Looking at Jurassic
World, anyone can see the obvious similarity which unites all of the films
in the Jurassic Park Franchise: Man creates dinosaurs and dinosaurs attack man.
But from the trailers I noticed something else. It’s not just the same premise,
the plot has the same beats and the characters are practically copies from Jurassic Park. I became concerned that
Universal simply just remade Jurassic
Park and slapped a new name on its characters and the film’s title. I
shared this theory with everyone I know up until I saw the film. Once I sat in
the theater and viewed Jurassic World
from start to finish I knew….that I was right.
Let’s
start with the casts of characters. In Jurassic
World the first main characters we meet are two kids (brothers). The
youngest brother is Gray, Gray is really into Dinosaurs. He knows their names
and is genuinely excited to be going to the park. His older brother Zach could
care less. He is more interested in girls. Now if we look at Jurassic Park there were two kids as
main characters also. In Jurassic Park
the youngest was named Timmy. Timmy is really into Dinosaurs. He knows their
names and is genuinely… get the idea? Now in Jurassic Park the elder sibling is a female: Alexis. Alexis is not
so into dinosaurs, she likes computers. Computers, as far as interests go, are
way more telling for a character than simply liking the opposite sex; so while
Alexis and Zach are not the same character, Alexis is more interesting and thus
better. Next main character we meet in Jurassic
World is Claire Dearing. Claire runs the park and is all about business;
and she could really care less about kids. In Jurassic Park Dr. Alan Grant was a paleontologist who was very into
his work; he also didn’t care for kids. Both of these characters, through the
progression of the story, end up loving kids and in fact both hold the child characters
in loving embrace at the end of the film. Finally we come to Chris Pratt’s
character: Owen. Owen is dressed as a mix between the Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler
characters from Jurassic Park, and
while his personality borrows from both of them, he has the more emotional
connection and sense of Dr. Sattler. It really seems like they gave all of the
likable traits to Owen and gave the leftovers to Claire. Still, a little too
familiar.
Next we
can look at the plot. In Jurassic Park
a small group of scientists are collected to preview the park before it opens
to the public. While this is occurring a tech for the park has cut a deal to
steal some Dino-DNA and sell it to a competitor. In Jurassic World, on a regular park day, an experimental dinosaur
breaks out and runs amuck in the park. While this is occurring a tech for the
park has cut a deal to steal some Dino-DNA and sell it to a competitor. Did
that last sentence look familiar? That’s because I just copied it from the
sentence description from Jurassic Park.
Why not? The filmmakers did the exact same thing.
Now I’m
sure many people point out that similar characters and plot is nothing new. In
fact, it has been said time and time again that there are no new original
stories. I can’t argue that, but I will say there are still original and
creative presentations of stories. Jurassic
World steals from Jurassic Park
in this regard as well. Let’s look at a breakdown in minutes. Between minutes
3.5 and 5.5 in Jurassic Park it is
revealed in conversation that John Hammond’s daughter is getting a divorce.
Between minute 2 and minute 4 in Jurassic
World we see that the child main characters’ parents are getting a divorce.
To distract both sets of kids from the divorce they are being sent to the
dinosaur park. This is not an exaggeration. Watch the first five minutes of
both films and you will see that Jurassic
World couldn’t even start the first five minutes without taking from the
original. Not enough you say? Very well, I shall continue.
At minute 9.5 in Jurassic Park we are first introduced to
John Hammond, the owner and creator of the park, as he rides in a helicopter.
In Jurassic World we meet Mr.
Mazrani, owner of the park, at minute 13 as he arrives in a helicopter. So
apparently if we first meet you riding in a helicopter, you probably own a
Jurassic Park.
This next one is small and maybe
kind of ridiculous. In Jurassic Park
the first dinosaur we see is a brontosaurus. Remember that shot? The group is
in a jeep and they look up and see this giant dinosaur eating leaves off a tree
and the famous John Williams Jurassic Park Score begins to build. It’s freaking
amazing. Anyways, in Jurassic World
the first dinosaur we see (via hologram) is also a brontosaurus. The character
Gray runs up to an informational kiosk thing and flashes the hologram. It happens
around minute 8.5. Again its small, but it counts.
Next is the feeding time for an
unseen dinosaur. In Jurassic Park at
minute 32 the group sees the raptor paddock as they are being fed. We just hear
loud noises. This also happens in Jurassic
World at minute 27 when a T-Rex is fed at the “T-Rex Feed Viewing” and a
crowd of people are blocking the glass and the feed view. It can also be argued
that in Jurassic Park at minute 44 a goat is presented in the T-Rex Paddock for
feeding but the T-Rex refuses to come out. I would accept this just because a
goat is the chosen meal for the T-Rex in both films. So in other words, it
isn’t a Jurassic Park film unless you try to feed a goat to a dinosaur. In Jurassic Park, around the same time as
the raptor feeding, Muldoon talks about how the raptors are testing the fences
for weaknesses, that’s at minute 32. In Jurassic
World at minute 32.5 we get the scene where Owen is brought in to see the
Indominous Rex (hereafter referred to as the In-Rex) Paddock and he points out
that it looks like its testing its surroundings. So a dinosaur mixed with
raptor DNA just half a minute later in the film running tests its fence. If you
still want to argue I can keep going. For those who have seen enough, you may
continue to the end summation (it’s the eleventh paragraph).
In minute 56.5 in Jurassic Park the security system
crashes and this forces the jeeps, which are running on the tour program, to
shut down. In Jurassic World at
minute 54, the kids are in a sphere vehicle which is also running on a tour
program which then calls the sphere to come back because of a security breach.
About 10 minutes later, in both films, the kids on both tours are attacked. In Jurassic Park its Lex and Timmy by a
T-Rex. In Jurassic World its Zach and
Gray by the In-Rex.
At minute 97 in Jurassic Park, while the group is trying
to manually reboot the system, they learn that they are being hunted by
raptors. At minute 90 in Jurassic World,
Owen begins his hunt with the raptors leading them on motorcycle. So nearing
the end of the second act it’s time to initiate a raptor hunt (the most deadly
hunters in the dinosaur kingdom apparently).
Finally, in the battle finale, a
T-Rex and Raptors are involved in both films. In Jurassic Park, as the group are being hunted by raptors, a T-Rex
crashes through and attacks the raptors thus allowing the group to escape. In Jurassic World the raptors are fighting
the In-Rex. There is a slight variation here which I admit is pretty amazing.
As the In-Rex has the raptors on the ropes. Claire lights a flare and attracts
the T-Rex out of its paddock and brings it to the fight. Bryce Dallas Howard
(Claire) running in heels in the rain holding a flare luring a T-Rex to a fight
is the most badass thing in Jurassic
World. That being said, the T-Rex is still a part of the fight just like in
Jurassic Park.
The
aforementioned examples are all evidence I submit as proof that the filmmakers
of Jurassic World simply watched Jurassic Park and blatantly ripped it
off. A sequel should carry traditions from its predecessors, but should not be
the exact same movie. At what point is a film too formulaic? The answer is
subjective. The James Bond Film Series has an established formula that has been
working for over 20 films for over 50 years. The James Bond Film Series likely
invented the idea of a film formula. So that’s their thing, but at what point
do audiences say enough is enough? When do we get sick of seeing the exact same
movie over and over again? Don’t let Hollywood keep feeding us this stuff. Don’t
you want something you haven’t seen before? Or even better, something that’s never
been done before? Or am I wrong? Jurassic
World, released in 2015, was not only the second highest grossing film of
2015, it currently sits in the top five highest grossing films of all time.
So
which is it? Do you want the same? Or do you want something different?
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