They Need to Reopen the Park. Hear Me Out.

While one can argue that the franchise is one entry away from reaching Fast & Furious levels of burnout, there is no denying that the Jurassic films have been a cinematic mainstay for a significant chunk of the lives of every extant moviegoer. While the first three films are universally revered as textbook blockbusters, the latter three presented an era of division for the saga. After a fourteen year hiatus, 2015’s Jurassic World brought new life to the franchise by reintroducing the IP to a new generation and establishing it as a billion-dollar giant. But while the first two follow-up films kept up financially, they didn’t impress audiences nearly as much as their predecessors. Fallen Kingdom and Dominion are commonly panned for being overstuffed, directionless, pandering and downright absurd from a storytelling standpoint. And with the most recent entry facing mixed reviews with a still considerable amount of criticism, the ultimate question remains: what do we even want from these movies?

The original 1993 film introduced the world to one of the most perfectly balanced blockbusters of all time. In addition to the iconic set pieces, it presented the classic sci-fi trope of the dangers of playing God in a modern, nuanced way that we had never seen prior. It gave us an equal amount of thrills and brains, something that Hollywood has strangely struggled with since. 1998’s The Lost World and 2001’s Jurassic Park III may not have delivered as much in the brains category, but they brought plenty enough thrills to satisfy our adventure movie itch and establish themselves as perfectly passable popcorn fare. And with the original trilogy being over two decades old, nostalgia is now a factor working in their favor. When it came time to bring audiences back to Isla Nublar in 2015, crowds were drawn to the theater off of one premise that had been in the back of the minds of everyone whose imagination had once been peeked by these films: the park is now open. Despite those who question the logic of this decision to reopen the park after the catastrophes of the original film, this premise proved successful, as the film opened to a weekend gross of $209,000,000.

While the film undeniably resonated and dominated for a while, the criticisms came out when the hype inevitably died down. One of the biggest ones being that the film seemed to fall apart around the third act. The film did well with its premise, shifting the conversation from playing God to the dangers of unregulated capitalism and how tourism exploits animals. But once the Indominus Rex escapes, the film abandons most of these talking points and turns into the most expensive SYFY channel movie ever. We are left in the same place where the original left us: an abandoned, dinosaur-infested island where a once promising theme park once stood. The difference was that this time, instead of playing it safe by just throwing some mercenaries on the island and making them have an adventure, what proceeded was a storyline involving an active volcano, dinosaur PETA, and a global dinopocalypse preceded by twenty-something dinosaurs getting loose in California (I will never get over that).

In my opinion, the fundamental issue was that the writers either couldn’t come up with a more imaginative ending or the studio simply told them to end with a bang and have everything go to chaos. This made for a fun and memorable ending, but didn’t give them much to play with going forward. The result was them being against a wall when it came time to write Fallen Kingdom. They didn’t want to just do another “getting chased by dinosaurs on an island” movie, so they struggled to come up with a new story. This, probably coupled with difficult time restraints and the creative differences that often complicate studio films, resulted in two sequels that never really felt like they knew what they were doing. Rebirth, the most recent entry in the franchise, has garnered a mixed reception by playing it safe and going the route of the original two sequels, giving us a classic island adventure. Some praised the entry for taking the franchise back to its roots, while some are convinced that the franchise can do more.

When criticising the logic of the franchise, it is not uncommon to hear people raise the inquiry of why they would continue to open the park, or even work with dinosaurs in general, after it keeps going awry in every movie. But to that, I would ask those individuals if they think that Disney World would close permanently if a ride malfunctioned and resulted in hundreds of deaths. Statements would be made, families would be paid off, and the park would open for the next season. What a fantastic concept for a film about the gross exploits of capitalism! Imagine if at the end of the film, after all the death and carnage, we saw Clarie (Bryce Dallas Howard. I know you don’t remember her character's name) leading a new group of tourists while ominously uttering “welcome to Jurassic World” before cutting to credits. A saga surrounding an operational dinosaur park and the things that get swept under the rug in order for it to stay open could have ushered in an imaginative and socially relevant era for the franchise.

Keeping the park open would have left the door open for a variety of interesting characters to focus on. We could have gotten a story about an INGEN scientist who questions the ethics of what they have to do, or a dinosaur handler who has witnessed guest casualties but is forbidden from saying anything. Maybe a spin-off anthology following guest experiences in the park. If it’s established that the park is open, sequels could be based on the premise of new attractions (which hopefully wouldn’t be hybrids, but that’s another article). There’s even the prospect of expanding the franchise beyond dinosaurs, something they’ve teased in video games and other media. Imagine if INGEN bought some land in the arctic for an ice age park, or a project set at a marine-themed park with megalodons and the like.

All in all, one thing that can be said for certain about the franchise is that it will continue. Until they stop shattering records every weekend, Universal will continue throwing stories at the wall until they stick. And if that’s the case, the story of the park’s second reopening will inevitably, uh, find a way.