Alex Reviews Jurassic World - The Least Awful Sequel

Now it may seem odd to have spent so much of this review on how Jurassic World fits within the wider franchise, but that's very much what Trevorrow is putting the focus on. All of the social commentary may provide an interesting backdrop to the opening half hour, but Jurassic World is really built on its audience's nostalgia for the original. Entire sequences are direct lifts from Spielberg and the film is constructed to look as if it was the work of the master.

For the most part this is a solid approach, playing with expectations and managing to replicate some of that oft-sought childlike wonder. A standout scene is the actual park reveal; the classic theme is teased out as the characters go through various sanitised settings - welcome centres, elevators and hotel rooms - before actually getting to the dinosaur action, highlighting how packaged the place has become. And yet for all the potential subtext this creates, in relying so much on past works the film sacrifices one of the biggest things that made the original work; a sense of realism. You're too aware that this is a film that you can never fully invest in the relatively well-acted horrors.

What a surprise, then, that the effects just about pick up the slack. From the first trailer the CGI has looked shaky at best, yet on the big screen it's all pretty impressive. Isla Nublar is (mostly) a real backdrop with fake elements, as opposed to a fake environment with a real real people running through it, so there's an unexpected viscerality to many of the actions sequences. These help the film realise the franchise's most relatable death, finally relating the terror of being attacked by prehistoric beasts in a personable way.

It's not quite as polished as it could be though. The editing, particularly in the pterodactyl sequence, is rather choppy, with characters appearing seemingly out of nowhere and the passage of time not quite making sense. Odder still is the treatment of Vincent D'Onofrio's security chief; he's framed an important antagonist, but his story is wrapped up far too quickly, making it feel like several key character scenes were cut for time. These are niggles, as opposed to movie-ruining holes, but they highlight how, for all its reverence, World lacks Spielberg's midas touch.

I wager that without the rush of nostalgia (an emotion that has rarely been used successfully to build a good film) Jurassic World would only just hang together. It does bring its own things to the table - Chris Pratt riding a motorbike as raptors run alongside him is a genuinely thrilling moment - but they're overshadowed by its reliance on not only classic iconography, but structure. It's an odd mix that only works with a dose of self-awareness; the fun finale is at once a joyous celebration of the franchise's ideals and a contrived showdown dripping with cheese.

The first Jurassic Park is held in such high regard because it works irrespective of context. You can watch it twenty years after release and still feel the same sense of encompassing wonderment that a prehistoric-obsessed seven year old would have in 1993. Jurassic World is a film that can entertain, but is unlikely to have you in awe of the dinosaurs; the countless moments of fan-boyish joy are tinged with an underlying sense that it's all a bit silly.

And while the very notion of bringing dinosaurs back to life as a theme park is silly, you're never actually meant to notice that.