Opinions of Jurassic World may vary, but when you get right down to it there is only one real question. How do you feel when you hear the words “Jurassic Park 4”?

If you’re somebody who hears those words and responds with a nod of interest and some excitement at the prospect, then this film is for you! If you’re somebody who hears the words “Jurassic Park 4” and furrows their brow wondering “why on earth do we need a fourth Jurassic Park movie?” then there’s really no reason to waste your time. This film is exactly what you expect it to be. It’s a well-made, formula, Hollywood summer popcorn movie. If you pick it apart after seeing it you’ll realize that the plot is full of holes, the characters are underdeveloped, the leads lack onscreen chemistry, and the story is a retread of what you already saw in the first movie. However it’s a film that succeeds in delivering what the majority of audiences going to a Jurassic Park 4 want to see, namely big, scary, teeth-gnashing, suspense-filled scenes of people getting eaten alive by dinosaurs!

Seriously, for what it’s target audience is looking for this film is a first rate success! It moves along at a good pace, it casts first-rate actors in the lead roles, it doesn’t beat you over the head with moralizing or political statements, it has some genuinely funny one-liners, it boasts a number of genuinely suspense-filled sequences, and it serves up some of the most realistic and terrifying dinosaurs in the history of the silver screen! So again, I have to ask, how do the words “Jurassic Park 4” sound to you?

For myself, I’ve never felt a need for there to be a sequel to Jurassic Park and still feel that it’s unnecessary for there to be one, let alone three. Had I not been offered a screening pass I would never have bothered turning out to see this, and I would have been entirely correct in passing it up. The film was exactly what I expected it to be, with two child/adolescent protagonists who are guaranteed to get into trouble but come out unscathed, two romantic leads who will bicker but eventually fall in love, a villain who will plot and scheme but come to meet his just deserts in the end, and a whole park full of “everyone else” who are completely expendable and largely exist as potential dinosaur meals. There were really no surprises, it was a completely formula Hollywood blockbuster.

That being said, going into it with appropriately lowered expectations, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy myself. The film had a decent pace, a decent sense of humor, delivered some genuinely tense moments, and had fantastic dinosaurs that were great to experience on the big screen. I’m not someone that would ever go out of their way and pay money for something like this, but if I got dragged to it by friends or family I’d come out of it feeling like I had a good time. It’s exactly what you expect it to be, it does exactly what you expect it to do, if you think it over the whole story really doesn’t hold together very well. However, within those limitations, it does manage to succeed in doing what it sets out to do. Namely, it’s a fun exercise in watching a bunch of people get mauled by dinosaurs!