Extra DVD

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, BD Wong.

Jurassic World opened to the public in 2005 and now welcomes more than 20,000 visitors a day.

Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) oversees park operations, while Dr Henry Wu (BD Wong) plays God in the laboratories, splicing DNA strands to create terrifying new breeds.

Thus the ferocious and highly intelligent Indominus Rex is born. “This will give the parents nightmares,” shudders park CEO Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan).

When the Indominus Rex escapes her paddock, Claire begs naval officer-turned-animal behaviour specialist Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) to capture the beast and protect her nephews, Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins), who are trapped in the middle of the bloodbath.

Jurassic World is a muscular, rollicking romp that captures some of the adrenaline-pumping thrills and jaw-dropping awe we felt more than 20 years ago when Steven Spielberg first unleashed dinosaurs back into the world.

Pratt is an instantly likeable hero and he catalyses a simmering screen chemistry with Howard as the workaholic who faces the dino-pocalypse in highly inappropriate footwear. Action sequences are orchestrated at a lick, including chaotic scenes of a flock of pteranodons plucking visitors from the ground.

Colin Trevorrow’s film begs, borrows and affectionately steals from Jurassic Park, including a cameo for the Mr DNA animation and a set piece in the iconic visitor centre (now overgrown). If the nuts and bolts of the screenplay are unabashedly retro, the special effects are undeniably state-of-the-art, realising creatures great and small, which chomp through countless extras and the main cast.

This is by far the bloodiest chapter of the Jurassic saga, if not quite the best. A four-disc box set comprising Jurassic Park and the three sequels is also available.

Rating: 4/5