Theatrical Review: Jurassic World- Dominion

Date: June 12, 2022
Time: 11:35am*
Party: 4 (my mom, dad, sister and myself)

Director: Colin Trevorrow
Writers: Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly, Emily Carmichael

Composer: John Williams (the theme), Michael Giacchino (everything else)

Cast:

Owen- Chris Pratt

Claire- Bryce Dallas Howard

Maisie- Isabella Sermon

Dr. Alan Grant- Sam Neill

Dr. Ellie Sattler- Laura Dern

Dr. Ian Malcolm- Jeff Goldblum

Dodgson- Campbell Scott

Ramsey Cole- Mamoudou Athie

Dr. Henry Wu- B.D. Wong

Barry- Omar Sy

Kayla Watts- DeWanda Wise

Soyona Santos- Dichen Lachman

Review:

Introduction

One important thing to keep in mind before seeing this movie- because it’s the final one of the franchise (hopefully… Hollywood really needs to learn how to quit when they’re ahead), it’s kind of a love letter to the fans of the series.
This means the references (aka Easter eggs) to the previous films (ok, mostly the first in the Park and World franchises) are plentiful. This movie is also written primarily for people who are already familiar with the series. Meaning that if you’ve lived under a rock since 1993 or you’re the type of person who likes to over analyze whether the science checks out or the writing is believable… you might not enjoy it quite as much.
Also- in case anyone forgot, it’s a movie. By nature, this medium is about escapism and suspending belief. If you’re obsessed with realism in films that aren’t based on actual events and people, you’re kinda doing it wrong…

Just for a bit of personal background, I’d seen every film (except the previous one) in the theater and I thought it did justice to the franchise and its fans.
Hard to believe I was only 8 when the original came out… as the old saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.


Ultimately, this is the type of movie meant to be watched in a theater so buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Brief Synposis/Discussion with minimal Spoilers

The movie spends a good chunk of them split between three different perspectives involving different groups of the characters we’ve grown to know and love. It’s only a matter of time before they all get together and it’s a blast when they do. It’s a similar feeling to what happened in Avengers after following the previous films. Only difference (aside from this movie having dinosaurs, obviously), you need to wait a bit for that payoff.

After the events of the previous film, we’re now living in a world where dinosaurs have taken over and humanity is trying to figure out what to do.
Combine the various opinions of the scientists Dr. Hammond hired in the first film with today’s media and sensibilities and this is what you get. I’m personally not a fan of how the media has become a bunch of talking heads trying to tell us what WE should believe rather than giving us the straight facts so the opening minutes of this film was a bit surreal.

The rise in “dinosaur-related” incidents is eerily similar to how today's media reports the rise in gun violence and virus death tolls. They even did a poll asking what people think should be done- I believe the majority wanted them to be put in a reserve, which is something a certain character from the original movie is already doing. But as we quickly learn, his intentions might not be as pure as he’s led the media to believe.

Dodgson looks a little different from when we first saw him in Jurassic Park… the original actor we saw with Wayne Knight (aka Newman!) is currently doing time for assaulting a teenage girl and is now a registered sex offender.
The actor now playing him, Campbell Scott, I knew for years as mysterious millionaire and Hank Med benefactor Boris on the USA series “Royal Pains.”
When he first appeared on set with the glasses, my first thought (no joke) was that he kinda looked like Dr. Fauci. Steve Jobs was probably what they intended for him to look like.
I wondered early on if he was just going to be a man hiding behind a curtain so he doesn’t have to sully his own hands. For better and worse, rest assured, we do see plenty of him.

