Jurassic World... Worth The Wait???

Here be spoilers...

I've been waiting for Jurassic World to come out for so long that it is barely worth linking to the obligatory yearly posts pining for it.

Let me put you in the picture... I was 9 years old when the hype around the imminent release of Jurassic Park (the movie) began. By the time I went to see it I had already devoured Michael Crichton's book (total 9 year old bookworm) and collected the entire Jurassic Park card collection. Sticker books, quilt covers, toys and comics were soon littering my room all covered in the red and black logo. I LOVED Jurassic Park.

So I went into Jurassic World with overly high expectations. They were not met. This movie seemed to lack a heart and, worse, at times lacked any sort of danger to the characters that might make it a little more thrilling.

Was it a bad movie? Hell no. Beautifully shot, with Chris Pratt putting in a sterling (and hunky) performance as Owen the raptor keeper, it was pretty epic. There were thrills, there were dinosaurs and there were nods to the original (especially awesome one near the end involving a red flare!).

But the negatives were there a plenty. A very thin storyline. A disjointed "In peril, not in peril, in peril, not in peril" approach to our main characters meant you didn't really feel they were in much danger (though this approach did work pretty well in Jurassic Park III I admit). The character of Henry Wu was way over-used considering how bland he was. The villain was so "villain by numbers" that when he inevitably died it was a bit "Meh". The kids "journey" to "brotherly love" was laid on way too thick.

There were some excellent moments though. When the velociraptors head off with Owen to hunt the I. Rex. When they suddenly and unexpectantly turn against him. When the T-Rex (somewhat inevitably, I actually assumed this was how things would play out) arrives on the scene and saves the day (a totally fan-wank moment to "correct" the supposed wrong of Spinosaurus besting T-Rex in JPIII). But it was still an excellent scene.

So a mixed bag. A good movie. Obviously it was never going to capture the magic of Jurassic Park but I'd argue Jurassic Park III was also superior to Jurassic World. I did get myself a Jurassic World cup so all was not lost (and Lego Jurassic World is AMAZING)!!!

Given there were only about 10 people in the entire cinema, I'm concerned there may not be a sequel... but let's hope there is a second chance!!

Jurassic World: What We "Know" So Far

I've been excited about Jurassic Park IV since forever. It has spent so long in development hell that, after it was delayed from 2014 to 2015, I simply shrugged my shoulders and ignored it all as, to be perfectly honest, my Jurassic Park loving heart couldn't bear the prospect of another failed attempt.

But now my Google Alerts are coming thick and fast, choke full of casting news and excitement.

So what do we know?

Jurassic Park IV has been re-titled as Jurassic World. Whilst my ever dinosaur hungry brain hopes this means it'll be a (better executed) take on World War Z with dinosaur outbreaks around the world, I suspect we'll be looking at a "Jurassic World" park akin to Disney World (with awesome dinosaurs so about 10 times better). This also fits in with Sam Neill's comments that it'll be a "total re-jig". Some have taken those comments to mean it'll be a reboot or remake. I'd say we are looking at a soft reboot, keeping what happened before but starting off somewhere completely new (and probably in the USA rather than Costa Rica). I.e. Jurassic Park for a new generation but not destroying the "canon" (little though there is of it!).

It is currently due for release June 12, 2015 (just before my birthday so please keep to this people!!), and will be directed by Colin Trevorrow (who is also co-writing the remake of Flight of the Navigator, so if he messes either up he'll be the subject of some serious Fanboy Jae Rage!). He's made comments suggesting there will be a super fantastic new dinosaur. Though I think the Spinosaurus killing a T-Rex scene in JPIII was a step too far, I'm totally up for seeing what wonderful prehistoric creature they bring to the screen.

There are plenty of rumours over whether Sam Neill or Jeff Goldblum will return (personally I'd love to see Laura Dern's Sattler come back, she was a damn cool character in the first novel and Laura Dern gave her some strength in JP but she didn't get enough of a chance to shine). But we are starting to get some relatively firm news over which new actors will be joining the fun.

