I’ve always been a fan of dinosaurs — not as much as I was at 10, when I could name them all, as my mum often reminds me — but I enjoy seeing them on-screen, whether it’s in blockbusters like 65 or random Tubi movies like Dinosaur Hotel. And so I’ve been waiting for Jurassic World: Rebirth later this year with anticipation and trepidation in equal measure.
I recently watched a touring Jurassic Park parody play — it’s called “Hold Onto Your Butts”, and I’d recommend seeing it if you can — and it reminded me that I didn’t remember the original Jurassic Park as well as I should, prompting a rewatch that evening. Viewing the classic movie with the new one in the forefront of my mind, I was reminded of what made the original so great… and how all of the Jurassic World movies have lived or died by remembering that strength.
If you were to ask fans of Jurassic Park what the most iconic scene was, you’d get one of two answers, a fact easily replicable by searching Google for answers (and I’m sure the comment section at the bottom of this article will see some suggestions). Some would say the Tyrannosaurus Rex nighttime paddock scene, and that’s certainly a memorable one, but to me, the best one is always the “Welcome to Jurassic Park” scene. You could probably guess as much, given that it’s the image at the top of this article.
You’ve seen it a million times before, parodied to high heaven and used in myriad memes. It’s the scene where our main characters see dinosaurs for the first time and totally lose their cool, all accompanied by John Williams’ swelling score. The wonder and amazement in our characters is reflected in the viewers: we haven’t seen any living dinos so far in the movie, and back in 1993 (and even now) the creatures looked pretty great.
For fans like me, this scene summarises the appeal of the entire Jurassic Park filmography — there’s a wonder in seeing these long-extinct creatures brought back to life. Grant, Malcolm and Sattler are just representations of the viewer.
In fact, all the most memorable scenes for me across the six films reflect on the magnificence and grandeur of dinosaurs fitting into the natural world. The ailing Triceratops scene from later in Jurassic Park is a great example, as we watch Ellie literally cry with wonder at the creatures, but there are plenty more: the herd of Stegasaurus in Jurassic Park II, the reveal in Jurassic World of the domesticity of dinos in the petting zoo, the tragic volcano eruption and dying Apatosaurus in Fallen Kingdom and, later in that same movie, the denouement where we see all manner of dinosaurs now living side-by-side with real animals outside the island.
I recently tried watching Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous (not quite realizing that it was a kids’ show until I started). And while I bounced off that show quite quickly (I’m several decades too old for it now), I still appreciated how well it conveyed the amazement and fascination in dinosaurs amongst its young subjects.
However in most movies about dinosaurs, this isn’t how they’re treated. Most times they’re featured in media, including the aforementioned 65, upcoming movie Primitive War and in an episode of the latest season of Love, Death + Robots, dinosaurs are defined by the danger they pose to people: they’re treated as super-killers, who exist for the sole reason of murdering people.
The Jurassic Park movies have sometimes fallen into this trap, especially with the latter two titles of the original trilogy, to the point that the World movies write it into the story with dinos that have been intentionally bred to be killers that follow signals… but lampooning the trope doesn’t stop them falling victim to it themselves.
I’m worried that Jurassic World: Rebirth is going to follow suit, especially with its plot sounding quite similar to Park II & III. If you haven’t watched the trailer or read up on the plot synopsis, it’s about a group of scientists going to an island of dinosaurs to harvest DNA, before finding the raging creatures put up a fight.
The description of the trailer listed on YouTube refers to the island as “the most dangerous place on Earth” that’s “inhabited by the worst of the worst”, also referring to the movie as an “action-packed new chapter”. So it’s clear that this is more of an action entry than the origial Park movies, perhaps even more so than the World ones, something that the trailer itself makes clear:
With that emphasis on action and danger, I’m worried that Jurassic World: Rebirth may have forgotten how importance wonder is in this semi-fantastical world. Dangerous dinos and fatal flyers may get adrenaline pumping, as will new mutant dinos hinted at in the trailer, but we also need slow moments to help us appreciate the dinos (and all the CGI work put into them!).
Now I know what you’re thinking: “why would they put the quiet moments in the trailer?” and you’re right — I’m hoping that this is an action-packed taster of a finished movie that has more of these touching moments.
I’ve got good reason for thinking this, and it’s because of the movie’s director. Gareth Edwards’ first movie was the fantastic creature feature Monsters, which was (as the title suggests) about a monster invasion. Like in past Jurassic Park movies, the most iconic scenes in that movie for me were both the slow character moments, and the times when we see these creatures interacting not as monsters, but as wild animals displaced to the continental United States.
With a new Walking with Dinosaurs trailer looking… not quite how I’d hoped, and no imminent release coming for Prehistoric Planet season 3 or one of my most-anticipated movies Flowervale Street, dino fans have got only Primitive War and Rebirth to look forward to this year (not counting that episode of Love, Death + Robots). And since Primitive War is clearly more of an action-horror-slasher, it’s understandably not going to lean too heavily on the wonderous and fascinating side of dinosaurs.
Instead, Jurassic World: Rebirth is best placed to do that, so I’m hoping that it has a scene which turns me into Alan Grant in the aforementioned scene: taking off my glasses in amazement at some amazing visual or dino.