In 1993, mass audiences were dazzled byJurassic Park. The awe of seeing dinosaurs fully realized by the latest advancements in CGI technology was not something anyone could truly be prepared for at the time, and even to this day, the results look jaw-dropping. But what kept viewers returning to the park repeatedly was that these dinosaurs were backed by a genuinely great film; the story was simple but expertly directed by Steven Spielberg, the characters memorable, and the story’s themes about the dangers of playing God thought-provoking.
This was a film that simply clicked. Everything that could have worked about it did work, so it’s understandable that Universal Pictures wanted to recreate this success by turningJurassic Parkinto a franchise. And yet none of these sequels even came close to living up to the original, but there’s arguably no way theycouldhave. The first film was lightning in a bottle, released at the perfect moment and capturing the zeitgeist in a way that could never be replicated. To paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm, they spent so much time trying to turnJurassic Parkinto a franchise that they never stopped to think if they should.
The Awe of Dinosaurs Fully Realized
One of the smartest marketing strategies forJurassic Parkwas the anticipation it created;none of the trailers showed the dinosaurs in full, so audiences who wanted to experience the park’s majesty had to see it for themselves. This allowed viewers to experience the awe of seeing fully realized dinosaurs alongside Alan Grant, Ellie Sadler, and Ian Malcolm. The result was one of the most breathtaking and majestic scenes in blockbuster history, but it ensured that any sequel would be at an inherent disadvantage, as this magic could never be recreated.
The solution, it seemed, was to lean into the other half ofJurassic Parkthat made it work so well — the terror. Part of the film’s genius in its structure was first allowing the characters to witness the amazing sight of dinosaurs being brought back from extinction before getting a firsthand experience dealing with what happens when that inevitably goes wrong and the dinosaurs get loose.
As such, the film became a monster movie in its second half, and on the one hand, leaning fully into this direction withThe Lost WorldandJurassic Parkseemed the best possible approach to take with a sequel.
Related:How the Jurassic World Trilogy Failed the Series
Nonetheless, the creative spark was missing from both of these sequels and with each passing installment, it became clear that this thrill of discovering dinosaurs for the first time was so crucial to the first film’s success. Without it,the results became increasingly diminishing.
Consider the use of John William’s titular theme in the first installment with its use inJurassic World. It’s used to sweeping, majestic effect in the former as Hammond presents his dinosaurs for the first time and to stilted, awkward effect in the latter when it’s used as the camera pans upward to the entrance of the new theme park. The stark differences here alone display that the magic trick conjured byJurassic Parkcould only be displayed once.
Don’t Go Back to the Island
The other critical flaw of the sequels was a fundamental plotting issue; because the first film so definitively resolved the themes of the dangers of playing God with John Hammond tearfully abandoning his park, there was little room to explore this theme further. Alas, the sequels continued to prove this with each passing installment, as most of them rehashed the theme of the original.
Even worse, the plotting required the characters to forget the lessons they learned about the dangers of bringing dinosaurs back from the dead and to return to the island simply because the story demanded they did.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in theJurassic Worldtrilogy; the plot concerned a successful opening of the park Hammond had envisioned over twenty years prior, but because we learned from the original that life would always find a way, it was only a matter of waiting for things to inevitably go wrong. Colin Trevorrow’s direction,utilizing fan serviceand poking fun at the film’s own existence, only exacerbated these flaws, making it clear how desperately he and his creative team needed to distract from the inherent stupidity of their premise.
Plausibility continued to be pushed to its breaking point with theJurassic Worldsequels.Fallen Kingdom, to its credit, at leasttriedto shake up the status quo by setting up a finale where humans and dinosaurs had to fight for dominance of the planet.
However,Dominion, the trilogy closer, completely squandered this potential by having this thematic conflict be almost entirely resolved within the first ten minutes, to say nothing of the baffling decision to make dinosaurs tertiary to the plotat the expense of locusts. All of these factors displayed how inherently limited the premise ofJurassic Parkwas and how the filmmakers had nowhere else to explore beyond making more money.
Related:Jurassic Park: Why John Hammond Is Actually a Villain
Some Things Should Stay Buried
To the credit ofJurassic Park, it’s far from the only film with an inherently limited premise that got extended to a franchise needlessly; look at what happened with theTerminatorfranchise. But in modern Hollywood culture, it’s safe to say that few examples of Hollywood greed overriding the story demands speak louder than here.
But this was inevitable; the original film was lightning in a bottle with little room left to explore.Its legacy remains fully intactthirty years later, and none of the sequels could ever detract from that. But it was simply impossible to recreate a magic trick on screen a second time, and without that, each subsequent installment headed deeper into full creative collapse. In Hollywood, life always finds a way if there’s money involved, but maybe some franchises should stay buried and wrapped up.
