Jurassic World

I saw this movie three months ago, which is to say this isn't going to be a super high-quality in-depth review. I write these reviews for fun, and I haven't been feeling the fun for the last few months.

-----

My comment when I saw this movie on the schedule for this year was "It might not suck." I am happy to report that it does not in fact suck. This is not a movie without problems, but it is definitely the best Jurassic movie since the original Jurassic Park. Wait, that's not a very high bar - instead, let me say that it's probably that only nostalgia makes me indecisive about which movie was better.

Jurassic World ticks off all the boxes that a sequel to Jurassic Park should - it has enormous scale, lots of dinosaur-related action, and an obvious moral message about the hubris of mankind. It manages references to the original without being too heavy-handed about it. It has lots of little easter eggs which are fun if you notice them but not required to enjoy the film. The producers clearly understood that the velociraptors were the best part of the original movie, so they gave them a co-starring role.

A large part of the reason the movie works as well as it does, though, is the human star, Chris Pratt. He was fabulous in Guardians of the Galaxy, and he's great here. You know a character resonates with the public when people are imitating one of his poses all over social media. He's charming, dashing, and heroic. The character is, unfortunately, also a throwback sexist.

At this point, I have to admit that the movie's main character is supposed to be Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire. However, her character is appalling. She is strong-corporate-woman-with-no-time-for-family who becomes damsel-in-distress who becomes self-sufficient-woman-who-still-needs-a-man in a "character arc" about learning to care for family and life above work. It's 50s-era retrograde sexist nonsense, and ignoring it as much as possible is how I retain fond feelings for this movie.
It does pass the Bechdel and Mako Mori tests, but the fact that it does so mostly exposes the flaws in those tests, not the quality of the movie.

So, ignoring that, this is a fun action movie which will benefit from the largest screen you've got and a good sound system.

Performance: 3.5/5
Plot: 2/5
Production: 4.5/5
Overall: 3/5
Bechdel: Pass (B)
Mako Mori: Pass
What are these?

Fun Movies

1. Avengers: Age of Ultron (4.5)
2. Mad Max: Fury Road (4.5)
3. Pitch Perfect 2 (4)
4. Jupiter Ascending (3.5)
5. Jurassic World (3)
6. Tomorrowland (2.5)
7. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2)
8. Insurgent (2)
9. Blackhat (1)

Serious Movies

1. American Sniper