An Alternative Review of “Jurassic World”

In an age of superheroes, action stars, and Kim Kardashian, it was only a matter of time before Steven Spielberg decided it was time for a new Jurassic Park film. (And hey, at least it is a better option than a sequel to E.T. right?) This $200 million dollar franchise scored yet another decisive victory for Universal, becoming the third highest grossing film of all time, as well as the highest grossing film of 2015. But it not because of the two lead actors, the special effects, or even the story that is the reason for its success. It’s the nostalgic factor.

The film centers on the fictional is- land of Isla Nubar, located somewhere between Middle Earth and Atlantis, where there is a Disney World-esque dinosaur themed amusement park. As you can expect,it is not all sun- shine and rainbows anymore when a genetically modified dinosaur attacks, sending the park and its inhabitants into total chaos. The film stars former- heavyset-turned-super buff Chris Pratt as Owen Grady, a dinosaur trainer sent to expel the dinosaur, and Bryce Dal- las Howard, daughter of director Ron Howard (do I smell nepotism in the air?) as Claire Dearing, the operations manager of the park. The film also features two brothers, who were ap- parently out sick the day they covered “enunciation and emoting” in acting class. Anyway, Star- Lord and Not-Jessica-Chastain team up to stop the attacks.

This is the film that establishes Andy Dwyer-I mean Chris Pratt as yet another generic white male lead to add to the shelf of generic white male action stars, despite the fact that it is Claire who is the main protagonist. The biggest problem I had with this film is the treatment of the women in the film particularly in the case of Claire. Owen makes several sexist comments towards Claire for no reason at all, despite the fact that she is you know…doing her job? Not less than fifteen minutes into the film Claire is get- ting called out by her male colleagues, “Oh you should dress more. Claire you should smile more. You work too much Claire.” Seriously, leave the poor woman alone. One other issue I had with this film was Claire wearing her high heels through the entire film. Take your darn heels off when you are running from a dinosaur! It is a much quicker and faster way to assure your safety. But despite all these flaws, this massively overrated film is a fun little popcorn movie that I think you will enjoy.

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