Jurassic World (2015)

After more than 20 years since "Jurassic Park" and two less fortunate sequels, we're back on Isla Nublar where the story started. Somehow, despite the previous gruesome experiences, InGen (the owner company) finally managed to open the park for public, re-branded as "Jurassic World" and functioning at full capacity = somewhere at > 20.000 visitors present on the island. Or to put it differently, more than 20 thousand walking steaks for the dinosaurs lunch. Predictable, right ? :)

It's sort of rhetorical to discuss the subject of a "disaster movie", since this is what we have here after all. Obviously the situation will get out of control, the word end will come, and somehow everything will magically solve out. Because of this standard recipe, I generally avoid disaster movies. They're boring. The "Jurassic" series is the exception. I don't know if that's because the "disaster" = the dinosaurs is more exotic, or purely due to nostalgia related to the first movie I've seen in a fully packed cinema. Somehow, each movie managed to pass my "like" threshold, at least a bit. The recipe works again: it's summer, we have a tropical island, and the velociraptors have their hunting ground ready for play. Unlike a typical "disaster movie" (= asteroids, earthquakes, volcanoes) here the thrill effect is a different one. It might sound a bit strange as comparison, but it feels you have something more in common with a zombie horror a la Romero, where the survivors group must face a more dynamical, less predictable and hungry danger :) And that makes it fun ...

The contrast between a welcoming environment and the growing terror in it will always result in a "catchy" effect. No matter if, following the example above, we're speaking of zombie hordes keeping a mall under siege, or dinosaur hordes left loose on a vacation resort. As much as this movie gains from the context feeling, it unfortunately looses due to "SciFi" scenes like (spoilers) unpredictable alliances between T-Rex and raptors or the idea to use dinosaurs as hunting dogs. Even so, I liked it. It definitely has something from "the adventure feeling" of the first "Jurassic Park" specific for the '80s-'90s, something that sort of got lost in time. So, obviously subjective :) ...

Rating: 4 out of 5