I’ll admit I was surprised with the mediocre reaction to the first trailer for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. I was stoked then, and i’m stoked now with the release of a second trailer during the Superbowl. I think I’ve watched it about two hundred times now, so lets break it down, right?
We start with a music-box version of the theme, and a suspenseful cinematography that lends itself immediately to a much darker version of storytelling then the first film. We see a nostalgic call back to the toe-tapping of raptors from the first film in this new threat, and then scaled hand-like claw reaches across a young, terrified girl’s bed, teeth shown in a terrifying sequence that has been speculated to be a dream sequence- yet that seems unrealistic, considering the infamy of the Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) talking raptor scene.
From here we’re given a much lighter hearted scene of Owen (Chris Pratt) , playing with what appears to be an infant Blue, or perhaps offspring of Blue- life finds a way, right?- with Claire’s (Bryce Dallas Howard) narrative asking, “Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur? You don’t really believe it. It’s like a miracle.” As we are shown images of an active volcano, analytic assistant Franklin (Justice Smith) and a nostalgic dose of a brontosaurus stomping through the remains of the former theme park, with Claire & (a well funded looking) company in the foreground.
Then we’re returned to the dark story telling we’re lunging into for the film. Claire and Franklin hide in a dilapidated facility while ominous footsteps sound from a tunnel. While they argue over whether or not it’s the T-rex, no one seems to think it’s a good idea to be silent. Instead, a theropod (possibly a an Indoraptor?) comes out of the tunnel, into the same room (which is now on fire) scaring the daylights out of Claire and Franklin and causing a very memorable scream. This scene (or splice of scenes) seems to indicate two different moments in the film.
We’re then given more fuel for our dino-bonding feels with Owen reconciling with a Blue who’s been in the wild, telling Blue, “Come with me, you can’t stay here.”(Everyone say aw!)
From here we are treated to a stampede of dinos, and Claire and Franklin’s gyroscope into the ocean scene in an attempt to presumably escape the same volcanic activity that appeared to devastate the facility Claire and Franklin where just in.
We’re finally introduced to our corporate schmuck villain Eli Mills (Rafe Spalls) as we hear him say, “Jurassic World, the island…all of that is in the past.” as we watch Owen sooth Blue, who is being stitched up (what hurt blue?) by Zia Rodriguez (Danielle Pineda) and the impressive cinematography of the t-rex shot from the first trailer. We are treated to running, explosions, and a moment between Owen and Franklin where he asks if he’s dead. We see Claire driving like a mad woman, and Own doing a bad ass jump through the jaws of a roaring t-rex Indiana Dinosaur-handler style!
After a cut to black we are given another Villain’s voice over saying “I want to show you the future” as we are gifted with a silhouette of fierce looking teeth. We see suspected corporate head simply known as Wheaton( Toby Jones ) at the podium with Eli Mills by his side, a screen with the world “Indoraptor” behind him, and then a reveal to a crowded room, though we are unable to see what kind of animal this Indoraptor seems to be we can certainly tell the audience is surprised. “What is that thing?” Claire asks, as if she hasn’t done the same thing just years ago, and the girl from the terrifying bedroom moment says, “They made it.” Owen is then shown in a room facing off with the creature; a dinosaur so terrible even seasoned professional Owen takes a step back.
“Blue!” Owen shouts, and on command our dinosaur hero comes charging in to defend the same little girl and Owen, attacking the creature. Claire is shown with a sniper rifle, and then a t-rex (or is it the lab-made dinosaur?) is shown roaring defiance at a police helicopter. (Perhaps the evacuation/saving of dinosaurs didn’t go so well.) There is another succession of images, with dinosaurs seeming to escape an evacuation center, an enormous maw, a little girl terrified in the rain, and the lab-made dino’s open mouth about to snap down on it’s assumed keeper before a man is carried away by a pteranodon.
Owen, Claire and little girl are then held at gunpoint by a baddie, though a dinosaur takes him out before he can radio for backup, and the end of the trailer.
There are a number of questions here. First and Foremost, where will Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) be in this film, let alone Dr. Wu(BD Wong)? How much of a role will they play? Who has a child’s room close enough to a lab that the lab created monster could terrify the girl? Why is Blue running around this same facility? Who is the little girl, how did she end up here, and what does she have to do with the story?
I believe the plot will be very much an Eco-Warriors Vs The Man type plot with lots of true-to-life political reflections. I think it’s a bold movie premise, and i’m excited to see what it will ultimately look like.
What do you think about the trailer?
All of these questions and more will be answered when Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is set to be released June 22nd, 2018.
