Jurassic World (2015) Directed by Colin Trevorrow. Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins. IMDB says: “Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitor’s interest, which backfires horribly.”

Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Jurassic Park is one of my favorite films of all time. It’s thrilling and funny, populated with great characters (I even named my dog after Miss Sattler), a special effects landmark that still looks better than most CGI creations of present day, and it is possibly the movie I have rewatched the most in my lifetime. I’m sure most of you reading get it and even if it’s not your favorite film would agree that it’s a classic. The next two sequels – The Lost World & Jurassic Park 3 – not so much. There are a few bright spots among those films but overall they never quite manage to recreate the greatness and wonder of the first Jurassic Park film. When the new sequel Jurassic World was announced amid a sea of other franchise films and sequels, I didn’t find myself mustering a whole lot of enthusiasm for the project. After the first trailer, I was anticipating the film but reserved. It was difficult to tell how this new story would fit in so many years later and if it would add anything to the already muddled franchise. But, it has dinosaurs…so…I’m there.

The greatest thing about the Jurassic films (besides a shirtless Jeff Goldblum) has always been the dinos. We don’t live in a world with such alluring creatures so the movies provide an ultimate outlet of fantasy for every kid that was convinced they would grow up and be a paleontologist and dig in the dirt and find bones (Was this every kid or just me? Did anyone else have that archeology / paleontology unit in school and sit there thinking “Who wants to look at old pots when there are frickin’ DINO BONES just lying around out there?”) Sorry for rambling but I’m trying to introduce the plot to Jurassic World – I swear it. In the Jurassic Universe, they create dinos and it obviously did not go well. But now that there is the ability to create dinosaurs, do you think they’re just going to let that go when there is potential to make loads of money? Of course not! You gotta capitalize on that childlike wonder! Money is the root of all evil here as it becomes the main motivator to continuing Dr. Hammond’s dream of creating a prehistoric theme park with a very exciting main attraction. Jurassic World is born and grows over the years as customers demand more. Much like an actual theme park, the patrons are incentivized by new thrills and as a result, the head honchos of JW are forced to continuously innovate. This leads to the creation of the park’s first completely genetically modified ‘hybrid’ dinosaur. It doesn’t go smoothly.

The plot is more expansive but that is the jumping off point. All throughout the movie we are introduced to different parts of the park and the main characters that populate it. You get the perspectives of a dinosaur enthusiast, an animal handler, a company big wig, an Ingen contractor, a young kid there for the first time and an old teen who is just so over it. The roster of characters feels overloaded at times but it ultimately is a nice way to explore the area with various lenses. The story took a few turns I didn’t expect (for better or worse) and was also peppered with a number of big action sequences, suspense driven moments and a few jokes that land. I can recall about three times where I took a brief moment of mental inventory during the movie and thought to myself “Yeah, I’m truly enjoying all of this.”

I was having such a good time at the park that I didn’t have time to complain. With the exception of a few slightly bloated, unnecessary bits (for example the former dating experience between the two attractive leads or the brotherly bond between the younger duo) Jurassic World does a lot of things right. The movie recognizes what made the first film work and tries to recreate that feeling for a modern audience. Much like the first film, this installment gives you broad characters but makes them interesting by towing the line of likeable and unlikable personality traits. This might seem like a cheap trick but it works fine for an action adventure flick where the bigger creatures are definitely the stars of the show. All of the actors do a great job as well, particularly Bryce Dallas Howard as the perpetually busy go-getter, Chris Pratt as the man that understands the animals, Jake Johnson as the goofy but not cringe worthy technician, and Judy Greer as the underutilized Mom character.

The film looks great and thankfully boasts very solid effects work. I saw this in 3D but would recommend sticking to a 2D experience. I would instead opt for an IMAX theater so you can reap the benefits of the high quality sound design. This helps flesh out the wonder and terror of the tourist destination, which much like the original park, is simultaneously at the top of my must visit list and also places I should probably never go. I thought it would be difficult to match some of the tense scenes from the other films but Jurassic World finds a lot of fresh life among the menacing creatures.

Overall, Jurassic World is a good sequel for a movie that is impossible to duplicate. It doesn’t piss off the fans and it tries hard to be thoughtful and somewhat unique. It can’t recreate all of the magic but it does strikes an even balance among nostalgia, action and suspense all while still retaining the spirit of the classic predecessor. It’s the best sequel in the series so far. I had a lot of fun watching it and admittedly, I am very excited to see again on the big screen.