You have been warned.
This movie has received a lot of bad press. A lot. And, so, today we will be analyzing what they did wrong and what went right, in full spoiler mode.
Again, you have been warned.
What went wrong:
Clair. This movie would have been so much better without her. In the first movie she was annoying, but her character made sense. She was the business behind the park and the creatures. She signed off on making the monster creature (a fact we get reminded of by Miller), and honestly she should be the character that is most promoting let the creatures die. The number of people killed alone should be enough for her to side with that fact. Instead, we get a dinosaur-rights-activist. Did this movie need that character? Yes, yes it did. Should it have been someone else? Completely.
The set-up. The general idea isn’t a bad one. Rescue the dinosaurs yada yada. Not a bad idea, kind of makes sense for the foundation that Grant (the guy who founded the original park) to stand behind and fund. But what I don’t get why Clair would so easily trust… everything. Writers, I am disappointing in you.
Basically the first twenty minutes of the movie, excluding the opening scene. It was just a lot of re-hashing, and a lot of things that didn’t make a lot of sense.
What went right:
This movie is what the second Jurassic Park should have been – a private sale in a mansion that is actually handled well. The only thing that didn’t make a lot of sense was having the dinos in brick cells, because of what happened, but they did seem to have them all well under control.
The over-arching premise. The first movie set up the idea of militarizing the dinosaurs. This isn’t a new idea, but this time it makes a lot more sense. You have a creature that is trained to follow some kind of attack sequence, and you are bringing in Blue to finish out your weapon. Again, this actually makes some sense.
The ending with the gas and the clone releasing the dinos. When we saw the button and we saw Clair going for the button, all I could thing was “DON’T DO IT” don’t fall into that trap. That would show no growth for your character, and honestly no understanding for what you have done. This creatures hunt humans, and you would release them where everyone lives?? But the clone. Little Maizy who learns that she isn’t Lockwood’s granddaughter, but his daughter’s clone. Someone who is old enough to understand things, but still young enough to be completely scared and react a lot like an animal. The fact that she runs immediately to Owen and attaches to him I think helps to reinforce the fact that Clair should not have been in this movie. This should have been Owen’s movie. ANYWAYS. This girl who has had her whole world flipped around, she presses the button. Because if she, a clone, gets to live, why shouldn’t the other clones? And this. This is the root of what Grant and Lockwood didn’t agree on. If you clone a human, they are a human. If you clone an animal… are they an animal, or are they a monster. You have brought a species back that no longer exists. You have brought it back different that how it originally was. And given it an easy-ish supply of food. But for the clone? It is easy. They are just like me, and I am encouraged to live and accepted. We must accept them as they are and they deserve to live and be free, just as I am.
That is what is so good in this movie. When that happened, I was okay with the dinosaurs being let go. Because that made sense.
Owen. Owen was well done, and it was nice to see him go from hating everything he had done, to fighting for the creatures he had helped. But he doesn’t change in that he puts people first. He would have never pressed that button, and it didn’t cross his mind. The only reason they were still there, honestly, is because of the monster creature. And the only reason that got out is because of the hunter – which, again, is mostly acceptable.
What they could have done better?
Cut Clair out all together. No joke.
Rework the first 20 minutes after the opening scene. It would have made much more sense to have the clone call/reach out to Owen. Had her see the video of him, then go find his contact information somewhere. Taken Clair out of the equation all of the way. Just. That set-up was horrible.
What where your thoughts on the matter?