One big fallout of dinosaurs taking over… lots of bad people are using them for nefarious purposes. We first meet Claire on one of her regular raids when she sneaks into facilities and try to free as many as she can. Together with Owen, she lives in a cabin in the Montana wilderness and their biggest responsibility is protecting 14 year old Maisie.
I always thought this franchise was geared more toward kids because a lot of us grew up loving dinosaurs. But it has an annoying history of not carrying the younger characters over to the sequels. Lex and Tim had a cameo in “the lost world” but other than that, the majority are never seen again. My personal gripe is Claire’s nephews never reappearing. Ty Simpkins stole the show in “iron man 3” so I was excited he was going to be in Jurassic world. Then he disappeared like a lot of other child actors. He’s doing lesser known films but still… he was in a movie with RDJ! That should’ve done a lot more for his career, just saying…

Anyway, things are different with Maisie because we see a lot of her in this movie. She needs to be in hiding because she was cloned using the same technology that created the dinosaurs… at least that’s what we’re initially told. (No spoilers, but let’s just say it’s complicated… and it has some connection to Blue the velociraptor having a baby). Unfortunately she has to get kidnapped (along with little Blue, who she named Beta) in order to learn the truth about herself…
Considering the arguments she’s having with her surrogate parents about staying in hiding and she’s a teenager… this isn’t a spoiler, just very predictable.
Claire and Owen travel to find her, starting in Malta of all places and eventually Dodgson’s facility where the final 3rd of the movie is focused.

On the other side of things, we catch up with old favorites Ellie Sadler and Alan Grant. She’s on a mission to find the source of locusts that are obliterating crops. Conveniently, all crops but the “organic” crops from farms owned by Dodgson’s company. And yes, the writers used locusts (scary prehistoric locusts) just so they can make a series of Exodus jokes.
She drafts Dr. Grant (still digging up them bones and teaching up and coming paleontologists) to help her get to the bottom of this. Even all these years later, those two still have great chemistry. It’s also kinda cool how she takes such an active role in the plot. She’s still that tenacious go-getter that investigated triceratops droppings and restored the power grid in the original movie.
By no coincidence at all, their ticket into the facility is Dr. Malcolm- Jeff Goldblum in the role that defined his entire career. Some things never change.
As strange as it sounds, Dodgson hired him because he’s a contrarian. He gives regular lectures on site about chaos and why he was right about the Jurassic Park scientists being idiots for playing god. And people love him for it.
How he helps the other two sneak into the underbelly of the facility without incriminating himself was pretty genius- let’s just say an espresso machine is involved.

Over in Malta, Claire and Owen come across a dicey illegal trading and gambling business underground. They also encounter a few notable characters. There’s a femme fatale (Soyona Santos) who helped some raptors to become “trained” killers. All it takes is a laser pointer and raptors will relentlessly chase their targets until they kill them. (This series has seen a lot of villains- this power makes her arguably the scariest of all of them).
Owen has a brief reunion with his fellow raptor wrangler at Jurassic World and they manage to dispatch some of the raptors. After a massive chase scene through the city ensues, he and Claire hitch a ride on a plane with Kayla Watts, whom they meet in the underground. In more ways than one, she’s a major badass and amazing addition to the series. She also makes a funny comment when Claire and Owen have to split up- “yeah, I like red heads too.” Kinda had us all wondering… was she implying red headed women? If so...

One review that came out before the movie even hit theaters (I know reviewers are necessary to tell us whether or not we should see movies but this institution annoys me… they should have to wait for the movies to hit theaters like everyone else) made a savage comment about series veteran Dr. Wu. How he’s essentially kept in Dodgson’s basement, dresses in his grandma’s sweaters and is underutilized in the movie. Yeah, some of these things are true sadly but his character arc in the series deserves some credit.
He started out as a lab tech in Jurassic Park. In Jurassic world, he kinda became a villain. While the park was imploding, he took all his research with him and bragged to the protagonists about how everything happened because of his research. Now, all of that swagger is gone and he’s living with the regrets of his work. Most notably, the locusts. Beyond that, he’s the one who tells Maisie the full truth about herself and the connection she has to his former colleague, Charlotte Lockwood. He also holds the key to stop the locusts, but the others need to break him out of the basement in order to do so.

