Selected for Extinction, by Tyler Smith
The new trailer for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has been posted and, frankly, it looks pretty awful. Sure, there seems to be some nice spectacle in there, but the premise sounds so outlandish and ridiculous, it makes the first Jurassic World look like Secrets and Lies. As I watched it, I literally laughed out loud as poor Chris Pratt did his best to sell the line, “A rescue op. Save the dinosaurs from an island that’s about to explode.” Everything about the line makes me picture a desperate studio executive in a bar, scribbling on a napkin before going into a meeting with his boss. Every last bit of the film feels like a calculation, right down to the appearance of Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm.
Don’t get me wrong; the first film was a cynical exercise in nostalgia, but it seemed aware of that, and even explored it a little. But even that film seemed to understand the importance of awe. This movie, like The Lost World: Jurassic Park before it, seems more than willing to dispense with the wonder in favor of a more simplified, action-packed tone. I’m not usually opposed to stripping a genre film down to its most basic elements, but when those involve something as big and dumb as “an island that’s about to explode”, the simplicity of it seems like less of an artistic choice and more like a creative shrug.
This is all doubly disappointing because I am such a fan of director J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls (my favorite film of 2016). I suppose I have faith that he’ll find various beautiful shades of lipstick to smear on this pig, but I just can’t see it ever looking that attractive.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that I could be wrong. It’s never a good idea to judge a film on its trailer alone. So, if Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom turns out to be great, I’ll be both relieved and excited. As of right now, this franchise looks creatively bankrupt.
In my internet bubble there was a sudden spike in advertising, anticipation, teaser trailers for trailers and then it came out and it was… flat. It just looks inherently silly. And bad.
The unexpected success of Jurassic World may have gotten to their heads as this seems strangely wayward.
Oh and not since Pompeii has outrunning a pyroclastic flow looked dumber.
“Pyroclastic flow.”
Nerd.
I’m certain that there is much more to the plot than what we see in this first trailer. My young son is a Jurassic Park fanatic who does not care a bit about spoilers, so by association I have heard a lot about every plot leak (intentional and unintentional) and seen a few behind the scenes promotional videos. I’m pretty sure the volcano/destruction of Isla Nublar is related to ideas from the original Crichton novels. From what I’ve heard, there are places the 2nd half of the movie that is only minimally flashed on screen in the trailer. There are important characters/actors that we don’t see at all, and others we see flashes of, but no explanation. If it’s as good as the other “part 2” in the franchise (The Lost World), but with a better ending, I’ll be happy.
The ethical theme of the movie looks to be the dinos’ rights to survive. Has Ian Malcolm reversed course on his position from 1993? “Dinosaurs had their chance and nature selected them for extinction.” Maybe its not so much the rights of a species, but the rights of individuals, such as “Rexy the T-Rex” and “Blue the Velociraptor” that we’re concerned about in this movie.
You should brace yourself for a cliff-hanger-y ending because I’ve heard that they had always planned a 3-movie story arc for Jurassic World.