‘Jurassic World’ delivers formulaic froth and edge-of-your-seat thrills

PRATT. Makes velociraptors perform tricks in “Jurassic World.”

We’ve heard it all before: It’s only a matter of time before man’s penchant for excess and hubris gets the better of him—and not even Star-Lord can charm his way out of the ravenous gaze of prehistoric creatures that began foraging for food 75 million years ago.

In Colin Trevorrow’s “Jurassic World,” it takes some time for the 20,000-plus tourists on Isla Nublar to realize that the sight of man harmoniously coexisting with the 14 species of docile herbivores and six “trained” carnivores of the now fully operational theme park in Costa Rica is more an exception than the rule.

Imagine taking a selfie with a triceratops or the parrot-like dimorphodon as you take a stroll through the park’s dinosaur-infested woods—which friend on the list of your social-networking site could resist “liking” that post?

Twenty two years after the events that transpired in Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park,” John Hammond’s dinosaurs have lost their novelty. To put a stop to the theme park’s dwindling ticket sales, owner Masrami (Irrfan Khan) and geneticist Henry Wu (BD Wong) are set to launch the larger, fiercer and smarter Indominus rex, a lab-grown hybrid of a T. rex, velociraptor, snake and cuttlefish—which gives the creature the ability to camouflage itself from its prey!

Unfortunately, animals raised in isolation aren’t always the most functional: In fact, even before the I. rex learns where it fits into the food chain, it devours its only sibling! Worse, it hunts not only for food, but also for fun!

Killing machines

What happens when the park’s “programmable” killing machines break out of their almost impenetrable cages? Such is Masrami’s cluelessness that he fails to read the cautionary writings on the wall before the I. rex and his voracious colleagues come tearing it down—and decapitating every hapless human who gets in the way!

The only person on the island brave enough to stand up to the dinos’ bloody carnage is velociraptor “whisperer” Owen Grady (the affable Chris Pratt), who will do everything in his power to save as many lives as possible—including Zack (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins), the wayward nephews of love interest Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), Jurassic World’s beautiful but cold operations manager.

The animal wrangler is aware that the four raptors he trains will never be as lovingly obsequious as that famous purple dinosaur toddlers often play with, but Owen is much too winkingly in-the-know not to put his guarded relationship with his cute but temperamentally fragile wards to good use!

The production’s formulaic froth is a tad too predictable to be truly compelling. But, the good news is that it’s better than the previous sequels of the dinos-gone-wild franchise: Its inspired moments of unmitigated horror and edge-of-your-seat action will make watching it worth your while.

While “Jurassic World’s” human stories are trite and for the most part disposable, its special effects look better than ever—so, when you see flying pteranodons going in for the kill, or a mosasaurus, an aquatic leviathan, coming from out of nowhere to gobble up a great white shark or a stubborn behemoth, you’ll feel your knees wobble with fright—and guilty pleasure!

Sometimes, these flashes of well-choreographed terror are good enough for us!