Jurassic World

July 22, 2015

I’ll spare you the lame jokes about how this summer’s crop of blockbusters is a throwback to the 90s – dinosaurs, terminators and vacations, oh my! (OK, maybe just one…)

Chris Pratt’s earnest animal trainer was the perfect foil to the rest of the cast’s perfectly clichéd villains. There was never a moment that the audience wasn’t rooting for Pratt as he struggled against D’Onofrio as the military-industrial complex war machine, Howard as Corporate Personhood, and Khan as the hubris of the human race to even try genetic engineering in the first place. The script felt like it was generated by a computer, it followed every Hollywood rule perfectly, hit the expected emotional notes and delivered the thrills. Even so, it was oh so fun to watch, even through the groan inducing allegory.

Chris Pratt deserves all the adoration he’s getting right now. He seems like a normal guy and a funny guy. I think I’d like to hang out with him and drink a beer. I feel like I want to ask him if he knows he is married to a planarian.

Really, I saw this weeks ago – on Father’s Day – but I struggled trying to decide whether or not Jurassic World is a “good” movie or not. I’m still not sure if it’s a “good” movie, but I’m certainly sure that it is an “enjoyable” movie that will be rewatchable for decades, just like the original.

Who decides whether a film is “good”? Critics or audiences? In today’s world, the answer is clearly audiences. With Jurassic World breaking box office records left and right, we’re surely in for at least 2 more sequels, if not 6 or 12. I only have one plea…please bring back Jeff Goldblum. And the leather. And the oiled chest.