"Jurassic World" (2015)

“Jurassic World” is the fun roller coaster ride of an action film that is the better successor to the original. It makes sense that they appear to ignore the other sequels in the franchise, and have started over with a new take on things. The acting is good, the direction (from the very good “Safety Not Guaranteed” director, Colin Trevorrow) is great, and the story is well constructed if somewhat predictable. But, isn’t predictability what we want in out action?

All that said, there are a few random thoughts and questions that arose as I viewed it. Spoilers ahead:

Chris Pratt is the true successor to Harrison Ford, that rascal, reluctant hero we all love to love.

I don’t know how I feel being manipulated to hate Hoskins. We are supposed to want him to be killed, but the emotions we are meant to feel are really close to the sentiments that we hate in the character himself. Is that a clever twist that the film meant to invoke?

Do we really need a pair of precocious kids as our “in” to the story? I would rather not.

The only unlikable character to survive is Clair, but of course she is not truly unlikable because she is pretty. Also, is the reason she survives because she manages to change and become less controlling? Pratt’s character is not asked to “meet her in the middle.”

I love the nod to the climax of the original film, but I fail to fathom how we got from that story to this one.

I was leaning toward the thought that they had mixed human DNA into the new creature. Especially when our hero claims, “That is no dinosaur.” In the end, it is just a dinosaur—or as much as any of the other animals in the park.

Props to Claire, she kept those heels throughout, even after the trope of Owen telling her she couldn’t manage in “those shoes.” Outrunning a T Rex in stilettoes strains credibility!

We love seeing humanity’s hubris get its comeuppance. But we are terrible at seeing our own pride in real life. These movies have an important message hidden under all the adrenaline.