Universal Pictures
While most directors prefer to keep the plot details of their summer blockbusters under lock and key, Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow has been surprisingly frank and forthcoming about his upcoming installment in the Jurassic Park franchise. After JoBlo caught wind of plot details surrounding the film, which had been up until now, cloaked in secrecy, Trevorrow decided to buck the usual trend of denying rumors and confirmed much of the leaked information in an interview with Slashfilm. In the interview, Trevorrow dished about many of the leaked plot details of the film, clarifying and correcting some of the more worrisome rumors, and expressing his desire to really surprise audiences with the film: “Last week was discouraging for everyone on our crew — not because we want to hide things from the fans, but because we’re working so hard to create something full of surprises.” So how do we feel about the final announcements? We’ve broken down and assessed all the confirmed information from the interview.
CHRIS PRATT: DINOSAUR SCIENTIST
After launching into space in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy, Chris Pratt will spend Summer 2015 in Jurassic World as a scientist studying the behavior of raptors, but Trevorrow urges that these raptors won’t be doing tricks. “He’s just trying to figure out the limits of the relationship between these highly intelligent creatures and human beings.” Pratt is quickly becoming quite the diverse performer, and he has the right amount of goofball charm to work as an over-eager researcher — the kind that had dinosaur posters splattered all over his childhood bedroom. We’re on board with this one.
Rating: Four shirtless Jeff Goldblums
THE PARK IS BASICALLY SEAWORLD WITH DINOSAURS
If your first you don’t succeed (and your dinosaurs eat a whole bunch of people), try, try again. Jurassic World will feature a fully-realized and functional theme park on Isla Nublar with all the creature comforts: luxury resorts, restaurants, raptors, a golf course, night life, more raptors, basically everything John Hammond ever wanted for his original park. And like every SeaWorld vacation, eventually things go south. Damn humanity and our hubris! The idea of yet another iteration of Jurassic Park collapsing into chaos does seem a little trite, there are some fun twists here to shake up the formula.
Rating: Three stubby T-Rex arms
…AND, LIKE SEAWORLD, PEOPLE ARE OVER IT
The kids in Jurassic World just aren’t impressed by the towering prehistoric creatures, already way spoiled by a steady diet of SFX dinosaurs over the years. So what’s the only way to impress their young, CGI-addled brains? well, bigger dinosaurs of course. This could definitely be a fun bit of meta commentary for a franchise that first delighted fans with pre-historic action, but lost steam once it started valuing spectacle over character. Definitely great news.
Rating: Five “clever girrrl”s
BIGGER, BADDER DINOS, BUT NO MUTANT FREAKS
The original rumors reported that the new film will include a new genetically modified dinosaur spliced with DNA from other animals, like snakes and cuttlefish. It turns out that the rumor was only partly true. Trevorrow says that in order to shake things up and jog some interest back into disinterested park patrons, the geneticists at Jurassic World get a corporate mandate to create a bigger, louder, and more ferocious dinosaur. While this dinosaur will likely dwarf the creatures of old, the director doesn’t want you to think of them as “mutant freaks.” Trevorrow assures us, “It doesn’t have a snake’s head or octopus tentacles. It’s a dinosaur, created in the same way the others were, but now the genetics have gone to the next level. For me, it’s a natural evolution of the technology introduced in the first film.” Despite Trevorrow’s assurances, a genetically modified dinosaur does sound like the film is drifting away from the spirit that made the original film great. We’ll have to wait and see about this one.
Rating: Two doorknob-turning raptors
NO FRIENDLY DINOSAURS
An earlier rumor suggested that there would be a ton of dinosaur vs. dinosaur action, and that some of the dinosaurs would be fighting to protect humans thanks to some training via Pratt’s character. However (and thankfully), Trevorrow amends that rumor. “There’s no such thing as good or bad dinosaurs. There are predators and prey. The T-Rex in Jurassic Park took human lives, and saved them. No one interpreted her as good or bad. This film is about our relationship with animals, how we react to the threat they pose to our dominance on earth as a species.” We definitely think creating “hero” and “villain” dinosaurs would have been a terrible move. Cheers to morally ambiguous lizards.
Rating: Five stolen dino embryos
