Picture Copyright: Universal

Movie by Colin Trevorrow
Venue: M2K Rohini
Date: 1 June, 2015

The dinosaurs are back. In their bigger, better and much more fierce version to the big screens in Jurassic World. The fourth part of the 90s smash hit Jurassic Park came back after a gap of 10 years with an all new star cast and theme. But does it have the wow factor of the original movie – well we doubt that!

The film is about Jurassic World, an amusement park where dinosaurs are kept in their natural habitat but are available for people for viewing through glass walls and gyrospheres. But due to an accident, a genetically-modified dinosaur escapes and since it was kept in complete isolation for years, it starts destructing anything and everything that comes its way. Stuck in this roller coaster are two kids and their aunt who are saved by a trainer with a special bond with dinosaurs.

Though it’s not a bad film, one can easily make out, it’s not directed by Steven Spielberg. He is involved as one of the producers but the magical touch of his direction is completely missing. Jurassic World has lost its novelty for sure but what is more disappointing is that it fails to entertain us in that scary, jaw dropping manner that we expect from the series. It is difficult and somewhat annoying to sit in the cinema hall with 3D glasses on watching all sorts of monstrous creatures chasing humans with high tech weapons. Further a lot of technological advancements and CG and a new breed of genetically modified Dinosaurs add masala but contributes very little to entertainment.  There are some parts of the film that are impressive but liking this sequel on the whole isn’t as effortless as the previous editions of Jurassic Park franchise.

First half has very few shots of dinosaurs. Perhaps this is deliberate. We kept waiting for them to appear from somewhere crushing somebody or something but apart from a couple of scenes, they are mostly there in terms of the sound effects of their feet thumping the ground or the moving trees in the forest and that is how they make their presence felt. But slightly before the intermission, Mosasaurus -The park’s resident underwater dinosaur jumps out of water to grab his food. This is super WOW. It made the kids shout with joy and awe. The splash of water made us feel drenched from head to toe – A complete paisa wasool moment. It raises our hopes again and we look forward to the second half.

In the second half the mayhem starts when the dinosaurs escape the park boundaries and starts running and flying from all directions destroying property and killing park visitors apart from of course the leading cast. Owen – The trainer (Chris Pratt) is a looker but doesn’t impress with his acting at all. Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) who plays the tech savvy operating manager of Jurassic World is very unimpressive. Even after she tore her clothes and turned into Tarzen’s Jane, she offers very little conviction in her role. Kids are just about ok and so is Irrfan Khan. He is as plain as in most of Indian films. We never expect a lot from him anyway. We wonder what’s the hoopla about him being a part of this film. Indians are everywhere from business to politics in west and obviously Hollywood. Big deal?

Maybe Jurassic World has a new story but it never felt like one. It’s again human beings verses nature just like previous versions. Why can’t we have a conflict of two different but both “right in their own way ideologies” of human beings in saving or cohabiting with the dinosaurs?  We would like to see a Jurassic Park sequel where human beings are not the villains or in fact there is no villain at all. But then maybe Barjatyas will have to direct it. Only they have the mastery in making films without any villains.

Are we up for a Sanskari T Rex…  🙂