Now, with all of that setup finally done, all that’s left is to enjoy the ride. Lots of laughs, Jeff Goldblum playing Captain Obvious when he’s not being heroic, close calls and of course a predator battle involving the T-Rex.
It takes some time for all the characters to be in the same scene together but it is worth the wait.
As for Dodgson, he gets what he deserves and he deserved nothing less.

The laughs make a great argument for why this is meant to be seen in a full theater… but the moments where the crowd broke out in applause, that’s the adrenaline rush of going to the movies I’ve sorely missed over the past few years.
That guy in the “turning into your parents” Progressive ads can suck it!

Grade: A

(the dinosaurs don't leave me in awe like they did with the original film, but beyond that, it was a really well done farewell to the franchise)

...

In case anyone cares, here's the list of movie trailers. And by the way, these lasted for over 20 minutes. It's totally ridiculous. 

Lightyear

- going to see this fairly soon. The trailer went further in detail than the commercials have and it's cool getting a little more context

Thor- Love and Thunder

- I haven't seen a Marvel movie in theaters since Endgame... this looks good enough that I might change that. Best part was Thor suddenly losing his clothes and all the women in the vicinity fainting.

Fall

-stupid teaser trailer where we're going up a TALL scaffolding structure and by the time we reach the top, someone falls off it and that's it... something tells me the movie itself is gonna suck. 

Paws of fury- Legend of Hank

- looked like Kung Fu Panda, but it's done by Nickelodeon studios. After seeing this trailer, it's literally on every time we turn the TV on... and it doesn't come out until July

Minions- The Rise of Gru

- seen all but one of the Despicable franchise in theaters... there's a good chance we'll be seeing this one too

Nope

- the latest Jordan Peele movie and it has something to do with setting up CCTV to catch alien sightings... I hadn't seen any of his other movies, but judging from the trailer, it doesn't look nearly as freaky as the other ones did

The Black Phone

-it's a streaming only movie and it was another teaser trailer. It's also a bit strange that this is an R-rated thing, but they aired it in a theater where kids are likely going to be

Eclipse (2010)

Director: David Slade
Writers: Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay), Stephenie Meyer (based on her novel)
Composer: Howard Shore

Returning Cast:
Bella Swan- Kristen Stewart
Edward Cullen- Robert Pattinson
Jacob Black- Taylor Lautner
Carlisle Cullen- Peter Facinelli
Chef Charlie Swan- Billy Burke
Renee- Sarah ChalkeBilly Black- Gil Birmingham
Mike Newton- Michael Welch
Jessica Stanley- Anna Kendrick
Eric- Justin Chon
Angela Webber- Christian Serratos
Alice Cullen- Ashley Green
Jasper Cullen- Jackson Rathbone
Emmett Cullen- Kellen Lutz
Rosalie Cullen- Nikki Reed
Esme Cullen- Elizabeth Reaser
Jane- Dakota Fanning
Quill Atera- Tyson Houseman
Embry Call- Kiowa Gordon 
Newcomers:
Victoria- Bryce Dallas Howard 
Riley Briers- Xavier Samuels
Bree Tanner- Jodelle Ferland
Leah Clearwater-
Seth Clearwater- Booboo Stewart (he later was cast in the Disney Channel movie "The Descendents"- one of very few people from Twilight who had notable careers after these movies, which is a real shame)

Write-up: 

A lot of thoughts on this book/movie... 

