Jurassic World (Film): Critique 3/3

This one looks at the negatives before finishing with a positive conclusion.

 

*****SPOILERS*****

 

Indominus-rex Problems

 

The I-rex clawed out her beacon (something akin to a dog chip with a tracker). This opened a whole can of worms for me. It’s the only problem that sort of ruins the film.

She remembered it being put in. She clawed it out because didn’t want foreign object inside her (most likely). Yet the timing and circumstances makes it look like she clawed it out specifically to lure the guards into a trap.

But there is no way she could know what the beacon was for: she couldn’t know it leads people to her location so she definitely couldn’t have used it as a trap.* Meaning those guards wouldn’t have died in that way. Meaning the plot would have a substantially different feel to it.

*(If she’d been in a large location and people always ended up finding her, then maybe then she could have made the association between tracker and people. But her enclosure was tiny. Plus, the tracker was put in when she was a baby, when she was always surrounded by people, so tracker-leads-people-to-me couldn’t ever be a thought she’d develop. So no, the I-rex simply couldn’t have used the tracker as a trap.)

 

The I-rex can detect heat radiation. How then did it not notice Owen was under the car when it first escaped?

Owen just ran, plus he’s under a stressful situation: both of these produce heat. So the I-rex should have noticed Owen under a stationary car.

However, cars do produce a lot of heat. So maybe its heat covered Owen’s heat signature? If this were the case, the car would be radiating so much heat that Owen would’ve burned, being as close as he was. The only option is that Owen and the cooling-down car were the same heat signature for the car’s heat to hide his heat. Statistically, that’s unlikely.

Furthermore, the I-rex crouched low to the ground right next to the car and Owen. From that perspective, it would have detected Owen via heat radiation no matter the car’s temperature.

So, the I-rex not detecting Owen’s heat under the car doesn’t seem feasible. The I-rex is portrayed as this superior being with major talents, so having anything early on to negate that image harms the filmmakers’ intentions.

 

 

Claire Problems

 

Claire’s clothing had a continuity error. It’s a minor issue in levels of damage but a major issue in terms of noticeability.

Hiding behind the old car in the old garage, Claire has grime on her chest and her once-pristine clothes are dirtied to grey. But when she runs to the aviary, her chest is clean and her clothes are white.

I doubt there was anything around to wipe the grime off (being in a forest and dirty abandoned building, and all). The only other option was her hand, yet that would have left a smear on her chest. Hence her grimeless chest doesn’t make sense.

One could argue her clothes appeared grey in the garage because it was dark. However, dirt is just as much a texture thing as a colour thing. The texture of the shirt definitely changed: leaving the darkness of the garage wouldn’t have accounted for this.

 

Basically, the film tries to make out like Claire is cold and heartless towards the dinosaurs.

Claire calls the dinosaurs ‘assets’ and ‘attractions’. Wondering where the I-rex’s sibling was, Claire said, “She ate it” with a straight face, no trace of emotion. When Masrani asks Claire about the dinosaur’s emotions, Claire struggles to answer. All the time, people remind Claire that dinosaurs are living, breathing creatures.

However, none of the above-mentioned behaviour actually makes Claire cold and heartless. So why the characters think of her that way feels off to me.

Her job is around the finances of the park. She’s literally doing her job so that all these people complaining at her can also have a job. Many people who work with animals keep some sort of emotional distance between themselves and their animals for their own emotional wellbeing. For Claire to do that doesn’t make her heartless.

She’s in charge so of course she doesn’t break down or show emotion when she reveals the I-rex’s sibling was eaten. That’s responsible and professional behaviour. Plus, we see her concern when the sauropods are sliced up (searching for the boys isn’t part of her job description; keeping emotional distance from dinos isn’t the same as emotional distance from nephews).

 

Further, there were three little issues relating to Claire.

The biggest of these small problems came at the end. When the t-rex steps forward, there’s two angles. In both, the audience can see the space behind the foot. In one, there’s nothing there and in another Claire’s there. This is a basic continuity error.

Turns out Claire hasn’t visited the boys in seven years. As Grey is younger than Zach, Grey would’ve changed the most in those seven years. So for Claire to make a deal about how different Zach looks but not Grey does seem odd.

Claire’s hair is made wavy to appear dishevelled. However, it looked like it was styled at a high-end salon. (Obviously it was, considering it’s a Hollywood film. But this is obviously the opposite of what was intended.)

 

 

Other Problems

 

Several problems didn’t impact the plot but they were still noticeable.

The I-rex flips an ankylosaurus upside down, bites its head then twists its neck. Yes, the underside of the ankylosaurus neck isn’t armoured, but the sides are. Not only would this extra stiffness have prevented that twisted motion, but this armour was where the I-rex’s teeth landed, blocking any purchase. So this ankylosaurus kill was poor.

Zach and Grey’s parents having a divorce doesn’t really add anything to the plot. Yes, Grey being sad on the monorail is necessary for the plot. But wishing his parents were here with him, or feeling sad because Claire was avoiding him, would have been more relevant reasons for Grey’s sadness.

The pterosaurs in this film can swim. Yet in Jurassic Park 3, they couldn’t.

When Claire’s assistant is screaming, it sounds exactly the same underwater as it does above. There should at least be some gurgling.

 

The triceratops babies had horns.

Horned animals are usually born/hatched with stubs rather than fully-grown horns. I suppose the geneticists could have modified their genes to make their horns grow earlier/faster.

But when children are climbing/riding the baby dinosaurs, having something as dangerous as horns around kids isn’t a smart move. Masrani definitely has enough money to have the best lawyers: they would have panicked at these horns because danger equals accidents equals lawsuits.

 

 

 

This film was a great way to revitalise the Jurassic Park franchise. The animation, humour, plot and intelligence all came together to produce something rather spectacular.