Exploring New Horizons: How Jurassic World 4 Breaks Away from Overused Tropes

Jurassic World 4 is set to usher in a new era for the franchise, aiming to avoid the overused tropes of its predecessors. The original Jurassic Park movie, directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Michael Crichton's novel, was a huge success both commercially and critically. Despite Spielberg's reluctance to do sequels, he even directed the first follow-up, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, in 1997. However, while the franchise has continued to perform well at the box office, its critical reception has slightly declined over time.

The upcoming Jurassic World 4 is looking to revive the franchise's charm by bringing back screenwriter David Koepp, who worked on the original movie and The Lost World. Despite this promising development, the recent end of the Jurassic World trilogy has left fans feeling disheartened. The trilogy began strongly in 2015 with Jurassic World, offering a larger and more action-packed version of the original movie's concept of a functioning dinosaur theme park. Unfortunately, the sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in 2018, veered off course with a strange and misguided storyline.

Jurassic World 4 Can’t Bring Dinosaurs To The Human World

The Jurassic World movies already proved this storyline doesn’t work

Black Market catchers stop Owen for his Parasaurolophus in Jurassic World Dominion - The Jurassic World movies already proved this storyline doesn’t work - Jurassic World 4 Can’t Bring Dinosaurs To The Human World

Fallen Kingdom faced some challenges, but its major flaw emerged at the end. The climax released dinosaurs into the human world, a recurring issue in the series. One of the main plot holes in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchise is how cloned dinosaurs can survive outside their designated environment. Creating clones that can survive in the wild would be extremely risky, as explained in Crichton's original novel where the park's exhibits were always sick.

Jurassic World 4 needs to be more cautious about releasing dinosaurs into the real world. The idea of dinosaurs roaming freely in civilization may seem fun, but it can lead to many inconsistencies in the storyline and lacks significant impact on the overall plot. In the last movie, Fallen Kingdom, we saw dinosaurs escaping and causing chaos worldwide. Jurassic World: Dominion briefly touched on this theme at the beginning but failed to fully explore its potential. Despite a few scenes showing dinosaurs out in the open, the movie did not fully embrace this concept.

Dinosaurs and Humans Remain Separate in Jurassic Park

The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World series always needed self-contained settings

Sam Neill's Alan Grant distracts the T-Rex in front of a flipped jeep in Jurassic Park - The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World series always needed self-contained settings - Jurassic Park’s Dinosaurs and Humans Never Mixed

The original Jurassic Park was loved because it was a thriller set in one location with a small scope. The characters were trapped on an island with dinosaurs, but the audience knew they could escape to safety. However, as the dinosaurs left Jurassic Park, the series became more like a kaiju movie or a post-apocalyptic tale. Even the sequel, where a T-rex is set loose in San Francisco, felt more silly than exciting, and it didn't explain how the T-rex escaped.

This mistake hinted at how the series would handle future instances of dinosaurs breaking free from the iconic tourist spot. In Fallen Kingdom, the closing scene almost worked because it was short and featured memorable moments like a lion facing off against a T-rex or a mosasaur in a wave with a surfer. But when Dominion took this idea seriously, it felt ridiculous and strained credibility. The movie didn't address how the dinosaurs survived or how humans adapted to their presence, instead focusing on a meaningless corporate conspiracy involving crops.

The Jurassic World Movies Wasted Dinosaur/Human Cohabitation

Jurassic World: Dominion didn’t capitalize on Fallen Kingdom’s ending promise

A brachiosaurus stands in the snow before onlookers in Jurassic World dominion - Jurassic World: Dominion didn’t capitalize on Fallen Kingdom’s ending promise - The Jurassic World Movies Wasted Dinosaur/Human Cohabitation

Ironically, the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies never fully explored the concept of human/dinosaur cohabitation, despite hinting at it. Apart from a few glimpses in Fallen Kingdom and Dominion, this idea was mostly left unaddressed. It seems unlikely that the upcoming Jurassic World 4 will revisit this idea, which means the franchise may have missed its chance to truly delve into the potential of dinosaurs living among humans. While the concept could be intriguing, it would require a dedicated focus to be fully realized.

Fallen Kingdom squeezed in a surprising twist at the end, but Dominion chose to focus on its corporate espionage plot instead. Despite this, Dominion did have a few scenes that hinted at the potential of a different storyline. One memorable moment was when a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains was taken over by a group of brachiosauruses, showing that a movie centered on humans coexisting with dinosaurs could be interesting. Sadly, it seems too late for Jurassic World 4 to explore this concept now that previous chances have been missed.

Editor's P/S:

Jurassic World 4 faces the challenge of revitalizing a franchise that has lost some of its critical acclaim over time. The return of David Koepp, who contributed to the success of the original films, offers hope for a more compelling storyline. However, the article emphasizes the need to avoid the pitfalls of previous installments, particularly the misguided decision to release dinosaurs into the human world. This move has created inconsistencies in the plot and has undermined the impact of the dinosaurs' presence.

To regain its former glory, Jurassic World 4 should focus on the strengths of the original Jurassic Park. By confining the dinosaurs to a self-contained setting, the series can maintain the thrilling atmosphere of the first film and avoid the absurdity of dinosaurs roaming freely in civilization. Additionally, the franchise has missed opportunities to explore the concept of human-dinosaur cohabitation. While the potential for this storyline is intriguing, it may be too late for Jurassic World 4 to fully capitalize on it.