In Praise of Jurassic World

Indominus Rex gets inside Jurassic World's aviary. Mouahahaah!

I never thought I'd find myself telling you to see the biggest blockbuster on the planet in the summer of 2015, but - ironically - here I am telling you as much. More importantly, here is Steven Spielberg, guns a blazin'. By now the whiz kid's playbook has been co-opted, imitated, stolen, copied, and mimicked by just about everyone, but nothing beats the original. Working as executive producer, Spielberg's touch is evident throughout Jurassic World's "Wonder-kid-I'm-having-so-much-fun-Holy-crap-watch-out-for-that monster!" ride. That it's directed by someone else (whose name escapes me and I'm too lazy to look it up) is kind of secondary. This is a Steven Spielberg summer fantasia. Let's look at the evidence. 

Old school Amblin' Entertainment logo indicating this is a project very close to Spielberg's heart? Check.

The hero as lion tamer.

Creepy opening sequence of eggs hatching baby raptors juxtaposed with suburban family saying goodbye to kids flying to an island filled with carnivorous dinosaurs? Check.

Problematical family dynamics with kids fearing divorce and inattentive adults more concerned with career? Check.

Sense of awe and wonder from the kids upon laying eyes on digitally created prehistoric dinos? Check.

Hipper than thou techie in the control room with Jurassic Park t-shirt purchased on Ebay which references Spielberg's earlier efforts? Check. Bonus points for the shark (looks like the one in Jaws!) used as bait for the giant sea monster that emerges from the fish tank at what appears to be a futuristic version of Sea World.

Witty banter between the sexes.
Not quite It Happened One Night or When Harry Met Sally,
but not entirely bad, either!

Shameless embracing and telling it like it is when it comes to product placement? Yep. In the film, executives from Verizon come to the island to sponsor a new attraction. It's going to be the raptor that later lays waste to much of the island (Oh, relax, I'm not spoiling anything. You knew). Spielberg and Universal Studios (and tour!) know there's no way around product placement; might as well not only make a buck selling screen time but also parody the whole crass commercialization industry. Let's go meta with it.

The meta aspect of Jurassic World continues with the recurring phrase, uttered throughout the film: more teeth. Everyone wants more teeth. The visionary CEO of Jurassic World who wants to increase attendance by providing bigger, meaner, scarier monsters. The scientists in the lab manipulating the DNA for the folks at Verizon. The guests on the island, those families, the crowds of people you and I belong to when we visit America's theme parks also want more teeth. And, of course, everyone that's gone to see Jurassic World these past weeks, making it the monster movie it's become, wants more teeth. Lord knows we didn't go for the nuanced actin'. 

When all else fails, send in the semi-nude Fay Wray
knock off with a red flare.

Rugged Indiana Jones-type loner with upstanding morals, in search of the truth, with attraction to, but has problems with, women? Check.

Strong woman (a la Karen Allen in Raiders) ready to meet rugged loner on equal terms as she rolls up sleeves, tears skirt for better running, but leaves heels on throughout entire motion picture? Check.

A lean, mean, killing machine. Oh, joy.

The Spielberg style (when he's making blockbusters) speaks to men and women and children of all ages. There's always something in Spielberg blockbuster for everyone. Structurally, his films - (and Jurassic World is nothing more than a latest/greatest example) - balance human-scaled scenes (like the fear of divorce the kid in this film feels), with boffo spectacle. The trick Spielberg seems to be able to pull off better than anyone else is this: as you watch the so called cheesy family scenes you wonder why a) they're there in the first place and b) when are the monsters going to wreak havoc? After all: you came for more teeth. But what is actually happening are two pretty important things: a) information is being quietly passed along to you that will later impact on the massively satisfying third act and b) the quiet family scenes are quiet for a reason; they serve to settle your mind only to later have it eviscerated with the raptor-geddon scenes. 

Setting the stage for the ride at Universal Studios.

Am I making too much of this? I don't think so. I think Jurassic World's box office numbers are not only attributable to the expensive prices for 3D viewing. (BTW: see it in 2D! It's fine!). Any film industry box office specialist will agree: you cannot buy the numbers Jurassic World has been generating. No. It must be that people are leaving the theaters happy and telling their family and friends it's worth seeing. Word of mouth has provided Jurassic World with the success it currently enjoys. 

I have no doubt that other factors contributed to this film's stunning financial success. Little, if any, competition on opening weekend, brand recognition, the aforementioned elevated ticket prices, and more. But a marketing tsunami can only go so far. At some point people choose to go or not to go. 

Wink and a nod to Jaws? Mos' def.

So go. Get out of the heat. Suspend disbelief. Buy popcorn. Sit in the third row, up close. Be a kid again. Forget the Grexit for a moment. Take in the raptors and their nuanced actin'. The final battle royal is - without giving anything away - a gangbusters combo of past and present Jurassic movies. And this time around the snappy one liners and comic quotient is sufficiently high to entertain even a film history nut like me. OK, sure, it ain't Jaws (what is), but it's a monster movie made with a ton of tender loving care, and that may be the most ironic thing of all.

Not exactly Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, but the reference is undeniable.