Since I was six years of age, I’ve been an avid lover of prehistoric creatures such as dinosaurs and other marine reptiles. I began watching the Jurassic Park movies at six years old and from there I showed my unwavering appreciation for the ancient creatures. When the Jurassic World movies came out, I was utterly overjoyed, rain or shine. I made my way to theaters on the opening day of every film to see my childhood obsession come to life in front of my eyes. This movie, like the rest, had me equally excited even at the age of 17.
Taking place in 2027, 5 years after the last Jurassic World movie in the franchise following Claire Dearing and Owen Grady and 34 years after Jurassic Park 1993, a team of ex-military corps members and a researcher pursue dinosaurs for the sake of wealth. Our main character, Zora Bennett, is played by the one and only Scarlett Johansson while her ex-marine co-star is played by Mahershala Ali as Duncan Kincaid. The actor picked up by the two is a well-known actor from Bridgerton, Wicked, Fellow Travelers, and more: Jonathan Bailey as Dr. Henry Loomis.
Cinematically, this film was beautiful. The lighting, scenes, and angles portrayed the island, named “Site C” in the film, as the tropical paradise it truly was, despite its impending doom. The film featured many well-known prehistoric creatures such as Spinosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptors, Mosasaurus, and even the Quetzalcoatlus the – the largest pterosaur to ever fly the terrains of Texas, Wyoming and New Jersey in the USA, Alberta in Canada, Senegal and Jordan.
Now, accurately wise the movie was lackluster at best. I’ve done extensive research for the years I’ve spent loving dinosaurs and therefore I held high standards for a movie straying from the original plots of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. Quetzalcoatlus, the largest flying creature to fly to the earth, was going to be portrayed as such, with its wingspan comparable to a small airplane.
That expectation was quickly squashed when its size was grossly underestimated in the film. The famous Spinosaurus from the Jurassic Park Lost World was once again included in the movie as an integral part of the franchise – marine hunters. Spinosaurus were assumed to have been capable of marine inhabitation, and this movie leaned on it more than historically listed. They ate fish, but their size remained land motivated. They were an estimated length of 12.6 to 18 meters (41 to 59 feet) and a weight of 7 to 10 tons – rivaling the T-Rex.
I need to play devil’s advocate, though, because my dinosaur driven knowledge doesn’t completely apply to the standards of Jurassic Park. In the original book there was a statement made about the “amusement park” that was the original park in 1993 – it wasn’t made to be accurate; it was made to be visually appealing and money bringing to the park’s creator, John Hammond.
This film was cinematically beautiful, and despite my reserves about its accuracy, I cannot deny I enjoyed the movie’s entirety because of its value alone. As most movies from the Jurassic franchise do, there was the incorporation of mutated and defective dinosaurs lingering within the faulty parks. As spotted in the trailer of Jurassic World: Rebirth, there was a disgustingly mutated dinosaur named the “D-Rex” that had a monstrous form that roughly resembled the form of a Tyrannosaurus.
Overall, I appreciated the film, but I wouldn’t watch it if you were aiming to see its accuracy– only if you searched for its cinematography. Jurassic Park and Jurassic World viewers may disagree to watch it because of its portrayals, but the creatures in the films are made to be more appealing for both viewers and for the plot – so don’t let that cloud your judgement of the cinematography too much.