First off, I don't know why this is, but whenever I read "Eclipse,' it seems to take me forever. I was at it for at least a week or two. I get maybe halfway through and I just check out and don't pick it back up for a while. I remember the first time I read it and how long it took me. And ultimately I think the reason is that I just found it boring... very little seems to happen in it and we're only waiting for this huge showdown with Victoria that's been hyped up for a long time. The craziest part is that Eclipse takes place only over a couple of months. Either April or May and it ends in mid-June. Twilight took place from January to May or June. New Moon took place from September 13th to April or May. And I believe Breaking Dawn takes place from August 12th to just after Christmas. 
I guess this is me saying that Stephenie's writing for Eclipse could have been abridged a bit and thankfully the movie does a great job of it and makes it helluva lot more entertaining than reading the book. I think I'd only read it maybe 2-3 times ever. But I'd seen the movie a lot more. But that doesn't mean I don't remember everything that happens in the book or the aspects of the story that the movie completely screwed up. As an adaptation, though, it's a job really well done. Plus Kristen Stewart keeps improving in this particular role. I'd had some harsh stuff to say about her as Bella in previous installments, but the more I watch, the more I do like what she does with it. Even though Bella still comes off sassier to me in the books than she ever brought to her in the movies. 

I don't know... I think as far as "Twilight" goes as a series, I sometimes feel like I prefer it had just took place in one book and never mind about with the sequels. New Moon is miserable cuz Edward leaves and Eclipse takes a long while to get through. At least for me. Breaking Dawn... I'll have my thoughts on that for when I get to the movie. I just don't remember if I'd ever read it more than once- probably twice, though. 

One thing I should also add is that this the only movie in the series my sister watches with us wheneve we have them on. Heck, I think she's watched it on her own when it's on TV. I think she might be Team Jacob because he's less intimidating than Edward. And I can totally see why. But even now and then, she'll say 'I'm Switzerland, ok?" just out of context. Also Jacob saying "I kissed Bella" to Charlie and the scene before the fight and she says "Jacob, kiss me!" Thought those details were worth sharing.

I also remember in the theater a few moments that got a lot of laughs. Although at the moment, I just remember the scene where Charlie tries to tell Bella about "being safe" and it's super awkward for both of them. It's always good for laughs when a father and daughter in a movie are having this talk cuz it's not really something dads are comfortable with. 

Anyway, there's one huge thing about this movie I need to address because it's the one thing that bugs me. And it might extend to the whole movie franchise. 
I'm the kind of person who loves continuity and it throws me off when certain characters look different from movie to movie or from one season of a TV series to the next. And nothing upsets me more than changes in casting. I stopped watching certain animé series because they changed the cast (Pokémon in particular- I checked out of it for years because nobody can play Ash better than Veronica Taylor- meeting her at Comic-Con 10 years ago was a huge trip). 
While Victoria isn't a character I love (obviously cuz she's the villain with a vendetta against Bella and Edward because she thinks Edward killed her mate, James), it annoys me to no end that they recast the role at this juncture of the series. If it had New Moon, fine... she has no lines in that movie at all and just appears in the scenes where she's being pursued by the werewolves before Bella cliff-dives. But this is her big moment, her big showdown with Edward and Bella and to me, it's never going to feel right watching it because it's a different actress. And this movie started a line of movies where I just plain didn't like Bryce Dallas Howard because of the roles she plays. I'm not convinced about her playing Victoria or feel any connection to her at all and it makes the character almost out to be a joke because the acting looks comical. (Twilight as a whole really isn't known for having Oscar-level acting, but still...). I also did not like her because of her in "50/50" as Joseph Gordon-Levitt's girlfriend or her role in "The Help"... thankfully, she got cast as Claire in the "Jurassic World" franchise because while she doesn't start out as the most likeable character, Claire does grow as a person as the story progresses. 

