Review - Jurassic World

Remember when dinosaurs ruled the Earth? It wasn't so very long ago, actually. 22 years, to be precise, since Steven Spielberg's revolutionary blockbuster Jurassic Park left audiences gaping in adrenaline-juiced awe at the ironic parting shot of T-Rex reigning supreme over her new kingdom.

You'd think humans, being such a highly evolved species, would learn to steer clear of the planet's new/old top predators. But that didn't stop similarly ill-fated expeditions from returning to the Costa Rican isles in Spielberg's somewhat mean-spirited sequel The Lost World and Joe Johnston's Jurassic Park III (which is better than you remember).

And now we arrive at part four, directed by little-known Colin Trevorrow, which adopts the premise that park management has finally gotten their act together and built Isla Nubar into a thriving tourist trap, renamed Jurassic World. The name isn't the only upgrade they've made. The theme resort now has new buildings, new rides, and even new creatures.

Attempting to draw in more spectators, those God-playing geneticists have cooked up a new monstrosity called Indominus-Rex; Part tyrannosaurus, part who-knows-what, all bad news. In an early scene, the park's high-strung coordinator played by Bryce Dallas Howard (not Jessica Chastain) explains to investors the need for new dinosaurs, callously referred to as 'assets': The modern consumer wants attractions that are, “Bigger. Louder. More teeth.”

A few thoughts on Jurassic Park 3D

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship of 3D re-releases. On the one hand, I'm more often unimpressed with 3D movies in general, and go out of my way to avoid them unless I've read that the extra dimension is actually an additive experience. On the other, no 3D conversion can turn a good movie bad, and the temptation of revisiting old favourites on the big screen is often all the convincing I need.

To wit, I give you Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park, a sci-fi spectacle with which I fell in love growing up as it became commonplace on VHS and television, but had never gotten the opportunity to see in a theatre. At the tender age of five, I was far too young to go see it in the summer of '93. Naturally, I was eager to finally behold the film's Oscar-winning sound design and groundbreaking effects in their proper theatrical format. I was not disappointed. Jurassic Park 3D proved to be a perfect post-Oscars palette cleanser at the outset of a long awards off-season.

Top Ten Moments in Jurassic Park (Repost)

(This list was posted a couple of years ago as one of my Sunday Top Tens. With this weekend's 3D rerelease of Jurassic Park, now seems like an appropriate time to repost it. I'll definitely be giving it look. Will you?)

20 years ago saw the domestic release of Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg's exhilarating disaster/monster movie that smashed box office records, demonstrated the potential of CGI, and scared the living shit out of children who can now only look back on it with the greatest fondness. Never mind that the story has its imperfections and the characters aren't always drawn with much focus, because it's a film that's defined by its moments – those temporary sensations conceived by a few carefully made images and sounds. Here are my ten personal favourites.

Sunday Top Ten: Sound effects

Time has been somewhat tight for me this week, so you're getting an abbreviated edition of the Sunday Top Ten; a quick countdown of some of my favourite movie-related sound effects.

Sunday Top Ten: John Williams scores

I've always been a sucker for the music John Williams. There's something about his melodies and orchestrations that just stick with me. I'm not alone, apparently. He was an Academy favourite for decades, amassing 45 nominations in 38 years. Granted, he hasn't been nominated since 2006, a long layoff by his standards, but he could be back with one or two Best Original Score nominations this year courtesy of Spielberg's Tin Tin and War Horse.

After hearing Michael Giacchino's apt impersonation of the composer in Super 8 two weeks ago, I felt compelled to revisit the his works and dedicate this week's top ten list to his finest film scores.

Sunday Top Ten: Moments in Jurassic Park

18 years ago yesterday saw the domestic release of Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg's exhilarating disaster/monster movie that smashed box office records, demonstrated the potential of CGI, and scared the living shit out of children who can now only look back on it with the greatest fondness. Never mind that the story has its imperfections and the characters aren't always drawn with much focus, because it's a film that's defined by its moments – those temporary sensations conceived by a few carefully made images and sounds. Here are my ten personal favourites.