Corporate felt genetic modification would up the wow
factor.
They're dinosaurs.
Wow enough.
Not according to our focus groups.
There's an adage about too much of a good thing.
It generally refers to an exhaustion
on our end, something that we once loved
repeated over and over again.
But it's not just the repetition or overabundance
that can wear us down.
It can be the lack of heart or absence
of logical steps that made us fall
in love in the first place.
Sometimes, like in the case of Jurassic World's worst scene,
it's a steadfast belief that fan service is
all a movie needs to succeed.
It could have been worse, John, a lot worse.
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The Jurassic World franchise is a strange beast,
a franchise sequel to one of Hollywood's most beloved films
and its subsequent less beloved films.
The World movies themselves are a mixed bag.
While you could definitely argue diminishing returns
as the new franchise has gone on,
there was an excitement for Jurassic World.
Set 22 years after the original Jurassic Park,
Jurassic World did a lot to capitalize
on the nostalgia of the original movie while still being a fun
romp, filled to the brim with gorgeous set
pieces, charming leads, and high action.
There does seem to be a genuine reverence from the director
Colin Trevorrow.
It's clear from the opening sequence
he wants to make something special, something
that replicates the same awe and inspiration of Jurassic Park.
The camera follows two brothers Zach and Gray
through the newly opened theme park on Isla Nublar.
The music starts to swell and build
until we get a reveal of the entire park.
But that want soon perverses itself
into a sort of coloring book, simple spaces to fill in
with a palette they already know works.
And that's never more clear than this scene
which serves as a canary in a coal mine for sequels to come.
I know why they wouldn't tell us what it's made of.
[ROARING]
That thing's part raptor.
After about an hour and a half of
fine popcorn-eating entertainment,
we are brought here.
Claire, Owen, Zach, and Gray have
been on the run from the transgenic dinosaur, Indominus
rex, until they run into Owen's pack of velociraptors
led by Blue.
Owen convinces the raptors to help with knowing
glares and whistles.
The raptors engage in a fight with the pursuing Indominus rex
with all but Blue easily dispatched.
As Owen and Blue do their best to slow down Indominus rex,
Claire and the brothers hide in a gift shop.
It's here some new leaps in logic occur.
As the three press themselves next to the wall,
Gray looks at a stuffed animal and proclaims--
We need more.
More what?
Teeth.
We need more teeth.
This may not be the greatest leap,
as Gray has shown an affinity for numbers
up until this point.
It's said his character was originally
written as an autistic child with the majority of dialogue
and plot points around this idea cut from the movie.
What we're left with is the skeletal idea that this kid is
just super into numbers and believes
teeth are like Simon Belmont's whip extensions
in Castlevania-- i.e., more equals better.
It's easy enough to shrug our shoulders and say sure.
The logic is kind of there, especially
from any child's point of view.
But the real disconnect comes when a sense of certainty
washes over Claire's face, and she grabs a flare
from a nearby first-aid kit.
Claire immediately runs through the carnage of Indominus rex's
attacks at Owen and his rifle to a conveniently nearby giant
steel door.
And this is the crux of the scene's biggest problem,
its reveal.
As Claire stands confidently with her ignited flare,
we see a familiar silhouette stomp from the shadows.
It's out of nowhere and completely unearned.
But hey, everyone, you dig a T rex, right?
Nobody cares.
And let's take a brief moment to talk a little bit about reveals
in storytelling.
Generally, they are set up throughout the story,
something alluded to or made mention
of throughout the character's journeys,
until an emotional earned payoff.
It's part of what made the original Jurassic Park
carnage via T rex work.
In that film, time and time again,
we saw the gigantic creature as an agent of chaos.
No rhyme or reason to its destruction other than it
was a hunter and predator.
But in Jurassic World, we go back again
to the movie's overall thesis that man
controls the dinosaurs.
After Claire reaches the fight, she simply
tosses the player towards the Indominus rex
with the T rex immediately attacking the new creature.
And that's simply just strange.
Run!
Go!
You could make the argument that the light of the flare
illuminated the gene-spliced creature.
But then you're undercutting the idea
that a Tyrannosaurus rex had no idea this other creature was
present.
The movies had already established the T rex's vision
was based on movement.
So the light of the flare was really for naught.
What really seems to be happening
is Claire marking the target she once attacked.
And again, the whole moment just feels off.
[ROARING]
Whatever logistical shortcomings exist between Owen and Blue,
there was at least a concerted effort
to establish their relationship.
But here, we've been told nothing about the T rex
being biologically predisposed to bright lights
or some animalistic feud.
We're simply left with the idea that her wanting Indominus rex
attack equals the T rex doing her bidding.
And that sideways logic of humanity's wants
trumping biological nature or simple storytelling beats
permeates this entire sequence.
When the high-heeled Claire sprints away
from what we have been told in earlier movies was nature's
perfect predator, there's never really a sense of dread
that something may happen to her.
She wants to guide the T rex to the fight.
So she will.
So what do we do now?
How about we stick together?
For survival.
And while there's nothing wrong with main characters
surviving until the end, there should always
be story-based reasons they do.
Without any sort of real danger for our main characters,
there's no threat or danger either,
which means no tension and no engagement on our end.
But Jurassic World goes out of its way to repeatedly give us
fan service instead of subverting
our expectations of what a Jurassic movie can be,
which is another harbinger of things to come with Jurassic
World's franchise.
This scene is indicative of the franchise's obedience
to fan service and outright refusal
to subvert our expectations.
There is a dead set idea that the T rex becomes
not just a force in the movies but its hero.
Whatever shortcomings the original sequels had--
and there are plenty--
Alan.
--they weren't necessarily as obsessed
with simply hitting the high notes of the first movie.
And it's not just the story beats.
It's the visual motifs.
Jurassic World and its subsequent sequels
replicate these images again and again, from falling banners,
dramatic helicopter entrances, to looming T rex heads.
The Jurassic World franchise is dead set
on mining our nostalgia.
In their childhood fracking, though, they
undercut why the T rex was so important in the first place.
It's not simply because it looked cool.
It's because it made sense.
Throughout the original film, the T rex
is almost a horror villain, something
unknowable and unpredictable stalking the shadows.
But this scene specifically tells us the T rex
is known and controllable.
While Jurassic Park gave us scientists
and eccentric dreamers using their wits to survive,
this scene tells us those same obstacles
can simply be overcome with a road flare.
It's not necessarily a bad movie once we separate our childhood
love of the original.
And that's all right.
The things we love withstand time.
No matter what new iteration of a franchise resurfaces,
the original still lives in our hearts.
But again and again, so many filmmakers and studios
insist on refilming what are essentially
highlight reels with new actors and special effects,
all the while not understanding what
made us fall in love in the first place.
So what do you think.
Are there any relaunches or sequels
that instilled you with a sense of awe?
Let us know down in the comments below.
And as always, thanks for watching Nerdstalgic.
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