Why The Jurassic Park Sequels Were Worse

Why were the Jurassic Park sequels never as good as the first one? In this video essay, I breakdown why they never lived up to the hype.

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A massive thank you to my $10+ patrons:
Henrik Haugberg
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[OG]
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Written, narrated & produced by Henry Boseley
Edited by Brandon Reardin

Stock footage provided by Getty

[Rodrigo_Vega]

I don't think Grant "learning to care more about kids" Is a minor arc. He's introduced scaring a kid. Ellie is introduced _wanting_ a kid.
He's bad with technology and computers, by the end he is saved by a kid who is good with them. The sciency plotpoints turn around "the creation of life" and the animals now being able to reproduce. They are shown a cloning birds and the bees video and toured through a nursery basically, and it's wonderful but _scary_ .
It's subtle, but it's not minor. The high concept is the most obvious "Can science go to far?" Man vs Nature and all that. The human/character arc is really all about family, like... literally having-kids family. Both concepts are adressed by the question: "Can we be responable for the life we create?" and that's why both themes work so well. Remove the human concept, the heart of the movie, the Spielberg touch and this would have been a serviceable sci-fi movie instead of a cultural milestone.

[muffinman]

I still hate the wasted potential of dominion. It could've been unique with a story revolving around dinosaurs living in the modern world and its consequences but instead it focused on some random non-dinosaur animals and we travel to another isolated island that houses dinosaurs.

[krimzonx]

I used to mindlessly follow the series because I enjoyed only the cool dinosaurs.
7 years later, I still enjoy only the cool dinosaurs.

[josephreber]

I think "The Lost World" is actually really good from a story perspective, and deserves more credit than it gets. It was intentionally going for more darkness to showcase another level of the "Jurassic Park" lore and themes. It graduated from 'Holy shit! There are dinosaurs alive! And they're so beautiful and awesome!' to 'AHH! THEY'RE EATING THAT GUY'S FACE OFF!!!' -- both of which happened in the same movie --, and then stepping off into the sequel with this point: 'Alright. Dinosaurs are alive again, and sequestered on these remote islands. But now people are getting ideas to bring them to mainland continents. Is that a good idea?'

And for the most part, I think "The Lost World" got it done well, showing us that when the same kinds of motives are acted on as occurred in "Jurassic Park", then the biggest losers are the innocent human beings who just wanted to see dinosaurs alive for the first time -- and also the human beings whose hubris led them into the jaws of hungry and pissed-off Tyrannosaurs.

[lucifer_fire]

When it comes to making a sequel to jurrasic park, the studio execs were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should

[milward]

In fairness, they were doomed to be worse than the original, since the original is so gosh dang perfect and is very hard to beat

[spesago]

I would say another large problem is the ADHD style of movies recently, there cant be a slow paced scene to give the characters a chance to interact and explore a scene, it has to be jump cut, jump cut, jump cut, action sequence, clever quip, jump cut, twist reveal, repeat in new setting.

The problem is slow scenes requires talented actors, good writing, and a skilled director with a clear vision and the gravitas to be able to fight against the editing room / studio's attempts to give the film "broader appeal"

[MimMdance]

I was a kid in 1997 and The Lost World was definitely enjoyable, iconic, and captured my imagination as well. It was more straight forward than the first but kept a similar tone of tension, something all the rest after it lacked. And it definitely didn't do "the same thing".

Don't know why people say we didn't like it. I can't think of a kid not liking that movie. I still do. It's pretty good.

[Mowingthefrontlawn]

Malcolm’s arc in The Lost World was actually cut down in the film from the script. It was about him connecting with his daughter who also pushed him to commit to his relationship with Sarah.

The T. Rexes’ role in the story mirrors Malcolm’s. He goes to the island to get Sarah back. The T. Rexes go to the trailers to get their kid back. The parental instincts that threaten Malcolm halfway through the film in the trailer scene later become a solution when Malcolm and Sarah use the baby Rex to get the parent back on the boat. Why doesn’t Malcolm just let animal control shoot and kill the Rex? Because Malcolm has new priorities: his goal isn’t just to get the Rex out of the city, it’s to reunite that family unit. And the movie ends with Malcolm’s family and the Rex family together in their homes.

