A friend of mine keeps watching Jurassic World over and over. He wants to like the movie more than he does and he thinks each time he rewatches it, that somehow he will, but he is trapped in an abusive relationship.
While I really enjoyed Jurassic World and accept it for what it is, watching it with the idea that it loves with one hand and slaps with the other, I suspect Jurassic World is attracting him with the nostalgia of Jurassic Park, but leaving him feeling hollow by the end of it. Here are a few reasons why.
1. The Problem with Kids
Zach, the older brother in Jurassic World is presumably modelled after the modern teenager. Initially he is aloof and doesn’t seem to care about anything other than pretty girls.
His little brother, Gray, on the other hand, is excited by dinosaurs, cares deeply about the people around him, and is worried that his parents are going to get a divorce.
The problem with the modern portrayal with Zach is that it’s difficult to care about his character, unless you yourself are an aloof, apathetic teenager. And all of the scenes with the brothers include the vacant Zach, which diminishes the brothers as a whole.
By comparison, while you might find the kids in Jurassic Park annoying, we view them through Dr. Grant’s perspective and the whole thing plays off like a comedy routine, because Dr. Grant doesn’t like kids and here are these kids trying to latch onto him.
2. Insidious Use of Music
In Jurassic Park, the music accompanies moments that feel earned and enhances them. In Jurassic World, the music from Jurassic Park is used in attempt to rekindle your fond memories of Jurassic Park, whether the moments are deserving or not.
For example, there’s a moment in Jurassic Park where Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler see a dinosaur for the first time. The film spends a lot of time building up the importance of dinosaurs to Dr. Grant. Upon finding a new dinosaur skeleton (Velociraptor) with his excavation crew, he gives a brief lecture on the similarities between dinosaurs and birds. He then terrifies a child who makes fun of the skeleton by describing to the kid in detail how raptors hunt and eat their prey before telling the kid, “try to show a little respect. OK?” Dr. Grant also carries around a fossilized talon of a raptor with him everywhere. So when he sees his first dinosaur, John Williams’s music swells, Dr. Grant looks over and witnesses live dinosaur behaviour for the first time, and can verify with his own eyes theories he’s only read about or discussed intellectually. It’s an emotional moment.
The same score is used at the beginning of Jurassic World as Zach and Gray first arrive at the park. Zach is disinterested, and Gray is jumping up and down urging his brother to hurry up. As they get to their hotel room that overlooks the park, Gray opens up the doors to the balcony, which begins a sweeping shot of Jurassic World, and John Williams’s music swells just as it did in Jurassic Park, possibly in an attempt to infuse that scene with the same emotional heights as the one in Jurassic Park. But while a child finally getting to see dinosaurs for the first time is akin to Dr. Grant’s experience, the build up is different and doesn’t have the same effect. Jurassic Park‘s scene has a variety of close ups on Dr. Grant’s face and we can see the intensity of the moment in his reaction. In Jurassic World, the camera follows the brothers from a distance, and when Gray opens the balcony doors, the music swells, and the camera moves away to the park.
3. Weaker Characters
John Hammond has the strongest emotional moment in all of Jurassic Park. Too few movies these days take an aside and have a character tell a story that describes their emotional centre. By doing this the character is revealing their humanity to us through their insecurities and their hopes and dreams. In the scene, John Hammond tells Ellie about the first attraction he made, while Dr. Grant and the grandchildren are alone somewhere in the park.
You know the first attraction I ever built when I came down south from Scotland? It was a Flea Circus, Petticoat Lane. Really quite wonderful. We had a wee trapeze, and a merry-go -uh – c-carousel. And a see-saw. They all moved, motorized of course, but people would say they could see the fleas. “Oh, I can see the fleas, mummy! Can’t you see the fleas?” Clown fleas and high wire fleas and fleas on parade … But with this place, I wanted to show them something that wasn’t an illusion. Something that was real, something that they could see and touch. An aim not devoid of merit.
The camera spends a long time close-up on his face. If you’d asked Hammond what he’d wanted most in the world, this is the story he would tell. And it becomes a moment of growth as well, because Ellie challenges his dream and Hammond is forced to reconsider what he wants with what has to be done to protect his grandchildren.
Jurassic World attempts to evoke the well-shaped character of Hammond with a different CEO who repeats Hammond’s famous, “spared no expense” line and says they’re here for more than money … as they fly off to their new genetically modified dinosaur that cost them $26 million to make and can’t kill even though it’s free and killing people.
4. The Chris Pratt / Raptor Story is Effective, Even if it Lies
As silly as I thought it would be, I think the plotline about Chris Pratt’s character, Owen, and his pack of raptors works well. The first thing we learn about their relationship is how dangerous the raptors are to everyone — including Owen. Whenever life or death stakes are involved our interests are piqued and the raptor/Owen relationship is a life or death partnership.
I suspect that’s in part why the image of Owen standing with his hands became the mild internet phenomenon the way it did, it’s an intriguing relationship and an iconic image.
So when the raptors and Owen actually work together, it’s a thrilling moment, because we’re interested to see how effective their relationship is, and whether or not Owen will survive their team efforts.
Unfortunately, Owen spends the entire movie telling people how dangerous the raptors are and how they shouldn’t be used for militaristic purposes. Then he agrees to use them in a military-like operation to hunt the Indominus Rex, and while it’s AWESOME, there’s some conflicting ideals there.
5. It Parades as Jurassic Park, But it’s Not
Dr. Grant doesn’t like kids? Claire doesn’t like kids. Both come to appreciate them more by the end of the movie. The difference is that Dr. Grant is with the kids throughout Jurassic Park. They’re snuggling up into him at night because he’s their protector and that’s endearing. Claire hugs them when she is reunited with them; it’s not the same.
There’s a raptor chase near the end of both movies where the main characters are pursued by raptors. There’s a T-Rex save in the final action sequence. There are dinosaurs loose in a park that is meant to be a safe. Both films have a dinosaur expert protecting two children and a woman. And there’s a guy literally wearing merchandise from Jurassic Park in an attempt to sell Jurassic World.
Jurassic World is dishonest because it takes a love and appreciation that was earned in Jurassic Park and attempts to spray its odour all over new movie thinking the pheromones will make you fall in love all over again. But love doesn’t work that way, infatuation does. Jurassic Park‘s success is that it appeals to your sense of wonder, your dreams. It is the embodiment of movie magic. Jurassic World doesn’t appreciate that the belief in wonder and dreams is not given, it is earned.