Big. Fun. Extravaganza.

With sheer homage and pure cheesefest thrills, Jurassic World propels its audience to experience some more dino-popcorn fun. 

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First things first, no Jurassic World does not by any means compare to the 1993 original; nevertheless it easily beats out the latest two sequels (The Lost World and Jurassic Park III). Substituting Steven Spielberg out of his director’s chair this time around is director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed). Spielberg takes the back seat as an executive producer and by his blessing Trevorrow his handed the golden spoon. Trevorrow and scriptwriter Derek Connolly (also writer for Safety Not Guaranteed) may lack the inventiveness from the original Jurassic Park, but that doesn’t stop them from throwing a few punches at the audience. 

Their soft $750,000 budget for Safety Not Guaranteed got raised to the max this time around for Jurassic World at a hefty $150 million. Jurassic World has a since of retro style, witty characters and even pays tribute to the film that made dinosaurs popular again in the 90s’. To catch up: the big attraction that John Hammond (the late Richard Attenborough) envisioned in 1993's Jurassic Park never opened and was never dreamed of being re-opened. Set that all aside because in the third sequel to the Jurassic series the park finally came true and has now been open for 22 years. But as years have gone by so has the excitement. Dinos have been domesticated, kiddie rides are strolled by triceratops and great white sharks are gulped up by the Mosasaurus, who only splashes its audience. Can someone say … boring?

Attendance has been jaded for the last few years and park experts need to make something with a little more bite, cue plot-line. For Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), the operations manager, this means building a bigger and scarier dinosaur, the Indominus rex. Things get crazy when the Indominus rex escapes and is out for blood. Enter our hero, Owen (the fantastic Chris Pratt also know as Star-Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy), an animal-behavior expert who tames velociraptors. This is his lifestyle and a relationship between him and the raptors. 

Buffed out by his muscles and sweaty white t-shirts, can Owen and his raptors take down this massive creature? Or will a bully racketeer (Vincent D'Onofrio) rain his terror upon Owen and Claire first? Also, added to the film's sub-plots are Owen and Claire’s dino-romance and Claire’s semi-annoying nephews (Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson), who can’t seem to catch a break by running into one dinosaur after another. Trevorrow even releases pterosaurs onto the visitors of the park. Panic and thrills break out; you may even be able to spot a Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville restaurant in the background. One of the best sequences in the film is when Owen and his raptors finally go hunting for the Indominus rex. There’s a since of awe and suspense throughout this entire scene. 

Additional performances are Jake Johnson as Lowery; Omar Sky as Barry and B.D. Wong reprises his role from the first film as Henry Wu. Lowery is an employee in the park’s control room and hits all of the right laughs throughout the film. Johnson (known as Nick Miller from New Girl) grows a stache and sports an original Jurassic Park t-shirt that he got from eBay. Trevorrow chomps in the summer fun with dazzling visuals and cheesefest thrills. Pratt’s performance gives the film a since of humanity, while you’re rooting for him to win the whole time. As far as summer epics goes, Jurassic World comes and mostly conquers thanks to Owen and his raptors and one last hidden gem, which I won’t dare spoil.

Jurassic World is rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned). For intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril.