If the Jurassic movies have taught us anything, it’s that scientists bringing dinosaurs back to life would be a monstrous mistake. But what if one scientist not only succeeded at reversing the species’ extinction, but managed to make them invisible too? In case the title doesn’t already give it away, that is the plot of the film The Invisible Raptor. Regardless of how ridiculous it sounds, it’s actually a spectacular sci-fi romp.

 

Directed by Mike Hermosa, the film revolves around a paleontologist and a security guard who both work dead-end jobs at a dinosaur-themed amusement park. After a series of strange events begin to unfold in their small town, the two discover the existence of the titular apex predator. As it begins to prey on unsuspecting townsfolk, the duo band with a couple of other locals to hunt it down.

 

Mike Capes and David Shackelford star as the film’s two heroes, Dr. Grant Walker and Deniel 'Denny' Denielson. Caitlin McHugh Stamos also stars as Grant’s love interest, Amber, who skeptically joins the duo in their hunt. Now, all three are great and have fantastic chemistry, but the real star of the film is the script Capes co-wrote with Johnny Wickham.

 

While the influence from Jurassic Park is overt, the film is most definitely a love letter to Steven Spielberg. Similar to E.T., there’s a sequence where a boy (also named Elliot) curiously investigates the noise in his garage. Similar to Jaws, at one point, a character decides to tag the beast with a floating object so it’ll be easier to track. And The Goonies’ very own Sean Astin appears in a hilariously brief role as a character named “Willie.” What could very easily be interpreted as parody comes across here as deeply reverential. Hermosa and company aren’t making fun of those films. They’re paying homage to them - and the genre that Spielberg redefined as a whole - in incredibly clever ways. 

 

That’s not the film’s most impressive accomplishment. Instead, it’s the film’s ability to be so consistently entertaining despite an obvious gimmick. With the antagonist literally being invisible, you might think following the film’s human characters around would evoke boredom. And while the characters are important to the story, Hermosa is good at re-focusing the audience on the fact that the creature can and will go anywhere. Naturally, that leads our characters through a string of thrilling and (often) hilarious vignettes. One of the most memorable is a house party that turns into a house of horrors after stoners inadvertently let the raptor into a room to hotbox. Another is the scene where the trio learns how the raptor was created in the first place. It’s easily one of the funniest expository scenes in recent memory (if not ever). 

 

The film’s only real flaw is its runtime. Even at nearly two hours, there is never a dull moment. Towards the end, however, you can feel the film begin to stretch the limits of its own charm.

 

No matter its length, with a name and premise as ridiculous as The Invisible Raptor, the film is an undeniably good time. Pure amusement aside, it proves that smart and silly concepts can still coexist in cinema. And that as bold swings like this are only occasionally made, true creativity can never go extinct.