Ty Simpkins, of Iron Man 3 fame, appears to have cast which keeps in with the tradition of children among the main characters. Rumours have appeared suggesting Josh Brolin, Idris Elba and Jake Johnson have also been approached. With the male leads in hot contention, there's little news on any actresses as yet. I'm hoping this means LAURA DERN.

A boy can dream...

Jurassic Park IV: Rebooted Dinosaurs Needed?

When I was young (we are talking "in the 1980s" here) I inherited the dinosaur books that my aunties and uncles had used in the 60s and 70s. Big, boldly coloured books full of beautiful pictures they began my love affair with dinosaurs (helped by frequent visits to Maidstone museum to buy the Invicta line of dinosaur models). However even as a child I could tell there was something a little wrong with those pictures. Snorkelling brachiosaurs seemed to conflict with the then current models of tall, strong brachiosaurs I was playing with.

Paleontology is still a young science, new discoveries that change the fundamental understanding of how dinosaurs and other related species looked and acted are made all the time. In writing Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton did his best to stay true to the late 80s understanding of dinosaurs, and the subsequent movie had several expert advisors (such as Jack Horner) to help guide it. Even so, 20 years later Jurassic Park's dinosaurs are starting to look very out of date.

For example, at the time of Crichton's research, Deinonychus was named by some as Velociraptor antirrhopus. Given the similarities in size, it is pretty clear that Deinonychus is the basis for the infamous Raptors seen in the movie. Now this has been revised and what is known as a Velociraptor today (an animal roughly around 0.5m tall with feathers) is totally unlike the Raptors of Jurassic Park.

The Original JP Version

          The JPIII Redesign 

Current Impression Of What Deinonychus Might Have Looked Like

Will Jurassic Park IV acknowledge the new discoveries? Will it keep to the, very well-recognised, designs from the earlier movies or be bold and completely reinvent them? Will we get properly feathered dinosaurs or even newly discovered ones?

I've seen some say that they could keep the original designs, perhaps slightly modified, but explain the differences due to the amphibian DNA used during the cloning process. This sounds decent, or they could take the explanation from the original book that Wu got his way and redesigned the dinosaurs to look more like people expected (in the book Wu and Hammond argue about this sort of genetic engineering). Not only is this fiction but it is fiction based on still up for debate science meaning they can take some liberties (as they did with both the dilophosaurs poison and "mane").

The dinosaur fanboy in me would love for them to be very bold indeed and make some of the newly discovered dinosaurs as infamous and terrifying as the original Jurassic Park made velociraptors. Or they could just do an "upgrade" to utahraptors who dwarfed deinonychus. 

Here's looking forward to whatever new designs and dinosaurs they come up with! 

Jurassic Park IV: This Time They Really Are Doing It (Probably)

I have been looking forward to Jurassic Park IV for quite some time. We have had a hundred false starts, ever year it has been postponed by another year or two.

Well this time it looks like they mean business! They have set a release date of June 13 2014 which is the firmest evidence we've been given yet that this project is moving forward.

I truly hope they do the franchise justice and take it off in a direction that will allow it to flourish and create ever more media... Jurassic Park is my favourite franchise.

In other related news.... In anticipation of the release of Jurassic Park 3D this year, The Asylum has announced the production of a new mockbuster "Age of Dinosaurs". Here is the synopsis.

Using breakthrough flesh-regeneration technology, a biotech firm creates a set of living dinosaurs. But when the creatures escape their museum exhibit and terrorize Los Angeles, a former firefighter must rescue his teenage daughter from the chaos brought on by the Age of Dinosaurs.

I am a "fan" of The Asylum stuff simply because it amuses me but I really hope they try to make this one good. It could be epic if only they get some people who can act.

Anyway... excited for JPIV!!!