And with this movie as a whole, it's my time to really address the cosmetic changes with the characters. I keep reading trivia where Robert Pattinson hated waxing his eyebrows in the first movie so he refused to do so in the sequels. And I think he comes off better as Edward in the later movies. I can understand Nikki Reed not looking completely the same as Rosalie because dying her hair in the first movie ruined her hair so she had to wear a wig. 
However, Jasper is where my issue kinda lies. His hairstyle and look is different in every movie and the lack of continuity is really distracting to me. And maybe it's because this is a fact that was revealed more about his character later on or he didn't have as many lines... but I find it distracting that Jasper all of a sudden has a Southern accent in this movie. His backstory was that he was the youngest officer in the Confederate army at the age of 17 and he was changed into a vampire by Maria, who was part of this huge phenomenon in the southern US where rival vampires fought each other with newborn armies. And after two movies where it was tough for him to say more than a sentence to Bella because he's still getting used to abstaining from human blood, he's suddenly more talkative. Granted, I like listening to him and find him extremely fascinating explaining his area of expertise. But it seems like too many random pieces thrown together that weren't there the last two movies. 
Also, don't know why, I really didn't recognize Esme in the movie at all. There's the scene we see the whole Cullen family in the field waiting for the newborn army to show up. She has her hair tied back and her hair color looks different. Maybe it's just me, but I feel very nitpicky when it comes to continuity. 

Again, the adaptation from the book to movie was really well done. The book spent way too long with Edward being super controlling and not letting Bella see Jacob and the two guys not wanting to cooperate. A lot of that got streamlined for this. There are multiple times Bella see Jacob in La Push and they almost always are fighting about something. And meanwhile, she's agonizing about her decision, whether she's ready to become a vampire and not wanting to hurt those around her. A couple of times it's completely fine, but there are way too many of thsoe instances in the book, I even get exhausted. 
Then again, I also spent a lot of this book wanting her to just stop seeing Jacob because all he's doing is getting between her and Edward and trying to change her mind about her decision. 

The following train of thought happened when I was watching the movie for the first time- I was kinda annoyed with Edward, if I'm being honest. Because he wouldn't let Bella see Jacob. Then I was reveling when Jacob showed up at her school and helps her play hookey. Of course, not much time passes where I'm annoyed with him again... him hating on Edward and saying he'd rather Bella be dead than become a vampire. It was like a switch in my head- one pointing to Team Edward and the other to Team Jacob- was flicking on my head forcefully in either direction and it was distressing how strongly it switched from one direction to the next. 
I had said in my New Moon review how reading the book had me really leaning towards Team Jacob, more than I typically do, but it evenutally went back to the default Team Edward position by the end of the story, where Bella rushes to Italy to keep Edward from getting himself killed. 

I watched the movie the other night... and it feels like a while since I'd seen it. There's a strong chance, among the movies, that it's the one I'd seen the movie other than Twilight. And the switch in my head was coming into play again. I can't say exactly when it happened, but I was leaning so far towards Team Jacob, Edward was almost completely off my mind. I think it was around the scene where Jasper is showing the werewolves how to fight against newborn vampires and Bella is chilling with Jacob when he's in his werewolf form and continued to where he's carrying her through the trail to mask her scent. And also when he's keeping her warm in the night. Of course, I'd always go back to Team Edward cuz I just cannot help myself.
I have a suspicion that my mind was having this debate because I'd read the end of the book earlier that day and Bella was finally releasing part of her loves him too. And if Edward had left her alone and never came back the first time he ran off (he was out of school for a week in Twilight because he couldn't stand how strong her scent appealed to him), she would have ended up with Jacob... eventually. And that'd be absolutely fine. I can see the appeal of that. However, it's hard not to side with Edward because he is the man of mystery fantasy. It's like choosing someone who's one of the kind extraordinary opposed to the everyday boy-next-door nice guy. 

Another thing about the adaptation that's really good... I may be a hypocrite here because I hated the way Twilight diverted and added more scenes with the nomad vampires to fill out the movie when the book only focused on Bella's perspective... but I really like how they filled out the storyline in Eclipse, showing Victoria's interactions with Riley, the vampire she creates to in charge of her newborn army. We start the movie with how she attacks and changes him... that really helps set up the character. Don't know why, I always remember Xavier Samuel played Riley (although I remembered his name as "Xavier Samuels"... maybe cuz his character's name is Riley Briers). But we got to see more of his interactions with the army and also we see more of Bree Tanner. She plays a small role later in the story, but she sadly doesn't have much face time. 
There was a novella Stephenie wrote about Bree and it shows more about what happens with the newborn army and it offers more insight. But I'd only read the book once and I really don't feel up to it at this current time. Even though I probably should read it again at some point. 

