‘Jurassic World’ Tops Box Office And Has Rave Reviews, But Was It Better Than ‘Jurassic Park’?
It’s official: Jurassic World is a massive hit. The dino-driven summer action flick roared into theaters on Friday and has enjoyed mostly positive reviews.
What’s really impressive is its early earnings. In just 24 hours, Jurassic World is said to have garnered approximately $82.8 million. The number gave World the third best opener in American history, behind only Avengers: Age of Ultron and the final Harry Potter movie. Jurassic World is already on course to earn about $200 million this weekend, silencing any critics who thought that the movie would be a laughable flop like previous Jurassic sequels. Speaking of which, many fans of the series have wondered just how Jurassic World measured up to Jurassic Park.
On this point, opinion among reviewers is a bit divided.
Will you be watching ‘Jurassic World’ this weekend? Critics are all over the place w/this one: http://t.co/2mmpLXOcML pic.twitter.com/5TNDKiOfDt
— CNN (@CNN) June 12, 2015
Jurassic World earned a 70 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, yet quite a few movie critics feel it lacked the sense of wonder felt that Jurassic Park had. This was one of the chief criticisms put forth by Glenn Lovell of CinemaDope in his review of the movie.
“[T]hat sense of wonder that distinguished the first Jurassic Park (rightly hailed for its pioneering CG effects) is sorely missing. In its place are screaming throngs, [a]nd a loud, recycled John Williams score meant to cue us to the dangers ahead.”
It seems that even though Jurassic World played heavily upon the elements of nostalgia while promising something new, not everyone was thrilled. Luckily for World, most reviewers and moviegoers seem to be firmly on its side.
Christopher Orr of the Atlantic encouraged audience members to both come for the dinosaurs and stay for the dinosaurs. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Anderson at the San Francisco Examiner outright declares Jurassic World to be a “popcorn muncher”-type movie.
“Just as the rebooted theme park of the title, it exists to show off some cool dinosaurs, but also to make as much money as possible. Trevorrow’s cleverest stunt was acknowledging and making peace with the business end of things; he skillfully balances art and commerce.
“Like Spielberg did in the original, Trevorrow mixes likable characters with mini-conflicts of their own with awe-inspiring, show-stopping dinosaur sequences. Though the movie rampages slightly past the two-hour mark, it never feels long or slow.”
In other words, Jurassic World is pretty much your standard “summer popcorn flick.” It’s a fun blockbuster that, while lacking in strong characterization or a well-crafted plot, seems enjoyable to the average moviegoer who doesn’t think too hard and just enjoys the ride.
#JurassicWorld completely ignores important discoveries scientists have made about dinosaurs http://t.co/PvBnpY93j6 pic.twitter.com/WL4Cw1IgSz
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) June 13, 2015
Having Jurassic World surpass or even match Jurassic Park as a movie might have been asking for too much. At the very least, Jurassic World wasn’t as cringe-worthy as other Jurassic Park sequels.
Disagree? What did you think of Jurassic World?
[Image Credit: Universal Pictures/YouTube]
