Jurassic World: A Revelation

Over the past weekend, I visited the movie theater to watch a movie 65 million years in the making: Jurassic World. 

This edition of Quickies is gonna be a bit different; more or less a case of me philosophizing about why I do what I do. Firstly, as with last time, a quick summary of what I saw.

Jurassic World is the long-awaited sequel to Jurassic Park, a 1993 classic family adventure movie that took the world by storm with its brilliant combination of CGI and practical effects, as well as bringing up the topic of how far man should go in controlling the world around them. There were two sequels, neither of which compare to the original and are highly regarded as some of the most disappointing sequels in movie history. Even the producers of Jurassic World made their movie with the mindset that the previous two never existed (but weren’t afraid to thrown in a shot or two) .

Plot: 22 years after the events of the first movie, John Hammond’s dream of a dinosaur attraction has come true in the form of Jurassic World (opened since 2005, apparently) and people from all over the world are seeing dinosaur’s roam the world once again. Unfortunately, as with anything and kids these days, audiences have gotten bored of seeing dinosaurs and want something more to light a fire under their asses. The answer: a new dinosaur is made by the scientists with a combination of several different animals to up the wow factor. The old saying goes: if we don’t learn from our past mistakes, we’re doomed to repeat them. The new dino escapes and shows that its FAR smarter than they ever predicted, and is running amuck on the island. Owen Grady (Chris Patt) arms up a new team of trained raptors and InGen's military force to hunt down and kill the beast before she can reach the current denizens of the park.

Right off the bat, this movie does seem to want to repeat the same plot line that has happened in the last three movies: humans go to island, human’s “fool-proof” plan gets nuked by the dinos, and they’re forced to escape before they get eaten and raptors are somehow involved. Which can be a bad thing; only if you don’t do anything new with it. Lost World was too drowned by animal rights and stupid characters to be any good, while Jurassic Park III was plagued by stupid plot and ANNOYING characters to do so. Jurassic World breaks the cycle by using the same plot, but involving some extra bonuses and twists. While the genetically made dino is something EVERYONE with a brain can see coming, it is helped that it keeps surprising us with just what its capable of. Is the movie smart? Hell no; as I said, it’s recycling a plot we’ve seen a thousand times. But it has a great cast, touching moments, and enough scares to keep you invested in seeing just where it plans on going.

The special effects however, leave something to be desired. There’s very little if any mechanical puppetry in this film as there have been in the previous installments. Or rather, if there were puppets, there was so much touching up by the CGI that it was nearly impossible to see. However, that is just referring to the dinos. The park itself is BEAUTIFUL to see with all the various attractions and buildings that comprise it. It’s pretty much exactly the kind of park I would want to visit, murderous beasts and all.

The movie does provide some commentary that I can agree with. Throughout the movie at the various attractions, there is a glaring issue: there are people on their phones while there are DINOSAURS RIGHT THE FUCK IN FRONT OF THEM. I don’t care how many times you’ve seen em, they’re FUCKING DINOSAURS. I got amazed at seeing a T-rex head in the mall where you can take a photo with your family in when I was FIVE and still like going to museums ABOUT dinosaurs at 21. Sad part is though, with the way our society is going, it probably can and WILL happen. There’s also the issue of man playing god coming up again, but then the issue of “control”. We as humans are used to being the dominant ones; and the moment something bigger comes along, we have a habit of flaring around and trying to tie a leash around it. Whereas the first movie was whether or not man can control something they never even were meant to encounter in the first place, this time this is mankind trying to fight something ONE HUNDRED PERCENT their own fault. That, and the glaring issue of corporations having enough influence to make your scientists make a damn killing machine that may as well be mass-produced for modern warfare.

The characters are rather typical; with Chris Pratt as the hunter who is the only one smart enough to call bullshit on everything going on around him, there’s the head of the park too arrogant to realize what she’s done, the big doofus who wants to make the new creation a weapon, it’s a standard B-movie checklist. There are two brothers we follow through the movie though who hit SO CLOSE to home that it almost scared me in the theater. Plus their scenes were VERY touching when they’re together in their weaker moments.