And here's another paragraph of issues I have with the adaptation. I'm sorry, but I just can't help myself. 
First off- a positive- one of the biggest scenes a lot of us were looking forward to was the chapter called "Fire & Ice" where Edward and Jacob were having a candid discussion about them and Bella. 
Negative- the scene where Rosalie tells Bella about how she became a vampire and why Bella should not... in the book, Bella is staying over at the Cullen place and Rosalie actually goes out of her way to talk to her. I thought that was a really great moment for her character, showing that initative and willingness to talk to her, especially when she spent the first two books (except the end of the New Moon, of course) being really hard on Bella. I didn't ever hate Rosalie, but I don't particularly like her that much because she's such an ice queen. In the movie, Bella goes out of her way to talk to Rosalie because she storms off after a conversation about becoming a newborn. I can kinda see how both sides work well because it shows each character being stronger than they're given credit for, whether that lens is through the reader/viewer or each other. That being said, Rosalie's telling of her backstory to Bella was photographed really well. However, there's one piece I always kinda felt was missing... Rosalie talks about having a run-in with her fiance and his friends and he's drunk and it's alluded that he sexually assaults her in front of them and leaves her in the street to die. Because the writing and shooting of this scene was very discrete and doesn't show a lot because a certain rating needs to be upheld. In my mind, I interpret as "she was sexually assaulted and it was violent, but it doesn't translate to her being on the brink of death"... how it had been said or written that she was subsequently beaten, had ribs broken that pierced some of her internal organs or her skull was cracked on the pavement, that would make more sense and translated slightly better. 
It is nice, though, that Rosalie gets more opportunities to win over the parts of the Twi-hard fan base that weren't generally fans of her. People like me. 
And there are small things- like the valedictorian at graduation. In the book, it was Eric, but in the movie, it was Jessica. Yes, it's a small detail, but I feel like it was a blatant rewrite just for the sake of capitalizing on Anna Kendrick's career skyrocketing. I mean, she's awesome and the reason I'd seen a lot of her movies. I guess it's kinda on the same level as giving Dobby's roles in the various Harry Potter movies to Neville... although it takes a little more effort to animate Dobby than just giving someone's lines to another character. The funny thing about the graduation scene is that I remember a lot about her speech... but I never realized that it was written by the writers as yet another message to Bella to really think about her decision to become a vampire. The sentiment of the speech was that this was not the time for rash decisions, it was a time for mistakes and nothing is permanent. Don't know why I just suddenly understood it, but I did this time. And it's even cooler to look back on. 
Bree Tanner had a short time in the book, but there's an aspect of her part in the story that was completely left out of the movie. The movie just makes her seem innocent and nervous about what's going to happen to her. But the book has her seeming a little less civil and screaming that she wants Bella (meaning to drink her blood) and asking how they can all stand close to her. And Bella also looks at her a few times and wonders if that's going to be her future... Bella barely acknowledges Bree at all, either during the scene in the clearing with the Volturi (who convenientally show up AFTER the fight... like true politicans not wanting to get their hands dirty, ugh!) and during the aftermath. The aftermath is spent between her and Jacob and Edward. 

One thing that also stood out to me this time around... the scene with Bella and her mom. That was really well written and offered a sweet moment amidst all the crazyness. Her mom talks to her about Edward, talking about how she moves around him like they're magnets and to make sure she's making the right choice for herself. At the end of it, she gives her a quilt made from all the T-shirts they got from traveling. That wasn't in the book, but it was such a nice touch that added more to their relationship. It just made me wish Stephenie wrote a prequel novella or something that talked about Bella's relationship with her mom when they were growing up as well as what she was like in school. When she says she was awkard and none of the guys ever asked her out because they saw her go through all those awkward adolescent stages. It might explain that low-key part of her personality, the introverted part. Or maybe I'm just trying to find even more connection with her as a character. I feel like my own personality is a little off beat because I don't know how to act around people unless I know them well enough.

