REVIEW: Jurassic World Is The "Man of Steel of Jurassic Park Movies"

What makes a summer blockbuster? The answer has certainly changed when you look at what was on the cinematic horizon when Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park first clawed its way into theaters in the summer of 1993. Now, here we are, 22 years later -- almost to the day -- in a very different Jurassic World.

Despite the aftermath of the failed dino-parks before it, we currently find ourselves in a world where John Hammond's dreams have become a reality. There is a fully functioning dinosaur theme park with new attractions being added to entice a tired ticket buying public who has already seen it all. It's a more than subtle metaphor for audiences of summer movies who it seems every weekend are transported into far away universes, bear witness to superhero showdowns and anything else the mind can imagine.

How does Jurassic World, the park and the movie, expect to stand out in a loud and crowded landscape? You create a new monster, of course!

I don't know what I was expecting from Jurassic World. Perhaps I was hoping for a return to the storytelling and style of the first movie where heart and adventure took precedent over muscles and an agro-approach to filmmaking. But anyone looking for something along the lines of the first outing that became a modern classic when released over twenty years ago is best buying the Blu-ray and calling it a day. As far as I'm concerned, in addition to a few fun winks and nods to the original (clever girls!), the only relic left from the Spielberg Jurassic era is Ty Simpkins, who plays Gray, the quintessential nerdy little brother who has studied everything there is to know about Jurassic World. He, of course, can't wait to go to the park accompanied by his uninterested teenage big brother (Nick Robinson) on a family vacation to visit his Aunt Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), a Jurassic World corporate muckety muck. As you can imagine, while there, all hell breaks loose on account of the newly created beast, Indominus Rex. Fortunately, former Navy person and current dinosaur trainer Chris Pratt is there to help save the day! But one Chris Pratt dinosaur trainer can only do so much, you know what I mean?

Ultimately, Jurassic World is exactly what you might expect from a summer movie in 2015. It's the Man of Steel of Jurassic Park movies; World favors an assault of your senses over sincere adventure and truthfully, is violent as hell, with lots of people getting killed by dinosaurs, y'all! Set piece after set piece led me to feel like Alfred Hitchcock was director Colin Trevorrow's spirit animal (one sequence was particularly reminiscent of The Birds) and in a post-Blackfish world, I couldn't help but watch this movie and feel bad for the dinosaurs who were not only unnaturally created in the first place, but then trapped and confined into little cages. These aren't 8 or so dinosaurs living in what's more of a sanctuary like in the first movie, these are scores of dino's who are being forced into tanks and exhibits! What could possibly go wrong (again)?

So, how do you make a Jurassic Park movie for 2015? You create a monster hybrid of everything you loved about the original and mix it with parts of other things to create a big, loud, hyper aggressive monster that audiences will undoubtedly flock to so they can witness the mayhem. The question is: at what price?

---

Check out where the original Jurassic Park stands in total box office numbers over at ComicBook.com's Top Grossing Movies Of All Time list! Think Jurassic World will overtake it? Let us know your thoughts below!