Movie Mondays: Why Jurassic World May Have the Potential to be a Good Movie

Ever since AMC aired the first three Jurassic Park movies last week from Tuesday to Thursday, I’ve had nothing but dinosaurs on my mind. All weekend long I’ve been re-watching the first and third movies (not the second because I didn’t like that one) on my DVR because I haven’t seen them for awhile. Sure I could just watch them on DVD since I do own the movies, but it’s less of a hassle when you can just click twice on your remote and bam there it is. An interesting tid-bit I found out while watching the third movie, which had pop-up “story notes” that gave you extra info about how some scenes were shot or how actors/directors and producers worked to create the film (which was awesome), is that a fourth movie is on its way and it is called Jurassic World.

Many of you probably already know that this movie is coming out, but as far as I knew, the sequel was still in “development hell” and would probably never see the light of day, so I’m a little late to the Jurassic party since the creation of this fourth film is news to me. As a fan of the franchise, I am both very excited and yet very worried like many other fans. I want the movie to do well and to be an all-around good film, but we know all too well that sequels and/or reboots and remakes theses days are hit or miss (usually miss) and that’s something I don’t want to see happen to Jurassic Park. However, after searching around for info on the new movie, I am more optimistic that Jurassic World could be good.

Summary

I’m sure everyone knows what these movies are about, but for the few of you who don’t, Jurassic Park is a movie franchise created by Universal Studios about a group of people who try to survive on and escape an island filled with genetically-engineered dinosaurs. The first two films are based on the Micheal Crichton novels of the same name while the third movie is an original creation. It all started in 1993 with Jurassic Park in which the plot involved a group of scientists who were invited by a millionaire to see his theme park that featured real-life dinosaurs. The guests are in awe of what they witness there until a system shutdown causes the dinosaurs to break out of their enclosures and run amok throughout the island, ending the owner’s dreams of opening up his unique theme park. This movie won all 3 Oscars that it was nominated for including Best Special Effects.

The second film titled The Lost World (1997) stars Jeff Goldblum, reprising his role as Ian Malcolm from the first movie, who is on a mission to stop the new owner of In-Gen (the company that created the dinosaurs) from re-creating the theme park in the city by taking the dinosaurs from the island and putting them on the mainland. More carnage ensues of course including the fact that a T.Rex ends up running loose in San Diego causing widespread panic.

Lastly, the third film, Jurassic Park III (2001) stars Sam Neill who reprises his role as Dr. Grant. Grant is tricked by a divorced couple into returning to the island in order to help them find their missing son. This film featured new dinosaurs and in my opinion was the most action-packed out of the three.

Where Does Jurassic World Fit In?

According to the summary on Wikipedia, Jurassic World, directed by Colin Trevorrow, will take place 22 years after the events of the first movie. A new company steps in and is able to successfully keep the theme park up and running. The new theme park is now called Jurassic World and by the time of the movie, tourism for the park has declined. In order to bring people back, the company decides to try something new that will ultimately result in deadly consequences. It will star Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

What Makes it Good?

The story for one is very inventive. For years all I heard is that the next film in the franchise would probably be a remake, but reading this summary and knowing that they’re taking a new direction with it has made me feel so much better because honestly I’m getting really tired of remakes these days. This idea is a great way to breathe life back into a series we all thought would stay dead with Jurassic Park III. Also, I’ve always wanted to see what the park would be like if it were open for real and this film seems to be doing just that. I wonder what precautions the employees will take to make sure the dinosaurs don’t escape this time. I wonder how long the park’s been running since the new company came in. I wonder what the new attraction that will eventually cause all this trouble will be. We can only wait and see to find out and I am on the edge of my seat.

It is also a good thing that they’re getting new actors to star in this film. I know some people would like to see the actors from the previous movies return because we’re familiar with them and know that they can give a good performance, but we have to understand that it has been 13 years since a Jurassic Park movie came out and a lot has changed since then. Having a new cast of characters will further freshen up the franchise and if they want to occasionally have the original cast come in for cameos that would be perfect. As a bonus, the stars of this film are well-known but are not extremely big names in Hollywood which helps. Chris Pratt, coming fresh off his Guardians of the Galaxy film (he was Star-Lord) and Bryce Dallas Howard (Terminator: Salvation, The Help) do not have the same star power as someone like Angelina Jolie or George Clooney, so they have a little more freedom to act out their performance without so many people judging them simply because they are who they are. On the other hand, they still have some big shoes to fill, so let’s hope they do a stellar job.

Lastly, the director. Colin Trevorrow is a newcomer in Hollywood and as of now, he has only done 3 films before Jurassic World one of them only being a short film. However, the last film he directed was Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), which was met with rave reviews at film festivals and won him several awards. This I think will be his first big blockbuster movie and I’m very interested to see what he’s going to do with movie.

Conclusion

All in all, I am really looking forward to seeing Jurassic World. I’m even looking forward to watching the trailer when it finally comes out and hopefully that won’t disappoint. It seems as if this franchise may be able to make a comeback and that would make my day.

Jurassic World will be released June 12th, 2015.

What do you think about Jurassic World? Which Jurassic Park movie is your favorite? Leave your comments below and thanks for reading!! XD