7 Thursday, June 18, 2015 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS Capitalism trumps caution in ‘Jurassic’ Third sequel isn’t more than a decent action movie By CONRAD FOREMAN Daily Arts Writer Snapping necks and cashing checks. “Jurassic World” did a lot of both over its opening weekend, featur- ing dinosaur deaths by the dozen and eclips- ing domestic and inter- national box-office records for an opening weekend. The fourth film in the “Jurassic” fran- chise resembles Steven Spielberg’s original in many ways. The key difference between the two films — that in “Jurassic World” the park is actually open — creates an intriguing dynamic that was only hypothetical in previous films. This isn’t a visionary, seeking counsel from top paleontologists; this is a monstrous new dinosaur made with a cocktail of genetics from vari- ous predators — and it’s loose on an island filled with more than 20,000 guests. Among those guests are two broth- ers, since no “Jurassic” film can be without the child-in-peril aspect to the story. Gray (Ty Simpkins, “Insidious”) is the film’s innocent youth: about 10 years old and on the edge of his seat for every dinosaur. Zach (Nick Robinson, “The Kings of Summer”) is his older brother, a teenage angst-bot oozing repressed sexual energy. Zach treats Gray like garbage, which the film makes a point of often and unneces- sarily. Both characters are rather flat, which makes it hard to care a great deal for either of them. Isla Nublar, the fictional island home to Jurassic World, may not be in the U.S., but it is in Central America. And Central America is America, dammit. And where there’s America, there’s someone trying to weaponize something. In this case, it’s head of security Vic Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio, “Full Metal Jacket”), who wants velociraptors trained for mili- tary use. It’s a subplot that can’t carry out on the scale it deserves, but it offers the kind of fresh perspective needed in a third sequel, and makes for one hell of a lock-and-load sequence. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the plot is the question of meddling with dinosaurs’ genetics to produce “cooler” attractions for mass audi- ences. At odds here are capitalism’s demand for continued growth and caution in the face of playing God. At this level, capitalism always triumphs over caution. As Dr. Wu (B.D. Wong, “Jurassic Park”) explains, they’ve been playing God all along, it’s only catching up to them now. Science brought the dinosaurs back, but the main attraction of “Juras- sic World” is raptor-wrangler Owen Grady (Chris Pratt, “Guardians of the Galaxy”). Tough but compassionate, rugged but refined, Owen is pure good- guy in a film that never emphasizes character depth. Owen shows respect for these creatures as living beings, not just theme-park attractions or weap- ons. He’s enlisted to save Zach and Gray, nephews of park manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard, “The Help”), as well as track down the hybrid beast, Indominus Rex. Oh, and there’s a love story between Owen and Claire, though that’s not really important. There are some truly wonderful ele- ments to “Jurassic World”: the sound of a dinosaur’s heavy step played over a close-up of a bird’s foot is a genius nugget of filmmaking; little kids riding baby triceratops sets a new standard for cuteness in dinosaur movies. The action sequences pack appropriate punch, and homages paid to “Jurassic Park” are frequent, but done in meth- ods more reverent than exploitative. While cheesy lines of dialogue and underdeveloped characters prevent “Jurassic World” from being more than just an action movie, it’s a damn decent action movie. MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW People love to hate Madonna. I know this firsthand, seeing as my mother loves to hate Madonna … and that was probably my biggest reason for loving the queen of pop. While I would normal- ly argue bitch, she’s Madon- na any time mother dear- est voiced her disdain, this time, like most times, mom’s right. We’ve been privy to the long- anticipated video via Tidal teas- ers and Instagram, with colorful, punchy fan art and videos from both Madonna and Nicki Minaj. Apparently, that, along with fea- turing an array of A-listers in music videos, is a thing now (see: Taylor Swift, “Bad Blood”). But when Taylor did it, we didn’t lose our focus — we were enthralled with both the theatrical tale and the true star, Swift. Pause: The fact that Madonna even attempt- ed to imitate this is both confus- ing and out of character, seeing as she used to set the bar that others aspired to. Madge’s take on the trend poses no storyline, aside from debauchery featuring sock puppets. In short, she’s forget- table and she’s outshined by the sum of star-studded cameos. While she’s undeniably savvy in her attempts of capitalizing on the current zeitgeist — a video exclusively for Tidal users fea- tures not only music moguls (in order of importance: Beyoncé, Nicki, Kanye, Miley, Diplo, Katy Perry and Rita Ora), but also front- runner fashion designers Jeremy Scott and Alexander Wang — the weight of her guests’ combined energies and cultural significance rivals, if not tops, Madonna’s. Though age is relative in most cases, it’s time Madonna starts acting accordingly to hers. We know her body says she’s a 30-something crossfit junkie, but her career speaks for itself, being that of a longstanding innova- tor in an industry that thrives on freshness. She was shiny and new at one point, continuing to main- tain her signature ingenuity for decades, and “Bitch, I’m Madon- na” was the creed that established this. But, Madonna, this video pushes my love over the border- line, and I’ve gotta agree with mom on this one. -CAROLINE FILIPS INTERSCOPE RECORDS C Bitch, I’m Madonna Madonna feat. Nicki Minaj Interscope Records B Jurassic World Universal Pictures Rave 20 & Quality 16 MOVIE REVIEW