And Welcome to It

We went into Jurassic World (2015) with low expectations and they were more than fulfilled. We enjoyed JP back in 1993, but skipped the sequels (should we go back and watch?). Satisfied customers, but not really fans. JW seems like it was aimed at fans, but we normals liked it too.

It stars Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson as two kids being shipped off to Jurassic World so there parents can have some space to get divorced. Their aunt, Bryce Dallas Houston Howard, is the park director, and too much of a busy exec to keep an eye on them. She is spending her time selling rights to a new, gene-spliced, totally made up dinosaur, Impervious Rex!

The existence of this park is somewhat problematic. They lampshade this by having a comic-relief control room guy wear a T-shirt from the original park, and be told that it is in poor taste. Yes, it is - that was a disaster, many people were killed, not just lawyers. And yet, 20 some years later, people flock to the new park and their biggest problem is that the T-Rex is too boring - we need an Incredulous Rex!

But it isn't all about mayhem. Chris Pratt is working with a team of velociraptors, teaching them to obey his commands, so that Vincent D'Onofrio can sell them as weapons! Which seems about as useful as using an Alien, but what do I know about arms dealing?

Anyway, dinos get loose, kids in peril, various bad guys and extras get killed, Pratt and Houston get moony, and lots of cool set pieces. Like everyone, I loved Pratt training the raptors. He had a great Star Lord style to him (with perhaps a bit of Indiana Jones), and the raptors were given interesting personalities.

Along with the set pieces (whale-sized mosasaurus eats a shark like a minnow!), the movie is replete with references to the original. We didn't get most of them, because we saw it in the last millennium. The ending --NO SPOILER-- was one big reference, and made very little sense.

In conclusion, I assume that NOW humanity has learned that reviving dinosaurs for thrills and entertainment is a bad idea, and will stick to using them for strictly military purposes.