For many movie going folk Star Wars is the biggest deal for them this year, but not for me. This past weekend saw the sequel to a film that captivated generations of people and still does to this day. I remember seeing Jurassic Park multiple times and then spending ages trying to get hold of a forever sold out VHS copy.

Jurassic World did the same for me (apart from the VHS thing). As a proud 90’s kid I felt as if that era was on the line for me here. Our lives were in the hands of a not so known director Colin Trevorrow. His job, to bring back  something that many think couldn’t be bettered.

You know what many people will be right because Jurassic Park revolutionised so much and paved the way for modern film. But Jurassic World in many places bettered the work that Steven Spielberg did. Of course throughout the film there were moments that nodded to the first but this one had it’s own voice and that was achieved by making these dinosaurs the characters.

Instead of this being a ‘monster’ flick, the characters in this film include the dinosaurs. There is a great connection from an audience point of view to these creatures who have their own spotlight. They aren’t just CGI imagery, they mean something more than just monsters. You really feel for these larger than life beings that once ruled our world and that is something this franchise has never succeeded in telling us until now.

The park is open

We were treated to some stunning visual shots and the park really looked like what John Hammond envisaged

Again he concept of humans pushing genetics too far is center stage and they are rightly punished. An old story of human interference with nature resulting in disaster. Nothing new but delivered in a different way. A very much lethal cross bred dinosaur escapes captivity and all hell breaks loose.

For all Jurassic fans it’s right up their alley.

To put things right it is up to the main man Owen who is played by Chris Pratt, a velociraptor handler/trainer (yes there isn’t a manlier job, ever).

From this film he should go on to be the next Indiana Jones no doubt. His presence as the hero was simply brilliant. Joined by the park’s main administrator Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) they struggle to track down this dino-predator and the 20,000 visitors are now the prey. We do see an Indiana Jones style relationship develop here ticking yet another box for me.

Parts of this film were indeed scary and tense, something which delivered better than the original perhaps on a larger scale. I think comparison to the original is what this film was mainly about but to me Jurassic World stood taller. In the end it was up to the dinosaurs who closed the original, defending their honor.

Conclusion  9/10

This wasn’t just a film about monsters, in fact these creatures didn’t feel like monsters at all. They were characters in their own tale of how no matter what interference they have, life will find a way. The best film of the 90’s and it’s reputation was fantastically defended, Jurassic World did what the original didn’t and that’s tell us that dinosaur’s weren’t monsters at all.

No doubt I will be seeing it again in the cinema. A reported 204 million dollars taken for its first weekend, the T-Rex can still roar, and it’s louder than anything else this year so far.