REVIEW: Jurassic Park

I hesitate to call this a review, since I feel like everyone on the planet should know by now that Jurassic Park is a masterpiece. It's by no means flawless, but it's easily earned its place in cinematic history as an innovative film that captured the imaginations of all who witness it. Seeing as how Jurassic World is just on the horizon, it felt appropriate to revisit the movie that started it all, investigating just what makes this 1993 classic so gosh-darn memorable.

Based off of the novel by Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park involves a team of scientists assembled by charismatic businessman John Hammond (Richard Attenborough); at the behest of his investors, Hammond flies Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Dr. Ian Malcom (Jeff Goldblum) out to Isla Nublar, a small island off the coast of Costa Rica. There, Hammond has constructed his magnum opus, a biological preserve/theme park packed to the gills with genetically resurrected dinosaurs. Along for the soft opening are Hammond's grandchildren, Lex and Tim Murphy (Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello), as well as Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero), a lawyer representing Hammond's worried investors. Once the tour vehicles embark on their maiden voyage, the island is rocked by a tropical storm; during the deluge, the security measures are deactivated by the park's systems architect, Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight). While Nedry attempts to escape the island with stolen dinosaur embryos, the various prehistoric residents of Isla Nublar escape their enclosures and begin to run amok.

Rounding out the supporting cast, we've got Bob Peck as Robert Muldoon, the park's game warden and Samuel L. Jackson as Ray Arnold, the head engineer. The entire cast gives stellar performances, bolstered by a strong script; their interactions all feel natural and relateable, a quality that is mandatory for any kind of horror or disaster film to succeed. It allows the audience to put themselves in the shoes of the cast with minimal effort, helping the threat feel all that more real. As each character is introduced, we learn immediately who they are within just a few minutes; we learn about Dr. Grant's profession, his personality, his incompatibility with technology (and children), and his theories on the evolutionary trends of dinosaurs all within his first scene. It establishes important details about his character and builds the foundation that his arc will be built upon as the film progresses. While not every character gets an arc (Samuel L. Jackson doesn't have much to do aside from smoke and struggle with the computers), they all feel wholly natural; even when it comes to the most expressive characters (Jeff Goldblum, the kids, Nedry), no one feels like a cartoon character. It's a very organic-feeling film, which is something that not a lot of action movies these days can get a handle on, whether it be through substance or visuals.

It's no revelation that Jurassic Park was one of the biggest innovators in the field of visual effects when it was released in 1993; I hesitate to word it like that, since it makes it sound like the effects aren't still impressive to this day. And that is simply not true. This is a gorgeous film in every sense of the word; from the verdant locales to Stan Winston's jaw-dropping dinosaurs, everything in this movie grabs your attention with just how good it looks (except maybe for the JP staff's pink polo/khaki shorts/tube socks combo). It's a near-seamless blend of CGI and practical effects, breathing life into dinosaurs that actually look like real, living things. There always seems to be a debate as to which method of effect is better, but I feel this film is proof that the best results are accomplished with appropriate amounts of both. At the end of the day, special effects, be they practical or computer-generated, are merely tools meant to tell a story. Jurassic Park would be the same movie at its core if you replaced the dinosaurs with, say, mutated koala bears. Sure, the visuals have changed drastically, but the themes of attempting to assert control over nature and the folly of man's ambition are still as prevalent as ever. Throughout the course of the film, the only characters to die are the ones who, up until the very end, try to maintain control over the chaos of the natural world. It's a reminder that there are some things in life that just can't be molded to suit the needs and desires of the individual; no matter how much power, intelligence, or technology man may possess, the absolutes of nature will be ever present until the end of time.

Even with all that said, I cannot help but personally relate to John Hammond every time I watch this movie; one of the best scenes in the film delves into his backstory and how he created Jurassic Park with only the purest intentions. He wasn't in this for the money, but rather to present the world with something tangible and amazing, to capture the imaginations of children and adults from all walks of life. Hammond is a mad doctor who isn't burdened with a lust for power, but rather a desire to explore that which is unexplored, bringing back something amazing and humbling from his proverbial journey. Even after things begin to go wrong, he immediately starts telling Dr. Sattler about how things will work better the next time; it's clear that he's in the wrong, since no matter how he tries to enact his grand vision for Jurassic Park, the idea will be fundamentally flawed from the get-go. One cannot force order into a system of chaos. However, despite all that, I find myself identifying with him every time. Each time the credits roll, I think "but I would do it better, I wouldn't make those mistakes". It's a summer blockbuster that raises interesting questions about the nature of man and the various responsibilities we have as the dominant species on the planet, in addition to the moral quandaries that can arise when one considers what should be done with the power that we have access to (especially when it can be so tempting to wield that power, in the words of Ian Malcom, "like a kid that's found his dad's gun").

Jurassic Park is and always will be my favorite movie of all time. It grabbed my attention as a dinosaur-obsessed child and started me on the road to becoming the cinephile I am today. More than just your standard summer blockbuster, Jurassic Park offers something interesting to contemplate or investigate in literally every aspect it presents, from the characters, to the special effects, to the philosophy behind it all. In the highly unlikely event that you haven't seen this movie yet, stop reading this review and remedy that situation right away.