...I'm sure there's something I missed, cuz I often do... but I think this is as far as I'll go with this. 

Theatrical Review: Jurassic World

Date: Saturday, June 13 2015
Time: 12:30   12:15  12:00pm
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 4 (my dad, mom, sister and myself)

Director: Colin Trevorrow
Type: Sci-fi action/adventure


Cast:
"Velociraptor Whisperer" Owen- Chris Pratt
Claire (Zach & Gray's aunt)- Bryce Dallas Howard
Gray- Ty Simpkins (of "Iron-Man 3" fame)
Zach- Nick Robinson ("Melissa & Joey")
Hoskins -Vincent D'Nofrio
Lowery- Jake Johnson
Masrani (owner of Jurassic World)- Irrfan Khan
Dr. Wu- B.D. Wong
Helen (Zach & Gray's mom)- Judy Greer

Introduction:

It's a good thing I double-checked the movie listings. Originally, I saw the listing as 12:30. I looked at it today and it really said 12:15.
...we got to the theater and the movie started at 12 SHARP.

The first could be blamed on human error... but I seriously wanted to kill the person in charge of our weekend guide because it clearly said 12:15.
On the plus side, we found a row of four seats together and we'd only missed a couple minutes... probably nothing super important. It's not like we were going to see someone getting eaten while they were transporting the raptors. That was SO 12 years ago...

The last time all of us went to a movie together was "Avatar" and that was December 2009. My dad usually sees movies in-flight and reports back about the good ones and not-so good ones. But he and my mom had been on two theatrical ventures since: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (which they said was really good, but VERY R-rated) and "Godzilla" (which we'd since seen and are all in agreement that it's REALLY good).

I may have mentioned this in my own "Jurassic Park" review
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/10/55-jurassic-park-1993.html
but it's kinda tradition that my dad and I see every movie in this franchise in theaters. This time, we got everyone to come along. Occasionally, things got really intense and there were a few emotional points, but the entire theater had a good time.

Plot:
Does anyone really care about the plot?
I really don't, but for those we do, I'll throw one together.

20 years after the original movie/park, Jurassic Park World is in full operation. But supposedly they have to keep introducing new "attractions" every year to keep public interest and to keep the shareholders and investors happy.
Yeah, ask the last couple "Jurassic Park" movies about what became of what the shareholders wanted.

So the genetics lab (led by Dr. Wu, a familiar face from the original "Jurassic Park") developed a hybrid dinosaur: Indominus Rex.
Which is part T-rex, velociraptor and a bunch of other animals- who not only served to fill the gaps in the genetic code, but inadvertently gave it some of its other attributes.

And when it breaks loose from its paddock... so does all hell... which take on a multitude of forms.

On the human side of the coin, we have our two young characters who are visiting their aunt who works in the park... who is apparently too much of a workaholic to spend any time with them. We have our bad-ass protagonist who works closely with the raptors who happens to be the smartest person who works on this island. (Not in the IQ department so much as the department of COMMON SENSE). And a bunch of random characters in other aspects of the park.

Actors

Jake Johnson is one of the people in the control room who monitors park security. I assume it's the role Dennis Nedry had in the original "Jurassic Park" movie, except he actually cares about the dinosaurs (his desk is loaded with figurines) and he doesn't have any sort of agenda. In fact, he does something towards in the end of the movie that would mark him somewhat of a hero.
As a fan of "New Girl" and after he got me through "let's be cops" (seriously, if it was anyone else in that movie, I probably wouldn't have seen it or stuck with it- still a guilty pleasure of mine ;) ), it was just nice seeing him in this movie.

