Monster mayhem in Jurassic World Rebirth

Universal Pictures has released an official trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth. It teases an Alien-inspired mutant dinosaur and Indiana Jones thrills.

The upcoming instalment in the Jurassic Park franchise is directed by Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), and stars Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation) and Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton).



Read the official synopsis:

“Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind. Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.”

The cast includes Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs. Lopez) as Reuben’s family. The film also features, as members of Zora and Krebs’ crews, Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF) and Ed Skrein (Deadpool).

“Jurassic Park is a horror film in the witness protection program,” Edwards says. “Most people don’t think of it like that. We all went to see it as kids. But I was scared shitless, to be honest, when I was at the cinema watching the T-Rex attack. It’s one of the most well-directed scenes in cinema history, so the bar’s really high to come on board and try and do this.”

Jurassic World Rebirth will be in cinemas on 2nd July.

Are you looking forward to Jurassic World Rebirth? Let me know in the comments below.

Jurassic World Rebirth first look

Universal Pictures has released the first images and an official synopsis for Jurassic World Rebirth.

The upcoming instalment in the Jurassic Park franchise is directed by Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), and stars Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation) and Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton).

Read the official synopsis:

“Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind. Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.”

Jurassic World Rebirth will be in cinemas in July 2025.

Are you looking forward to Jurassic World Rebirth? Let me know in the comments below.

Gareth Edwards to helm new Jurassic World

The next instalment in the Jurassic Park franchise is expected to be filmed this summer at Sky Studios Elstree with Gareth Edwards (The Creator) at the helm.

Edwards is no stranger to blockbuster monster movies after directing Godzilla and Star Wars.

"Watching ‘Star Wars' as a child, I always assumed blockbuster filmmaking was just a distant dream for someone growing up in the UK. But then, as I watched the behind-the-scenes, I suddenly realized it was all filmed in a studio just outside of London. And that making ambitious commercial films is totally within the reach of British filmmakers," he said. "When I finally got to make my first film ‘Monsters,' it was made in the true independent style - with a small cast and crew, a tiny budget and shot in just a few weeks. I learnt so much, so fast, and would definitely describe it was one of the most creative experiences I've ever had. Without that opportunity, I would never have been given ‘Godzilla,' ‘Star Wars' and ‘The Creator'… And now as we organize shooting the new ‘Jurassic Park' film in ‘a studio just outside London,' I hope we inspire other new filmmakers to shoot small but always dream big."

The upcoming sequel is executive produced by director Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park).

Are you looking forward to Jurassic World 4? Let me know in the comments below.

Jurassic era ends

29 years ago, Jurassic Park revolutionised moviemaking the way Star Wars did in 1977.

Directed by Steven Spielberg (Jaws) with an assist from George Lucas (Star Wars), Jurassic Park spawned a multimedia franchise worth billions and paved the way for the Star Wars prequels.

Jurassic World Dominion, directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, unites the cast of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World.

To celebrate this milestone, Universal Pictures has released an official legacy featurette.



Read the official synopsis:

"This summer, experience the epic conclusion to the Jurassic era as two generations unite for the first time. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are joined by Oscar®-winner Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill in Jurassic World Dominion, a bold, timely and breathtaking new adventure that spans the globe."

Jurassic World Dominion, delayed due to the pandemic, is in cinemas on 10th June.

Life finds a way in Jurassic World Dominion

Universal Pictures has released an official trailer for Jurassic World Dominion.

The upcoming sequel, directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) and executive produced by Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park), unites the cast of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World.



Read the official synopsis:

"This summer, experience the epic conclusion to the Jurassic era as two generations unite for the first time. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are joined by Oscar®-winner Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill in Jurassic World Dominion, a bold, timely and breathtaking new adventure that spans the globe."

The original Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg with an assist from George Lucas, spawned a multimedia franchise and paved the way for the Star Wars prequels. Kenner's electronic T-Rex remains one of my favourite collectibles and Mattel's latest line of toys is hugely popular with generations of fans.

Jurassic World Dominion, delayed due to the pandemic, is in cinemas on 10th June.

