The Plot

22 years after our first glimpse of man and dinosaurs reunited, the park is finally open. With a new name to distance itself from it’s past horrors, the island of Isla Nublar is now home to Jurassic World. But when a newly created dinosaur starts to outsmart its captors and roam free, no one is safe.

The Good

It’s been over two decades since audiences were first introduced to the idea of a dinosaur theme park and quickly terrified by the events that occurred in the original trilogy. But Jurassic World turns the terror up to 11 with four simple words: The Park Is Open.

With attractions galore, including a water show with a shark eating dinosaur, the park has definitely had a dramatic technological upgrade. Holograms have replaced the iconic T-Rex skeleton and human sized hamster balls have replaced jeeps. Jurassic World is everything a Jurassic Park fan needs in their life. Even the raptors are our friends now! Or more specifically Chris Pratt’s, playing a trainer/alpha raptor. Of course it’s not long until things go wrong. And if you thought there was no way to top the previous films, let me remind you: The. Park. Is. Open!

Director Colin Trevorrow mixes spectacle with sheer terror beautifully. Also providing warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia through that familiar swooping soundtrack and plenty of nods to the original trilogy. It will have fans squealing with delight, before their squeals turn to screams as each dino attack brings even more adrenaline than the last.

Pratt is ultimately the star of the show for most of the 2 hours and it’s clear to see why. This is one actor who shows no signs of stopping any time soon. As proved by Guardians of The Galaxy, Pratt is a rare commodity, an irrepressibly charming and genuinely amusing action star. His beautiful co-star Bryce Dallas Howard also delivers some great action moments of her own.

Among all the mayhem and prehistoric carnage  Jake Johnson (New Girl) with the help of Lauren Lapkus (Orange Is The New Black) gives audiences some much needed comic relief to slow our frantically beating hearts.

The Bad

The park itself looks fantastic but it feels as though we barely scratch the surface before the main action begins. Seeing as it’s our first proper look at the park in spectacular working order it does feel like a slight disappointment. It also seems that we can’t survive an entire movie without at least one slightly cheesy bit of romantic melodrama popping up. Though the tense atmosphere is continuous, it is occasionally broken up with an ever so slightly bonkers script that at one point ends up feeling like a Godzilla movie.

The Ugly Truth

Jurassic World is an almost perfect summer blockbuster, bringing constant nostalgia for fans of the original trilogy. Unfortunately it does fall short in completely wowing when it inevitably shifts its focus from the wonders of an actual working theme park to the predictable and at times ridiculous finale. One things for sure though, you won’t be able to take your eyes off the screen for a second!