First off, any comparisons to the fabulous and ground-breaking Jurassic Park just need to stop right now.  I guess they’re inevitable but at the same time the original film was something we’d never seen before while working off of the traditional horror movie template.  The feeling of awe upon seeing that first shot of dinosaurs walking freely will never be reproduced and Jurassic World is working from that but knowing full well it can never achieve that one time sense of wonder and actually critiquing upon that point.  At times that critique gets so heavy-handed that you start to roll your eyes yet there’s also ingenuity here with the action scenes and a sense of adventure that carries throughout the film.  Jurassic World is a hard movie to review because I have so many complaints and things that were problematic but I also walked away from the movie liking it overall.

The biggest crime for me is the horrendously written dialogue that basically kills all of the charm of leading man Chris Pratt and turns him into a one-dimensional action hero who I still can’t figure why he’s on the island at all.  The play between his character and his “love interest” Bryce Dallas Howard is at times cringeworthy.  There’s a villainous plot that was completely unneeded, the creepiness of the depiction of the horny teenager who leers at anything with a skirt and a plot of a possible divorced family that ends basically at minute 5 of the film.  Ridiculous characters come and go and of course with this being a monster movie, most meet horrible deaths and yet, while spewing all of this negativity the movie still thrills with some wonderful action moments which most are seen through the eyes of two wonderful young actors Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins as well as the welcome addition of Jake Johnson who brings much needed levity.

Overall if you asked me if I liked Jurassic World I’d tell you yes but with a few problems…ok, lots of problems.  I’d say the movie falls victim to usual Summer Blockbuster Symptom by giving us lots of action and adventure with a weak script and thin characters.  I was more optimistic but in the end it delivered on exactly what we all wanted to see: Dinosaurs, carnage and Chris Pratt doing Chris Pratt things, just ignore the dialogue and enjoy the spectacle.

Recommend? Having grossed over 500 Million domestically I can’t imagine many people haven’t seen it already but if you haven’t just go enjoy and nitpick with me later.