Jurassic World: Dominion opens summer 2022

Hollywood blockbuster movies continue to be reshuffled in the wake of the global pandemic as Cineworld closes its cinemas (including The Picturehouse) for the foreseeable future this Thursday.

Director Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) shared a teaser image from Jurassic World: Dominion, which is just weeks away from safely completing principal photography in the UK.

The upcoming final instalment in the Jurassic Park franchise will be released in the summer of 2022.

Netflix teases Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous

Netflix has released a teaser trailer for the upcoming Jurassic Park animated spin-off series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. The latest collaboration with DreamWorks follows a group of six students in a new adventure camp and is set during Jurassic World.



Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, executive produced by Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park) and Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World), is coming to Netflix in 2020.

Looking forward to more monster mayhem on Isla Nublar? Let me know in the comments below.

A T-Rex does flips in this hilarious Jurassic World skit

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has arrived in cinemas to mixed reviews. However, this officially endorsed skit, filmed in Hawaii by extreme sports videographer Devin Graham (better known as Devinsupertramp on YouTube), should gladden the heart of even the most jaded fan of the dinosaur franchise started by Steven Spielberg 25 years ago.



From building Tamiya model kits, on rainy days, to playing with Transformers' Dinobots, dinosaurs captured my childhood imagination. So much so, I would record myself reading passages from well-worn dinosaur books and play them back, taking inspiration from read-along books for Star Wars and Disney's The Black Hole.

I would actively seek out B-movies to satiate my fascination for the extinct species. And seeing Jurassic Park, for the first time in 1993, is a cinema experience I'll never forget, joining the Hollywood pantheon of Star Wars and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Seeing Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom? Let me know in the comments below.

Dinosaurs run amok in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

The days are getting longer in the northern hemisphere and the summer blockbuster season, ushered in by director Steven Spielberg's Jaws in 1975, is upon us.

Spielberg's Jurassic Park was released 25 years ago and the fifth sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, is in cinemas this June.

The final trailer has been unleashed as merchandise appears in stores. Mattel has launched an exciting range of toys and the Super Colossal Tyrannosaurus Rex is a worthy successor to Kenner's classic electronic T-Rex for the original movie in 1993.



Personally, I loved Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World in 2015 and am excited to return to Isla Nublar. Are you? Let me know in the comments below.

Channel John Hammond in Jurassic World Evolution

During a pre-Gamescom briefing from Xbox, Jurassic World Evolution was announced from the developers of Elite Dangerous, which Rob Wainfur, founder of The Bearded Trio, reviewed previously.

Frontier Developments has based a sim around the 2015 blockbuster movie directed by Colin Trevorrow. Players will be able to unleash their inner John Hammond, played by the late Sir Richard Attenborough in Steven Spielberg's original Jurassic Park, and design a dinosaur theme park replete with reptilian perils for unsuspecting tourists.



Aside from this surprise. The Xbox pre-Gamescom conference was a rehash of E3 and underscored the lack of first-party titles! My hot take. It was nothing more than an extended Xbox One X pre-order announcement, which should have gone live during E3. However, I've pre-ordered the Project Scorpio Edition and am looking forward to improved fidelity in titles such as Rise of the Tomb Raider on a Samsung Curved SUHD 4K 3D LED TV.

Jurassic World Evolution will be released for PS4, Xbox One and PC in the summer of 2018 to coincide with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 this November

LEGO video games are becoming an annual treat for this brick fan in the wake of recent releases LEGO Jurassic World and LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Whilst I missed out on the first installment of LEGO Marvel Super Heroes in 2013. The newly announced sequel is going to be competing for playtime with Star Wars: Battlefront II this November.

Watch the teaser trailer for LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 featuring Baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy.



“With a completely original branching storyline, LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes 2 introduces amazing new gameplay features, including the ability for characters to manipulate time and a four-player competitive Super Hero battling mode,” said Tom Stone, Managing Director, TT Games. “With a huge array of brand new characters from the Marvel universe, including old favourites in new guises, this game is sure to thrill both LEGO® and Marvel fans, as well as newcomers to the series.”