Ty Simpkins was a scene-stealer in "Iron-Man 3" and he did well in this movie as well, although maybe not nearly the bad-ass as he was in the former case. The younger audience could probably relate to him and see the park as he sees it. Amazing until everything on sight has the potential to kill you.
His older brother spends the first several scenes looking at girls or texting his girlfriend. But when things get real, he does look out for his little brother as he should.

Bryce Dallas Howard has done so many unlikeable roles. Between "Eclipse" (but to be fair, it was hard to invest in her character, Victoria, because she was played by a different actress in the previous "Twilight" films), "The Help" and "50-50" (both exemplified different levels of bitchiness). Before hell breaks loose, it appears to be more of the same, but she does grow a backbone and occasionally gets to kick some ass.

I didn't know who Chris Pratt was until a year ago... he's been known for a lot of comedic roles, between "The Lego Movie," Parks & Rec, and "Guardian of the Galaxy." He gets some laughs, but in different ways than he had previously. Like I said, he's the smartest character working at this park, he's incredibly likeable (unlike Muldoon in "Jurassic Park" who was kind of a hard-ass about park safety but didn't have a lot of things for the audience to respond to positively), and he can back up his words with action.
I tell ya, give this guy the right scripts and lots to do, and he could become the next great action star-- if this movie didn't already put him there to begin with.

Dinosaurs

Except for the carnivores (although it was nice to see the raptors have moments where they weren't just deadly hunters), you'd almost wish this place was real. They had numerous attractions, including a petting zoo with baby dinosaurs, kayaking in the swamp with stegosaurus and Apatosaurus, and gyrospheres where you can "roll" among the dinosaurs in the valley (with a funny cameo from Jimmy Fallon as the safety instructor in the video feed).

After the first movie, it was nice to see some triceratops that were thriving. And I liked seeing Apatosaurus (my personal favorite) and Ankylosaurus.

But the raptors are pretty awesome, especially the way Chris Pratt works with them.

The hybrid, Indominus Rex, makes a pretty amazing villain. Very intelligent, very deadly, and definitely keeps you on your toes. [Seriously, do not use raptor DNA in hybrid dinosaurs... their intelligence is not to be taken lightly]

As for the other species, I'll just leave you to experience them for yourselves.
Additional Comments:

Cutting to the chase, this movie is AWESOME and is something that needs to be viewed on a BIG SCREEN. It's the kind of movie that theaters were created for. The surround sound was used extremely well. You can hear rustling and breathing off-screen. That, combined with the CGI renderings of these dinosaurs, makes you feel like you're really there. (And that's an experience you can appreciate in 2D).

The action sequences range from heart-stopping to pulse-racing. The audience was captivated throughout. I believe I heard screaming when the Indominus Rex wrecked some havoc in one scene. And every now and then, there was room for comic relief.

And there is a little bit of nostalgia for the original movie. Whether it's in scenes that give you a sense of deja vu or in minute details. [In one scene, Jake Johnson was wearing a JP T-shirt he bought on eBay and Bryce Dallas Howard thought it was in poor taste]

The only spoilers I can really give away... our core protagonists live and most of the casualties are people that deserved to die or were nameless.
There was one casualty in particular that I predicted and cheered for. The character thought he meant well with his particular prerogative, but let's face it- after some stuff he pulled, he deserved it.At the end of the movie, one of the ushers came in and told us there were no scenes after the credits :P Wish they did that during the last "Avengers" movie.

Rating:
...I believe this is the first time I'm giving away an

A+
...on this blogOne could argue that there are still clichés and things that are too predictable, but I honestly don't care. This movie held my attention the whole time. The CGI and surround sound (plus Michael Giacchino paying homage to John Williams' iconic score) are very realistic. Afterwards, I was half expecting to see dinosaurs walking around. That's how impressive it all was. The script had a great balance of suspense, action and humor. Great casting and acting.

Yeah, I really can't find fault with it. "Jurassic World" was AWESOME.
I was so impressed [thanks in part to the melee in the final 10 minutes] that by the end, I was almost crying and screaming from the adrenaline of it.