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Is There Any Chance Jurassic World 3 Is Actually Good?
Jurassic World 3 has the potential to close out the franchise by delivering a powerful conclusion to the trilogy... but will it actually be any good?
When the first Jurassic World took audiences back to Isla Nublar in 2015, director Colin Trevorrow did a reasonable job of capturing the magic once more. Certainly, audiences thought so; Jurassic World grossed over $1.6 billion at the box office. The movie had its weak spots, for sure, but overall it worked - and worked a lot better than sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. J.A. Bayona's movie (again written by Trevorrow) was clunky, with numerous plot holes, and a lacking narrative direction. It's becoming clear Jurassic World is a trilogy that needs to improve vastly for its final installment.
As it stands, it's likely Jurassic World 3 will follow a similar pattern to the previous movies - box office success that belies the reviews - although fatigue for the franchise is beginning to show; Fallen Kingdom fared very well internationally, but domestically it was a different story, suffering a steep drop in takings in its second weekend, and this can be attributed to a number of issues with the movie itself. Quality may, once again, need to find a way.
THE PROBLEMS WITH JURASSIC WORLD SO FAR
Jurassic World took us back to the world of Steven Spielberg's creation, realizing the promise of the open theme park. Of course, in keeping with the themes first brought up by Jurassic Park, the age-old question of whether humans could ever really control the dinosaurs was at the forefront of the movie and the answer was a resolute no. The problem was, this had been all been covered before; while the movie was an entertaining homage to the Jurassic Park franchise, it failed to bring anything new to the table other than hybrid dinosaurs.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom got off to a slow start, but did introduce a big twist by its ending: the notion of dinosaurs living among us, and the ensuing threat to human civilization. However, whether writer Trevorrow or director Bayona realized it or not, the mechanics of the reveal meant it didn't make all that much sense. At most, around 50 dinosaurs, from 11 or so species, were set free, and they all have trackers implanted. It's implausible to think that the U.S. Army could not be drafted in to control the situation.
But, however silly it is, Jurassic World 3 is being set up as the humans versus the dinosaurs; a concept that has the potential to work really well, yet so far has yet to be given any real substance. There's no doubt that the dinosaurs are spectacular, with refined designs and top-level CGI, but both movies have been waylaid by weak scripts and characters who lack any real depth. The upshot of this? The audience cares far more about the death of a brachiosaurus than they do about the story at hand.
COLIN TREVORROW ISN'T THE RIGHT PERSON TO LEAD JURASSIC WORLD 3
What compounds the problems so far for Jurassic World 3 is the choice of director. Colin Trevorrow is the primary creator of the new trilogy, writing and directing Jurassic World and providing the screenplay for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and is back behind the camera of the sequel. From the two movies so far, it's clear Trevorrow has an unconventional approach to his storytelling (something echoed by The Book of Henry), and reports on his last-minute rewrites of Jurassic World as well attitude before being removed from Star Wars Episode IX have created the picture of him being difficult to work with. Given where things are at now, he's not the optimum choice the continue the story.
Trevorrow has always envisioned Jurassic World as a three movie franchise, and that's evident in Fallen Kingdom, which is a victim of the dreaded "saggy middle" syndrome. Jurassic World 3 has been set up as Trevorrow wanted it, but there are doubtless many other directors and writers out there who could inject some much-needed energy and excitement into the flagging franchise.
WHAT COULD MAKE JURASSIC WORLD 3 GOOD
JURASSIC WORLD 3 HAS A NEW IDEA
Jurassic Park had a smart idea; genetic engineering brings dinosaurs back to life for the benefit of the general public. It's essentially the world's biggest and most interesting zoo. But the problem with subsequent movies has always been the same; the writers must come up with new reasons for audiences to want to revisit the island. Jurassic World took us back because the park was now fully operational and open, but they really had nowhere to go other than to make everything go wrong again. Fallen Kingdom took us back again... and everything was already going wrong. Thankfully, Trevorrow has realized that no one wants to go back for a third time, and so he's come up with a new idea; what happens if the dinosaurs live among us?
Sure, the entrance to the premise was poorly executed, but Dr. Malcolm's ominous warning of "Welcome to Jurassic World", hails a change of direction for the franchise and one which has the potential for new, exciting storylines and the mother of all moral quandaries: will the humans make the dinosaurs extinct again in order to save humanity, or will nature take its course? It sets up a different kind of movie than we've had from either trilogy in the Jurassic franchise.
Will we see dinosaurs being used as weapons of war? Will we see T-Rex roaming the streets as small-town citizens try to protect their children? Will we see Owen, Claire, Dr. Malcolm, and others, coming together to work for the destruction of dinosaurs, or will Claire still insist on trying to save a species that can never be controlled? Most importantly, how will it all end? There's a lot of mileage in how the movie's been set up, so let's hope Trevorrow makes the most of it.
JURASSIC WORLD 3 ISN'T SETTING ANYTHING UP
Another potential advantage point for Jurassic World 3 is that it's the final installment of this story, and so hasn't got to set anything else up. Both Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom suffered from needing to lay the foundation of the next movie, especially the second. With Jurassic World 3, though, he can deliver a strong and satisfying ending, whether he chooses to end the dinosaurs completely or have them take over.
Trevorrow would be wise to make Jurassic World 3 the perfect goodbye, not necessarily ending the series forever (because that's not how modern moviemaking works) but certainly rounding off this era of it. Finality is hard to get right, but it negates many of the pitfalls that have hampered Jurassic World so far.
If Jurassic World was an adventure movie, then Fallen Kingdom was a thriller. The ultimate question comes down to where Trevorrow will take Jurassic World 3. The answer, hopefully, would be to try and incorporate both genres and deliver the perfect dose of action and adventure combined with plenty of thrills to keep us all on the edge of our seats; essentially, focus more on making a great movie and less on fitting into some larger franchise plan.
Jurassic World 3 (2021) release date: Jun 11, 2021