“The LEGO® Group is delighted to continue the stories of the legendary Marvel characters in a new LEGO® adventure,” said Sean McEvoy, VP Digital Games, The LEGO® Group. “Fans young and old will love playing through this all-new cosmic saga spanning the Marvel Universe as seen through the LEGO® lens.”

“As we look to bring amazing games to Marvel fans of all ages, we’ve teamed up yet again with our incredible partners at LEGO, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and TT Games,” said Jay Ong, SVP, Games & Innovation, Marvel Entertainment. “LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes 2 brings characters from across Marvel’s history into an original story told in a way that only LEGO games can, offering hours of epic gameplay.”

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 will be released for PS4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC on 14th November.

Jeff Goldblum cast in sequel to Jurassic World

THR exclusively reports actor Jeff Goldblum is returning to the land that time forgot.

Goldblum will be reprising his iconic role as Dr. Ian Malcolm, the self-proclaimed chaotician, for the first time since The Lost World: Jurassic Park. He's joining co-stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard in the first Jurassic World sequel.

Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow has handed directing chores to J.A. Bayona (A Monster Calls). Trevorrow is busy over at Lucasfilm preparing for Star Wars: Episode IX.

The next installment in the Jurassic World franchise is slated for release 22nd June, 2018.

The Force is still strong with LEGO Star Wars

Last summer TT Games' LEGO Jurassic World reinvigorated a beloved movie tie-in franchise in much the same way as its movie inspiration brought ageing dinosaurs back into the lives of the touch screen generation.

Now LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens builds (pun intended) on the success of a rejuvenated Star Wars saga.

Like its blockbusting silver screen counterpart. The Force Awakens LEGO videogame trades on a heavy dose of nostalgia and your enjoyment will be predicated on how eager you're prepared to embrace it. Spoiler! I loved JJ Abrams' space opera and that translates to this witty wonder, too.

It's a faithful adaptation of The Force Awakens unlike EA's Star Wars Battlefront, which was released in the lead up to the Star Wars sequel last December. Battlefront features Jakku, but decades before the events of the movie. I was a critic of Star Wars Battlefront at launch and promised myself I wouldn't buy it! Now it's the game I play the most. Because PEW! PEW! PEW!

TT Games' latest LEGO opus opens during the climactic Battle of Endor from Return of the Jedi! What? I hear you cry. Well, it's a prologue reprising LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. However, there's a fun boss battle with Emperor Palpatine before fans embark on an adventure with new heroes Rey and Finn as they search for Luke Skywalker with the villainous Kylo Ren and First Order in deadly pursuit.



The game sticks to a tried and tested formula of collecting studs and gold bricks, which detractors might argue skews too young for seasoned gamers. However, you'll be missing out on gaming's equivalent of PIXAR and developer TT Games has added a new cover system mechanic that results in spectacular skirmishes akin to Gears of War. Dogfights evoke the adrenalin-filled Rogue Squadron. TT Games should be hired to reboot the feted series.

The original cast of The Force Awakens have recorded additional dialogue and it's a hoot! For example, Harrison Ford requests "Wookie cookies" for his Millennium Falcon co-pilot pal, Chewie, and there's a satirical nod to Ford's on-set injury. John Williams' soundtrack is deftly mixed into proceedings without ever being jarring.

The Force Awakens narrative is stretched to breaking point, even with the inclusion of short stories taken from the wider Star Wars universe including how C-3PO ended up with that red arm, and may have been better suited to LEGO Dimensions if Disney Infinity had been mothballed sooner. However, that's churlish given how much fun this is. It's the closest to a fully open world game, populated by delightful minifigures, we've seen.

A treat for LEGO and Star Wars fans alike. It's the perfect time to revisit The Force Awakens. That's no mean feat for a franchise that began not so long ago in 2005.

**** out of *****

Special thanks to WB Games for providing a PS4 review code.

Star Wars strikes back at box office

Disney's $4 billion dollar gamble on "a galaxy far, far away" appears to be paying off and then some.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is breaking box office records following last week's premiere and passes Jurassic World's global box office debut with $524.9 million.

