First, I have to admit that there were two reason I was going to see this movie. First, I am in that mode where I would most probably go see Chris Pratt in just about anything. Second, the trailer showed a scene of Chris Pratt on a motorcycle hunting with raptors. There was no way I was not going to see this movie.
The premise of Jurassic World is daily simple. It is many years after the the critical failure of the first park. A new company has taken over the ideas and design and has been able to get a new park up, running, and making money. Jurassic World has people flying in from all over the world to pet dinosaurs and see them roaming in the wild.
Gray and Zach are two such visitors. They are being sent for a weeks vacations at Jurassic World which is overseen by their aunt Claire. The two kids are being shipped of to avoid the dirty business of their parents finalizing a divorce while they are gone. The other point of view character, Owen, is portrayed by Chris Pratt. He is an ex-Navy officer that works with the raptors and containment of the other dinosaurs. Gray and Zach are left to the cold care of Claire’s personal assistant and provide the audience with a regular park attendee’s view of Jurassic World. The behind the scenes workings are put on display through following Claire and Owen.
The key to the crisis at Jurassic World is that the scientists have designed a new attraction. They have combined the genetics of various dinosaurs to create something larger and more terrifying. In the vein of the original movie, this is where everything goes pear shaped. Indominous Rex, we later find out, was an experiment to see what parts of dinosaurs could be spliced together reliably to create something better. In true movie fashion, they created something better but not something they could control. It turns out that when you set out to create a terrifying monster, success is not the best outcome.
If you come in to Jurassic World expecting any semblance of reality, you have chosen to see the wrong movie. Jurassic World is designed to fit the mold of summer blockbuster popcorn movie and it succeeds at this goal admirably. The main plot plays on the current fears at large in the imagination of the general public. GMO’s, Corporate Greed, Secret Military Experiments all abound within the confines of Jurassic World. The face of the Military/Industrial Complex is played by Vincent D’Onofrio as Hoskins. D’Onofrio is wasted in this role as it is nothing more than a card-board cut-out villain that can be found in any number of summer blockbusters.
Jurassic World is very much a cut about any of the other sequels in this franchise. The four main characters though somewhat light in the character department are likable and made you want to root for their survival. The presentation of the raptors as more like hunting dogs plays to the heart strings of the audience which makes the two turns at the end of the movie both more powerful despite knowing they are coming. The set up for the next movie in the franchise is handle in much more deft fashion which I always appreciate.
In the end, Jurassic World is an enjoyable movie to watch at a matinee screening. It has plenty of dinosaur on human action that makes for a good action movie with characters that you want to see survive despite making stupid choices in a park filled with live dinosaurs. The only down side is that Chris Pratt never takes his shirt off.
Big Bad Con
It’s called Big Bad Con.
Big Bad Con is held in Oakland, California during the month of October. This year, the dates for Big Bad Con are October 16th through the 18th. the convention has been running for four years and been Sean Nittner of Evil Hat Productions fame. He has ran the convention as both a way create a space for gamers on the west coast a place to gather and have fun and to support several great causes. Big Bad Con is a charitable event that supports Doctors Without borders, Child’s Play, and the Alameda County Community Food Bank.
I am bringing this this neat convention to your attention for several reasons. First, I would love to go myself. I have never been able to attend Big Bad Con as the cost of flying to California is a bit outside this bear’s price range, but I have heard nothing but good things about the convention. It draws from a pool of gamers and designers that are both supportive and generous with their time and activities which creates a space that sounds electrifying. In addition to this, I belong to several groups for LGBT gamers, and all reports that I have heard from these groups have indicated that Big Bad Con creates a space that is both welcoming to those of us in the community as well as safe for us to be ourselves. From this bear’s perspective, this is something to be cherished in the gaming community and encouraged. Finally, Sean Nittner is running a Kickstarter to help make Big Bad Con both affordable for attendees and sustainable for him as the host. There are a range of support levels built in with the $40 mark giving you a pass to get into the convention this year.
So, If you are free in October for a weekend of fun gaming with great people, I recommend checking out Big Bad Con. You could swing by the Kickstarter and get your badge taken care of now. If you like running games at conventions, Big Bad Con has their events submissions open as I type this.
Swing by the website and Kickstarter and give it a perusal. It will be well worth your time.,