared! There are also softer parallel stories (the two boys whose parents are divorcing, the history and friction between Claire and Owen) that sort of act as glue to keep everything together. All in all, the movie is well balanced and paces smoothly.

A word on music, Michael Giacchino (Cloverfield, the new Star Treks and now Inside Out) took John Williams’ brilliant original score and kept it solidly original, including the fun flute notes and energetic melodies. It was like Mr. Williams never left the studio and was there smiling the whole time. I enjoyed it very much, not only for the sake of the movie’s pacing, but also for the nostalgia. I highly recommend just leaving JP 2 and 3 off your shelf and seeing 1 and 4 instead!