#7 Jurassic World
This post contains spoilers.
I was not surprised to find myself enjoying Jurassic World, despite the lack of Jurassic Park theme music in the opening. My real bounce-up-and-down-with-a-huge-grin moment came when I saw Chris Pratt's character, Owen, with the raptors.
Let's be honest, that's why I was there. The Internet seemed to boast mixed feelings on the raptor pack before the movie came out, but I was in from the start. Because RAPTORS. But also, animal behavior is pretty much my bread and butter. I was curious and excited to see how they portrayed this relationship in the movie. Also, I rather enjoy Chris Pratt. What could possibly go wrong with giving him a pack of raptors?
My excitement really kicked off when he started using the clicker. HE CLICKER TRAINED THEM GUYS. I like clicker training. It's effective and, when used correctly, FUN for the animal you work with.
It was also very clear that he had a healthy respect for the animals he worked with. He established a relationship with them without forgetting that they're not dogs. They're wild animals, and they're dangerous. He possessed the empathy, the intelligence, and the respect required to work with a strong, carnivorous, wild animal. I felt that the relationship with Owen and the raptors was handled well and not far outside the realms of reality - which is cool to see in a fantasy setting.
I'm so in love.
That being said, I can get prickly when people talk about pack dynamics using the terms "alpha" and "beta" and/or any other term that assumes a rigid hierarchy structure. A true pack is a family unit, with deference behaviors offered willingly by the offspring and cooperation being a natural part of a social animal's behavior. Dominance should not be forced within a pack. That being said, a more rigid dynamic could very well develop in the unnatual environment within Jurassic World. And it's fantasy. So I'll...go mumble about pack science somewhere else. =P
Let's talk about the owner of the park instead. I loved him! I feel like he truly embodied Hammond's wishes for the park. I enjoyed his happy go lucky nature, and the fact that he didn't care about numbers as much as the happiness of his guests and animals. That did me in. He legit cared about the happiness of the dinosaurs.
He was also moral and brave, not giving in to InGen's plans to militarize the raptors (lol), and not being afraid to step into battle when shit was getting real. He may have been foolish at times, but I think that was a result of his idealism rather than a shortage of intelligence. After all, building that park and getting it open would have been no small feat.
I was a bit disappointed that the Gyrospheres weren't programmed to return once the ride was closed down. I feel like that's important, for safety reasons. But then we wouldn't have much of a movie, I suppose. Kids in danger is pretty much a necessity for any Jurassic Park movie, and it did lead the kids towards a pretty awesome homage to the first movie. So...hooray for plot devices, I guess?
Can I also add that I thought it was great that Claire wore heels through the entire movie? I enjoyed watching her character develop. I liked her white clothes, and I liked how her hair went from perfect to frizzy.
The park itself was beautiful and, I feel, accurate. It looked and felt like a resort, which isn't surprising considering the amount of research that went into designing it. Check out that product placement, too. Yeah, this is real life.
The movie overall was predictable, but I don't feel that took away from its level of enjoyment. It was exactly what it promised to be. An action movie with dinosaurs with maybe a sort of almost scientific basis (nobody is pretending the science is real - otherwise some asshole somewhere would totally be doing this already).
Shout out to the director, Colin Trevorrow. This is only his second feature length film, and it had the third highest earning debut of all time. That's how you do.
Alright. Let's talk about the scientists. It seems everyone loved this movie except actual paleontologists. They criticize the movie for not being scientifically accurate, but in all fairness the movie has to stick with the mythology it created twenty years ago. Science has made a ton of progress since then, but Jurassic World simply doesn't have the ability to throw out what has already been established in the first three movies.
We did get a nice homage to the modern view of dinosaurs when once of the Jurassic World scientists said that the Jurassic World dinosaurs weren't real - they're genetic creations where they took source material and filled in the blanks, creating a creature that isn't completely accurate but IS completely cool. I feel that's the best the movie could possibly do without undoing everything they'd already established about the world and its science in the previous movies.
They did a good job modernizing the movie without compromising the integrity of the original, and that's something I can very much appreciate. The creation of a whole new dinosaur was a little weird, but it did make a really cool dinosaur. So there's that. I'd watch it again. Anyone want to see a movie? =D