“That’s an incredible weekend,” Disney CEO Bob Iger told Bloomberg. “What this really does is it sets this great franchise up for far more value creation over a longer period of time for the company.”



The Force Awakens has yet to open in China, which is the world's second largest movie market.

“‘Star Wars,’ I’ve said a number of times, I think is probably the most valuable, maybe even the most important mythology created in our time,” the Disney chief said.

Analysts say the space saga could become the biggest-selling movie of all time.

"Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers that one-of-a-kind Star Wars experience, and director JJ Abrams, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and the Lucasfilm team have outdone themselves," Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said.

The new Star Wars movie is already available for pre-order on Blu-ray disc.

Jurassic World director hints at Star Wars

Director Colin Trevorrow hinted at the scope of his upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX in an interview for the Jurassic Park fan podcast Jurassic Cast.

“I obviously can’t talk too much about Star Wars, but the idea of that ‘Universe,’ that word gets thrown around a lot as far as movies are concerned and what people are building, that one’s an actual universe. I think that the size and scope of that. Every kind of story we can think of can be told in the Star Wars universe, because it is endless and boundless.”

I waxed lyrically about how Trevorrow rekindled my enthusiasm for Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park franchise in my review for Jurassic World. Can't wait to see what he does with the final chapter in Disney's new Star Wars trilogy, which begins with JJ Abrams' The Force Awakens this December.

In other Star Wars news. Principal photography on Episode VIII has begun with director Rian Johnson (Looper) filming Mark Hamill's scenes at Skellig Michael, an island off the coast of Southern Island, which is featured in The Force Awakens and is rumoured to be Luke Skywalker's hideaway.

Jurassic World sequel premieres June 2018

Universal Pictures has officially announced that a sequel to Jurassic World will hit the big screen on June 22, 2018.

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will reprise their roles as Owen Grady and Claire Dearing, respectively.

Director Colin Trevorrow is passing on directorial chores this time and will write the screenplay with writing partner Derek Connolly. “Jurassic Park is like Star Wars. Different directors can give a different taste to each movie,” Trevorrow said before the release of Jurassic World when asked if he would get behind the camera again for the next film. “I would be involved in some way, but not as director.” Steven Spielberg is executive producer.

Earlier this week Jurassic World passed Marvel's Avengers to become the third highest-grossing movie of all time, behind James Cameron's Avatar and Titanic. The movie is available for pre-order on Blu-ray disc.

The sequel could develop the Ingen weaponisation subplot in Jurassic World into Jurassic War. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Timey-wimey Terminator

First, we had Jurassic World, successfully rebooting a franchise to the tune of $1.3 billion and counting, and now it's time (no pun intended) for Terminator Genisys to revive the flagging fortunes of a once-beloved franchise and its iconic Hollywood star.

Genisys, ignoring Rise of the Machines and Salvation, plays like a remix sequel to The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day for twenty terrific minutes.

My first memory of The Terminator was on rental video in the mid-1980s. A childhood friend's dad let us watch it on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The movie's meshing of time travel, a killer cyborg and changing the course of history was terrifying, economical, storytelling. Almost a decade later its first sequel captured my imagination with a liquid metal T-1000 and, in the form of a textual analysis, earned me an unconditional offer from several universities to study media production at degree level.

Today. Genisys' attempts to reboot a franchise, bolstered by alternate timelines, seems quaint when contrasted with the lean and mean thrills of Ex Machina and the chilling alternate reality of AMC's Humans currently airing on Channel Four, Sunday nights. You see, Sundays are made for genre. Yet there's much fun to be had here. More fun than most reviews and franchise fatigue suggested.

The first twenty minutes or so are a riot of briskly paced fan service. For better or worse, I, along with the small audience who had gathered in a darkened theatre on a sultry summer afternoon, laughed and whooped with delight as director Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) took us on a timey-wimey tour of The Terminator mixed with Terminator 2. From then on its boom, boom and more boom!

Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) acquits herself admirably as Sarah Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger savours reprising his quintessential role as a T-800 for the first time since Rise of the Machines. Their father-daughter relationship is the movie's emotional core, evoking James Cameron's filmography, and deserved more screen time. I won't spoil it, but there's an unexpected moment that will choke you up.

Seeing known timelines erased with new ones isn't without controversy and intrigue. The orchestral score makes sparing callbacks to Brad Fiedel's themes and wouldn't be out of place in the Transformers or The Fast and the Furious franchises.

You may have wondered why former Doctor Who star Matt Smith has been missing in action (MIA) from the trailers? It's for fear of spoilers, Sweetie! Ironic, given the major plot twist surrounding John Connor revealed in the last trailer, which the director has publicly denounced. Suffice to say, Smith's role is small but pivotal. As a lifelong Doctor Who fan, I lamented his departure from the time-travelling series that tiny bit more.

There's an amusing reference to Paramount stablemate Transformers. However, if the studio wants to reboot the Terminator into a blockbuster transmedia franchise, there's more work to be done, and I suspect Genisys won't spawn a new trilogy unless it succeeds at the box office.

But, you know what, I'd gladly watch The Terminator, Judgment Day and Genisys back-to-back as a trilogy. That's something I didn't think would be possible and my teenage self would approve.

When LEGO Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

The last time I played a Jurassic Park game was on the SNES. That was 22 years ago when Steven Spielberg's dinosaur opus ruled the world on the big screen and toy stores everywhere.

Fast forward to today and the franchise's fourth installment - Jurassic World - has eclipsed Marvel's Avengers with the biggest opening weekend in Hollywood history. Critics, myself included, have raved about the franchise's resurrection under the stewardship of director Colin Trevorrow and executive producer Steven Spielberg. So, when Rob kindly offered me an opportunity to review LEGO Jurassic World for the lauded The Bearded Trio, how could I refuse?

LEGO + dinosaurs = WIN!

LEGO video games are a superior breed of tie-in. From Indiana Jones to Star Wars and DC Comics to Marvel, TT Games has, for the most part, delivered compelling gaming experiences replete with knowing nods to the beloved properties they're based on. Not only delighting children, but savvy adults, too. The pick-up-and-play mechanics welcome both new and veteran gamers, and are perfect for dipping in and out of at leisure.

The memory of playing LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga on an Xbox 360 is indelible. This is where Jurassic World takes its inspirational cue by bundling all four Jurassic Park movies into a magical brick tour of Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna to the strains of John Williams' iconic themes, original movie dialogue, sound effects and tutorials given by Mr DNA himself.



The game opens with the classic scene from Jurassic Park in which a Raptor is being delivered to the original park. This segues to Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler fossil hunting in an archeological dig prior to John Hammond, CEO and creator of Jurassic Park, taking the couple, by helicopter, to Isla Nublar. Once on the island, players can choose between Jurassic Park or Jurassic World.



The scope of the game is vast and nothing's been cynically cut for future DLC cash-in. I spent ages simply wandering around the main street in Jurassic World because there's countless fun things to see and do. An awesome coop mode brings much fun when playing hide and seek with Indominus Rex. There's oodles of TT Game's trademark self-mocking humour from the Raptor kitchen scene in Jurassic Park to the long grass moment in The Lost World.

LEGO has always been about creativity, experimentation and puzzle solving. This DNA pervades the whole game and you'll be able to unlock playable dinosaurs, including the rampaging T-Rex, and create your very own hybrid dinosaur by collecting LEGO amber, which is akin to building custom minifigs. What's not to like?



LEGO and dinosaurs are synonymous with my childhood, as they maybe with yours, and I may have had a tear in the eye reflecting on halcyon memories. This maybe the best LEGO tie-in to date and that's saying something... But, wait, what's that LEGO Dimensions meteorite on the horizon?

**** out of *****

LEGO Jurassic World is available now on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, 3DS, and PC.

This review originally appeared on The Bearded Trio.

