Jurassic Park (1993)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Jurassic Park (1993) – S. Spielberg

Although I doubt I would have given this 4 stars even thirty years ago when it was new, there’s something about seeing it on the big screen and through the eyes of 9 year-old Amon that added extra value. Sure, the characters are still only schematic nods in a certain direction rather than fleshed out living and breathing humans but they serve the purpose of advancing the plot and creating concern/anxiety where it needs to be created (kids in peril!). Spielberg was always a master manipulator of the audience and his goal here seems purely to thrill -- with any message from Michael Crichton’s source novel about the dangers/risks of using science to interfere with natural processes only noted in passing. The fact that we aren’t fully attached to the characters probably makes it easy for us to stomach their untimely passing when, of course, the genetically re-engineered dinosaurs get loose and wreak havoc (so long Samuel L. Jackson). I had forgotten that Wayne Knight (“Newman!”) is the central bad guy here although his money-grubbing motives seem to pale in comparison to the grand moral failing of David Attenborough, the impresario who set the entire theme park in motion, inviting the cascading negatives events (predicted by Jeff Goldblum’s chaos theoretician) that bring about the premature end of his dream. Sam Neill and Laura Dern play paleontologists/audience surrogates who learn about the park, see the creatures with wonder and then terror. But of course, the whole movie itself is really a theme park ride, filled with animatronic and CGI monsters that provide the jump scares and evil glares that send kids screaming. Now Amon is asking about the sequels but I don’t think so…