A couple of weeks ago I went to see
Jurassic World. I went on a Sunday afternoon and the theater was
packed with people. I haven't seen that many people at a Sunday
afternoon movie since I was a kid! I hadn't heard much about the
movie, except what I had seen in previews. But along with so many
others I remember the first movie, Jurassic Park, which was one of
the best movies made of that genre, so I was hoping for the best
with this sequel.
I thought it was good, even very good
compared to some out there, but there was something I couldn't quite
put my finger on that bothered me. It didn't quite make that A+
rating that a great movie would deserve. Having went back and
looked at some of the scenes from Jurassic Park I think I may have
come up with what was bothering me.
We all remember that great T-Rex scene
in Jurassic Park, don't we? Here, let me refresh your memory.
What I think I loved the best about
that scene was that the main character was just a normal guy thrust
into a situation where rushing in and being a hero wasn't what he would do lightly, and he was a good enough actor so that
you could see it on his face. I will not mention anything about the lawyer being eaten. Contrast that with this scene from
Jurassic World.
What bothered me about this scene was
that they made this guy larger than life. He just went sliding
under that gate far too easily for my taste. Some people think he
could be the next Harrison Ford. Well, maybe. But they'll have to
ruffle him up a little, because right now he's too perfect, too much
a macho man, to be a character I can empathize with.
So this illustrates my first problem
with Jurassic World. It seems to have sacrificed good character
development for the superficial. Frankly, I wonder if this is not
what is wrong with our world today.
But what I really missed was the
lighter moments that were sprinkled all through Jurassic Park. What
does every good action movie have? Oh, you know, it's a car chase
scene, of course. But what Jurassic Park did was take a car chase
scene to a new level by having it take place in a tree.
Now, seriously, that was one of the
best nail biting scenes I've seen, with an ending dialogue that
had to make you laugh a little. :)
A great movie pulls you in and makes
you identify with the hero/heroines of the movie. Wonderful action
scenes sprinkled with a little humor and creativity combined with a talented cast go a long way to
giving a movie that certain something that will rank it among the
best of the best. Jurassic Park had that, Jurassic World just
missed.
The one thing, though, that Jurassic
World did right, was keep the theme song. :) I loved this version with John Williams.
So, if you want to see a good movie, see Jurassic World, but if you want to see a great movie, see Jurassic Park. ;)