Jurassic Park twenty-two years later

"Bigger, scarier, cooler..." intones Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong) and for the most part Jurassic World with its Indominus Rex, a T-Rex hybrid, matches that expectation with surprising aplomb. It's the best Jurassic Park movie since the iconic original graced cinema screens 22 years ago.

Whereas Jurassic Park director Steven Spielberg's first sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park floundered as King Kong remade with a T-Rex and Jurassic Park III was a fun reprise of the original, but did nothing to push the franchise further. Director Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World, executive produced by Spielberg, delivers the realisation of John Hammond's dream: a working theme park populated with dino attractions, IMAX 3D theatre and Starbucks, yes, Starbucks. This is the sequel franchise fans have waited for.

I've been a self-confessed Steven Spielberg fan since childhood and the opening title sequence, replete with the mythological Amblin logo underscored by Michael Giacchino's lush orchestrations reprising John Williams' Jurassic Park theme, brushed away any last minute cynicism I may have had following the lukewarm trailers. It also presciently grabbed the attention of cinemagoers staring into their smartphones.

The first act is a surprising and clever deconstruction of the Hollywood blockbuster and capitalism, as the scene is set in a bustling, sunkissed, theme park filled with jaded, affluent, visitors from around the world. This is best illustrated when a Mosasaur surfaces to eat a shark (a knowing nod to Jaws) whilst many members of the audience, including a principal character, are mesmerised by their smartphones until the creature splashes back down forcing them to look up in wonder for the first time.

Dinosaurs have dulled over the past 22 years and are in need of yearly upgrades in the era of generation selfie. Enter Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her latest attraction Indominus Rex or iRex as I like to call it. Indominus exists to satiate investors by getting paying visitors through the gates. The audience laughed out loud at the suggestion of a 'Pepsisaurus' by resident geek Lowery (Jake Johnson).

Inevitably, Indominus escapes her paddock prison and monster mayhem ensues with a little inspiration from Aliens, Gremlins 2 and Predator along the way. Things get stifled, but not derailed, by Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio). Brilliant as the complex Wilson Fisk in Marvel's Daredevil, here D'Onofrio's Ingen subplot to weaponise the dinosaurs detracts from the absurd chaos to be had. And Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) is an uneasy mashup of John Hammond and Dr. Ian Malcolm.

Chris Pratt plays the archetypal B-movie hero, Owen Grady, with panache, but Claire's cliched transformation from ice maiden to action heroine isn't necessary as the mismatched couple searches for her missing nephews: cut-off and lost when an attraction is closed down and they fail to return. However, it's perhaps disingenuous to take too much issue with such a fun homage to Spielbergian adventures of yore, spearheaded by a likeable cast, which does serve as an anarchic satire with a healthy dose of horror. Joe Dante would approve.

Jurassic World, more often than not, rekindles a sense of fear and wonder absent from many current blockbusters and the previous Jurassic Park sequels. Spielberg's oeuvre informs the very DNA of the movie and, during its best moments, he could have been at the helm, himself. I didn't want to leave Isla Nublar and its dinosaur inhabitants behind...

Brace yourself for Jurassic World

Early buzz following last week's premiere in Paris suggests Jurassic World maybe the best Jurassic Park sequel to date and puts the franchise firmly back into the realm of summer blockbusters.

Given the dino-sized merchandising blitzkrieg, not seen since the original Jurassic Park, about to be unleashed, it's just as well...

The T-Rex attack in Jurassic Park remains a cinematic touchstone and showed director Steven Spielberg hadn't lost his deftness for instilling fear and awe in an audience, which he'd perfected years earlier in the movie that ushered in the era of the blockbuster. Jaws.

Two sequels followed to mixed reviews, but a third was mired in development hell for over a decade. With Chris Pratt's star in the ascendance following Guardians of the Galaxy. Things look decidedly more promising on Isla Nublar.

Soundtrack buffs should have a listen to this teaser from composer Michael Giacchino. Giacchino is one of my favourite composers currently working in Hollywood and evoked John Williams' collaborations with director Steven Spielberg for JJ Abrams' Super 8.

I've booked my ticket for June 11th and will post a review soon thereafter.