Grant also has an arc in JP3. It’s about him getting over his trauma. It’s pretty explicit in the “Billy was right” scene. An earlier ending actually had Grant staying on the island to drive that point home, although that really didn’t make sense so I’m glad they changed it.

[ricardobjj]

The thing I hated the most about the Jurassic World movies were the fake hybrid dinosaurs they were making like just stick to the real ones

[mesogot]

30 years later, and I can still hear the Tyrannosaurus roar and feel that chill I got the first time I saw/heard it as a child.

[SuicV]

I actually think the premisse of the setting for dominion had great potencial: what would the world be like if we had to live alongside dinosaurs? Unfortunately, they barely even try to make the movie about that, and go to yet another park/research facility thing instead

[jarelllevingston]

It’s not that it doomed the sequels, it doomed the entire dinosaur movie genre.

[TheMilkMannnn]

I think the allure of the FIRST Jurassic World for me was we finally got to see the park functioning and open to the people….albeit not for very long. The other two not so much ^ but it was a cool additional to the franchise to see Hammond’s dream briefly come true

[lonellfletcher]

The Lost World doesn't deserve the crap it gets. Miles better than the other sequels and a worthy follow up to the first.

[Soleil.m]

Every upload from this channel feels like a gift. This was another good one even though I enjoy JP2 & 3 a lot.

[Sinsystems]

Personally I think a good idea for at least a theme for a sequel is exploring two main concepts. The first is the idea of invasive species and what they do to local ecologies or maybe explore the moral question of possibly killing the dinosaurs and the fact that they are living creatures that you brought into the world and are now planning on murdering.

[PBRatLord]

This is why I really liked the pacing of Michael Chriton's original novels. The movies will ALWAYS have a super special place in my heart and should be talked about for their cinematic achievements, but the books tell the story of Jurrassic Park so much better IMO.
I still remember reading the Raptor sequence for the first time under the blankets with my little clip-on reading light and being absolutely terrified.

[RaptorStudios]

I don’t think the Lost World is given enough credit. The goal of the movie was not to recapture the wonder of dinosaurs, which you can see because there are near no scenes for that. It goes right to the action once they arrive on the island. In fact, it’s an ethical debate before it’s an action movie. The point of the Lost World was to be able to focus on character development and the man vs. nature issue because we have already seen dinosaurs, we know how they are made, how amazing they are, and what they can do. Malcolm and his team are going to Site B to do research on the dinosaurs and see them living in their “natural” environment without any man-made barriers. The action starts when Ludlow’s InGen mercenary team arrives to capture dinosaurs, which then raises more ethical debates. Ludlow says “Extinct animals have no rights. We made it, we patented it, we own it”, which is something to really think about now that the audience and characters already understand how the dinosaurs were created. You mentioned the themes of capitalism and greed, which I admit are loose, but that’s because there are many themes once you really look into it. Animal rights, as I mentioned, are a big one. Roland Tembo has the arc of wanting one last hunt, and wanting to hunt a T. Rex, but realizing that it’s not worth it after his friend and partner Ajay is killed. I think the most important theme though is parenting. Malcolm’s arc is that he becomes closer to his daughter. A father-daughter relationship is not common in movies, so it is refreshing to see that dynamic. The way this theme is shown is through the dinosaurs, which is how they are truly involved in the theme. Watching the stegosaurs and tyrannosaurs protect their children from threats, as Malcolm is doing the same with Kelly. The San Diego scene revolves around the buck T. Rex trying to find its infant. Malcolm’s goal is also to simply protect the people he loves, which are his girlfriend and daughter, who happen to be in one of the most danger places. I believe that this was such a prominent theme because Spielberg’s kids were growing up around the time the film was made. I say this because it is not a theme in Micheal Crichton’s Lost World novel. Kelly is not even Malcolm’s daughter, and there is no San Diego scene. The film was what made it into a story about parenting. I think it’s the only Jurassic movie that was confident enough to do something different.

[spoonbendingspacemonkey]

Fun Fact. Tanya Harding used the main theme from Jurassic Park in her Olympic performance.