Jurassic World

Jurassic World – Highly successful theme park, Jurassic World, is a delight for tourists the world over; behind the scenes, demand for bigger and more thrilling attractions leads to the scientists creating a brand new, unique dinosaur. Very intelligent and with a host of abilities to bring it to the top of the food chain, the Indominus Rex escapes its enclosure and embarks on a seemingly unstoppable killing spree. Can the humans, including Velociraptor trainer, Owen Grady, find a way to stop it before it reaches thousands of helpless tourists?

Jurassic World (2015) – Director: Colin Trevorrow

Rating: 12

Running Length: 124 mins

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio

Genre: Science Fiction

REVIEW: ‘JURASSIC WORLD’

‘Jurassic World’ is the fourth instalment of the Jurassic Park franchise and, as it has been released fourteen years after the third movie, plenty of time has allowed the filmmakers to iron out the flaws and move away from the weaker sequels. While it isn’t perfect, ‘Jurassic World’ is definitely treading on fresher and more contemporary ground, making it much more appealing to audiences who may have become disillusioned by the franchise.

The character of Owen Grady, played brilliantly by Chris Pratt, who has learned how to train the highly dangerous Velociraptors is a great addition to the franchise with his expertise adding valuable insight into what the dinosaurs’ behaviours are likely to be. The rest of the characters are somewhat predictable but well-played and there is enough action to keep both young and old members of the audience on the edge of their seats (or possibly hiding behind their fingers)!

While the plot doesn’t really travel too far from what has been seen before and therefore won’t be enough to convince some people, ‘Jurassic World’ is action-packed, down-right scary but ultimately fun to watch; for those wanting entertainment to accompany their popcorn, this is a movie which is unlikely to disappoint.

CONTENT: IS ‘JURASSIC WORLD’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

There are many scenes in this movie which are likely to be frightening for children. To avoid spoilers, we will highlight the strongest of the violence below; therefore if a child can cope with these scenes, they should be ok with the rest of the film. It must be noted though that many of these scary scenes happen one after the other with little respite in between so kids may struggle with the amount of violence on-screen.

The Indominus Rex which has been created to be the most dangerous dinosaur to have ever existed is unsurprisingly frightening. The scene in which the audience see it for the first time is very ominous. It hides among trees watching the characters overlooking its enclosure, growling and these characters are clearly unnerved by it.

When showing the Tyrannosaurus Rex enclosure, the camera focuses on a live goat which has been tied to a stake in the ground and is clearly being used as bait. The camera pans up to the tourists watching the spectacle as the T Rex approaches. The tourists, including many kids, chant ‘eat it, eat it, eat it’; they then cheer as bones can be heard crunching. While nothing violent or graphic is shown on camera, it is obvious that the goat is eaten by the dinosaur and the callous attitude of the tourists and their sheer delight in the goat being killed could be distressing and confusing for some children.

There are several scenes where dinosaurs attack humans; they are seen snatching people into their jaws while screams and crunching bones can be heard. One quite disturbing moment happens when an incidental but nice character has just been eaten, the dinosaur’s face is seen close to the camera and the man’s blood covers its jaws and drips onto the floor. One scene shows many incidental characters who have been sent to stop the Indominus Rex being killed and their life signs, which are linked to the main building in the park, are seen flatlining one after another. Another scene is shot mostly in first-person view with night vision cameras, most of these characters get killed and one is dragged away screaming. One character who has been injured slams a bloody hand onto the window of a vehicle, making the inhabitants (and most of the audience) jump. One character is suddenly confronted by a dinosaur and attempts to calm it down by holding his hand in front of it. The dinosaur then bites his hand, making him cry out in pain; it then fully attacks him and as the camera moves away, blood spatters on a nearby window.

Two characters leave the confines of the theme park to explore more of the island in a transparent vehicle. They are soon attacked by the Indominus Rex which stabs a large claw into the window and then attempts to eat the whole vehicle to get to the people inside. To avoid spoilers we won’t say what happens next but this scene is quite intense.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘JURASSIC WORLD’ FOR KIDS?

With some incredible and sometimes breathtaking scenes, ‘Jurassic World’ has raised the bar and ensured that the franchise can continue with an audience to continue watching and more importantly enjoying what they see. When we saw the movie at the cinema, a large proportion of the audience were kids and while most seemed ok, some were clearly struggling. With the level of violence in this film, we feel that this film should be suitable for most kids aged 10 and over, however we recommend caution for children who are sensitive to violence and would encourage parents to exercise their own judgement.

• Violence: 4/5 (many scenes of dinosaurs attacking people and eating them. Not too much gore but some blood is seen)
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (some ‘nice’ characters are killed but most are incidental so the audience has little time to get to know them)
• Fear Factor: 4/5
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (One of the main characters is a teenage boy and after kissing his girlfriend goodbye, he goes on to show interest in other teen girls at Jurassic World but this does not go into sexual territory)
• Bad Language: 2/5 (a small amount of mild and moderate cursing and blasphemy. Two curse words uttered in French)
• Dialogue: 3/5 (inevitably death and killings are mentioned in the dialogue. Some characters are sent to stop a dinosaur and it is made clear that they have non-lethal weapons and are likely to be killed)  
• Other notes: Deals with themes of family, work coming before loved ones, animal training, lack of control over wild animals, the dangers of playing god, militarism and solving a problem that you have created.

Words by Laura Record

[amazon_link asins=’B076FKCFQH,B00YH0CQ9W,B00FZLWZXE,B076FSLQVR,B01N383JLE’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’isthimovsui-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’d88117ca-5c09-11e8-b476-89dbf2bdf1fb’]