Overall, everything about this movie screams “B-movie horror” with the way the plot plays out and the amount of gore seen, but its good one. The story is simple, but enough changes to keep you going. The characters static, but the right kind that make you hope they survive, the tension scary enough to keep you pinned to the seat, its just good. Regularly I’d give it a B-, but this will have the newly made GeekFreak Seal of Approval as a MUST OWN and keeper.

And allow me to elaborate on that. I will admit I’m a tad bias, but that’s what a critic is: a bias standpoint giving their honest opinions on a subject. Not every critic’s opinion is going to be the same, which is why this movie gets my seal.

You see when I went into that theater, I expected just some kind of half-assed mash-up of my FAVORITE movie of all time with Star Lord having the awesomeness of riding into battle with raptors. But I got more than that. What I saw on that screen was more than I could hope for. Within the first opening scene of the park, FINALLY fully realized with the theme playing, I shed a tear. Seeing the brother’s interact with each other and realizing that their bond is inseparable even in the middle of a blood strained dino dinner and their family’s own internal struggle with a divorce looming over them, I got weapy. And finally, the last scene of this movie had such build-up, that I cheered for the final climax. I was hollering like a monkey when I saw the final fight play-out. And that final shot….that final shot of the island…I wept as the piano themed started playing. That’s when I remembered why I do this.

I remembered why I take a look at movies, cartoons, and comics as seriously as I do. To get a bit personal, I grew up in a household where the important lessons in life were taught to you by life itself and the wisdom of your elders. I was…”different” growing up. Hell, I’m pretty much a First Generation Nerd of a general blue collar background. I was ashamedly raised a bit by the TV by own ignorance, but I don’t regret that. Because on that 10x10 inch screen TV, I saw lessons in life and questions about philosophy I never got from seeing the people around me. I got to question how far man should go in his quest to control the world around him; I saw how far justice can be pushed before its flat-out revenge and murder; in general, through the world of movies, my brain was fired into so many different directions with questions and ideas that I was essentially a series of fireworks. Alas, not everyone takes these things seriously. “Just a movie”, “just a cartoon”, “just comics better for the firepit” were phrases I grew to think were the standards of the world where being a nerd was something to be ashamed of and be ridiculed for.

But now these days, I’m seeing a whole new light. I’m seeing my favorite comic book heroes being heralded as the next stage in movie production, breaking box offices, and reinventing my little nerd world. I’m seeing cartoons be SMART, dramatic, dark, and teaching important lessons of life while still being friendly enough for even the most simpleminded to follow. I’m watching as the nerd culture grew from being the kids who sat in the corner of the lunch room playing YuGiOh by themselves to being the STANDARD. I’m seeing movies I thought were long forgotten to jaws of yesterday being praised for their brilliance and greatness again. When I saw Jurassic World, a fire ignited in me. I saw the questions it raised, the gifts for fans of the original, and a badass finale that told everyone that “THIS is the sequel you’ve waited 20 years for”! Sure, these series of thoughts appear to be random and in no way associated with the movie at hand, but that’s the point. This movie got me to THINK, it got my brain to look at the world in a way that I hadn’t done so before. I saw how a movie I loved as a child finally made a comeback and is showing the world that it can still be smart, that it can still thrill its audiences, it can take a plot we’ve seen over and over again and put in enough juicy bits that we get amazed by it.

And that’s why I do what I do. Jurassic World is why I take up the name GeekFreak and share my thoughts with you. I take the time of day to look at something as simple as a movie and break down to its bare bone essentials and show you all how great it REALLY is. The lesson’s it provides, the character’s it creates, the world it builds, every little aspect analyzed and explored to its nearest atom. Then there are the cases where I see a movie’s faults, point out WHY it’s wrong, how it correct it, and mock it for both yours and my amusement. Not out of mean spiritedness, but out of caution of how to NOT make a movie, how NOT to write your characters ect. And sometimes, just because I see a joke simply too easy to pass up. I do this because I love movies, I love fiction in general, and want to show the world how great it is if you just look at it from both a professional, and comedic stand point.

I could just be ranting, but then again that's the point of this blog. I saw a movie that gave me an idea, and felt the need to share it. 

This has been a random rant by the GeekFreak. Jurassic World is highly recommended for all audiences. And I do mean ALL audiences. As the saying goes: “children can withstand anything you show them in a movie so long as it has a happy ending”.