Overview
It’s been 22 years since the first Jurassic Park movie aired, which — incidentally — is also how long it’s been since the last good Jurassic Park movie aired. Now, though, we’ve reason to be cautiously optimistic. Earlier today the second full trailer for Jurassic World landed in our news feeds and, after several repeat viewings, we see plenty to be hopeful about.
CHRIS PRATT IS THE VELOCIWHISPERER
When the first trailer dropped back in November of last year, the internet went into Dennis Nedry-like digital chaos over what looked like Chris Pratt’s character taming some velociraptors. It seemed like a pretty hokey idea, but Trailer #2 seems to have settled that concern somewhat, with his character, Owen Grady, explaining: “It’s not about control, it’s a relationship based on respect,” while he stands eye-to-eye with three of them. That, or he’s doing some extreme tai-chi. Either way, ‘respect’ is the key word here, because it means the raptors haven’t been reduced to domesticated turkeys; they could still kill him at any moment.
THE NEW DINO IS A BLOCKBUSTERSAURUS
We already knew the ‘villain' in Jurassic World was to be a genetically engineered dino of such scale it would make the T-Rex look like a pug, and now it has a face. Sporting the name ‘Indominus Rex’, it’s got the head of a dragon and the jaw span of a Steven Tyler. Our relief here stems from the fact that it looks entirely plausible. It’s a hybrid dinosaur in the sense that it’s got spliced DNA with other animals, not spliced DNA with lasers or a BMW for some tier 1 brand placement.
INDOMINUS HAS A VERY PARTICULAR SET OF SKILLS
Let’s start with the smarts. Indominus is crafty. Really crafty. If Jurassic Park’s gamekeeper Robert Muldoon saw Indominus, he'd say, well, nothing, because raptors tore his stomach open and ate him alive back in 1993. But he’d want us to say “clever girl”, because this manmade man-eater tore out his own subcutaneous electronic tracker so that the humans wouldn’t know where it was (aside from being able to spot a giant lizard in the middle of a theme park). The reason we like this is because it takes the franchise to a new place rather than sticking with ‘dinosaur big, dinosaur scary’. Bourne Legacy did the same thing three years ago, realising the only way to stay fresh was to find someone better than Bourne, not just different.
NATURAL BORN KILLERS
First there’s the smarts, then there’s the disposition, because it seems Indominus isn’t like other dinosaurs. As Grady explains in the trailer, other dinosaurs are thinking: “I’ve got to eat. I’ve got to hunt,” but Indominus, “she's killing for sport”. First the franchise ups the stakes, then it changes the game. What makes both Jaws and The Ghost and the Darkness such compelling tales isn't the ‘killer beast’ plot; it’s the fact that they’re creatures baring the uncomfortable human quality of killing for reasons other than survival. Killing for sport isn’t just unnatural, it’s evil. We can only presume Ricky Gervais is tracking down Indominus’s Twitter handle as we speak.
LEMME HEAR YOU SAY GRRRRNNNNNRRRROOOOARRRRR
Indominus, aka ‘the D-Rex’ can talk to the animals. Not in a 'Dr Doolittle meets Aaron Sorkin witty repartee' kind of way, but enough to get Pteranodons to help it out in killing tourists. We like this because it adds an alliance feel to the plot, almost as though sides are forming in a prehistoric battle. With the introduction of each new dinosaur, you’ll find yourself wondering: “And whose side are you on?"
Jurassic World hits Australian cinemas on June 11, so get ready to hold onto your butts.