"Blu-ray or Bust"
JURASSIC WORLD (2015,
PG-13, 124 minutes, AMBLIN ENTERTAINMENT/LEGENDARY PICTURES)
When I first saw this
film, I was in a very crowded theatre, sitting next to Andre the Giant’s bigger
brother. Well no, I don’t know that for
sure, but I hate basketball, and I can’t think of any other super tall dudes for
a comparable behemoth.
When I originally
reviewed this one, I mentioned that it had the power to (mostly) suck me out of
my social anxiety disorder long enough to enjoy the film. Now, in the privacy of my own home (okay,
it’s really the front bedroom of my mommy’s house, but I’m a single parent, so
bite me), I have the opportunity to pick this summer popcorn flick to pieces,
like a less educated and less eloquent Roger Ebert. A Roger Ebert that was high on methamphetamines and Cherry
Coke. Yeah, that sounds about right.
I was totally prepared
to just lay into this sucker the second time around… however… dang my low
expectation monitor, I LIKED IT EVEN BETTER THE SECOND TIME AROUND.
If you have seen any of
the prior films, or saw the trailers for this one, you already know what it is
about: kids go to park with real living dinosaurs, the biggest one breaks loose
and starts eating people, chaos ensues.
Only this time around, there is a bit more humor, and a bit more
attention on the characters themselves.
The biggest charm of JURASSIC PARK was its grounded feel; the characters
you saw on-screen seemed like normal people.
That changed some with the next two films, both of which seemed more
intent on upping the dinosaur factor and trying to out-do the last.
Have no fear: there is
one big, new, badass dino on the loose.
And the special effects here are done convincingly enough. But it is the almost loving development of
every character, and the perfect casting, which steals the show. Even though sometimes the detail of the sets
is more distracting than the dinosaurs are… which gives us a nice segue into
the bonus features…
…the first of which is
star Chris Pratt (Star Lord) and director Colin Trevorrow “interviewing” each
other—pretty cheesy, but Universal more than makes up for it with the second
feature, a half-hour “show” that takes you behind the scenes and offers
segments on almost every step of the process involved in making this humongous
film. By including interviews with the
cast and Steven Spielberg himself, we are treated to certain aspects of
filmmaking you don’t normally get to see.
Like what it is like to work with a thousand screaming extras, and how
big some of those sets really were. The
studio has done rather well with the special features lately, and here the
information is detailed and well worth the watch.
The next Jurassic film
is due in less than three years. The
most hopeful thing about the sequel?
Not only will Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard be reprising their roles,
but Trevorrow and writer Derek Connolly will be back as well. For the sake of entertainment and a dang
good time, let’s hope they keep the momentum going.
Grade: A
Special Features: A
Blu-ray Necessary: Uh,
let’s think about this for a minute… IT’S FRICKING DINOSAURS, OF COURSE IT IS
NECESSARY.
-- T.S. Kummelman
