It’s been a whole ten years since Jurassic World stomped into cinemas and we journeyed back to Isla Nublar to see dinosaurs walk the earth again. After a fourteen-year hiatus, it kick-started a franchise that seemed dead in the water after Jurassic Park III achieved such low box-office figures. Not only did it smash box-office records, but it also offered the franchise a solid foundation to do something totally different from what came before; however, we all know how wrong that all went.

“The Park is open”, read the tagline for this hotly anticipated continuation of the iconic franchise. After several people died in the Jurassic Park incident, there’s no way on Earth this would ever get greenlit. But this is the movies, and with the help of infinite money at their disposal in the park, and some visual effects wizardry, that is very much the case. The thing is, though, dinosaurs aren’t enough now as visitors deem the standard attractions to not be enough (mental!), instead wanting new thrills to make the trip worthwhile. Remember when Alan Grant fell to his knees in shock when John Hammond uttered the words “We have a T-Rex”? Well, those days of awe are long gone. In a world where Hammond “Spared no expense” in bringing his creation to life, it has now become obsolete, and his successors look to do the same in bringing to life a terrifying new creation to provide visitors something they’ve never experienced. The corporate greed, as well as the human race’s need to be constantly impressed, soon leads to yet another disaster of epic proportions.

The Indominus Rex is the new creation and, after being compiled of the DNA of far too many species to keep track of, it goes on the rampage. It can camouflage, it can communicate with Raptors that were sent to kill it, and it damn near kills anything in its path. As Ian Malcolm says in The Lost World, “You’re making all new ones”, to Hammond claiming he’s not making the same mistakes, the new beast becomes one of the best antagonists in the franchise, which was sure to give the younger generations nightmares. The theme of not learning from mistakes is felt throughout the entire film, nearly every choice made in the park leading to disaster in some shape or form. It’s something that can also be felt through the rest of the franchise from this point because they really did drop the ball with the trilogy conclusion, Dominion.

Fallen Kingdom did a good job in getting the dinosaurs off the island but it’s Dominion that had the easiest job in the world yet crapped the bed so catastrophically. Dinosaurs loose on the mainland and interacting with humans is going to print you money, which it did by making over a billion dollars, but the legacy of this new trilogy is tarnished by the choice not to really feature this idea, instead choosing to focus on a plot involving locusts. Yes, it made money, but the way Jurassic World: Rebirth was fast-tracked into production soon after just goes to show Universal knew they messed up. Whether it launches a new trilogy is yet to be seen, but the team behind it all has many anticipating it greatly.

Back to Jurassic World, though, it’s a film that drives home the nostalgia factor to the max to make people pine for the perfect original film. 2015 was definitely a year for it, with The Force Awakens doing exactly the same thing for Star Wars. The iconic T-Rex and Velociraptors return for the fun, with the latter feeling like they’ve been neutered in an idea that centres around controlling them for military use. After how terrifying they were in the original, the idea to control a Raptor is insane, yet executed at least competently in this film. The sequence of Chris Pratt riding a motorcycle alongside a pack of Raptors into battle is undeniably cool; however, by the end of Dominion, everyone had grown sick of the raised hand gesture to keep a Raptor at bay. Suspension of disbelief is key, but this became one of the biggest jokes in recent blockbuster history. We do get to see the Raptors be the vicious creatures we know them for, but it’s too little, too late, unfortunately.

It’s a film that, when not focusing on the corporate side of things, knows how to have fun. The final act includes some of the most bombastic action the franchise has ever seen, as Blue the Raptor joins forces with the T-Rex to take down the Indominus Rex, with an assist from the Mosasaurus. It’s as ludicrous as it sounds, like something out of the Universal Studios resort ride, with the drop into water the only thing missing. There’s no real ideas about the morality of bringing the dinosaurs to life that the first film handled so well, the Park wasn’t open yet so needed testing whereas the Park now being open means the audience are practically treated like visitors themselves – a formula that clearly worked as people flocked to the cinemas to the tune of $1.6b worldwide.

Nothing says the legacy of this trilogy opener has diminished as much as the fact that Rebirth sees all the dinosaurs that were once spread around the world now bunched up in a new set of islands for people to visit at their own risk. Once again, botching the setup of dinosaurs spread across the world amongst humans is quite a staggering achievement, yet life found a way after such a promising start by Jurassic World. It’s another example of a franchise that will never top the original film, no matter how many new dinosaurs they throw into the mix. Jurassic Park led with the less-is-more philosophy of filmmaking, so maybe it’s time to take it back to what made the original such an iconic summer blockbuster.

Jurassic World: Rebirth is in cinemas on July 2nd. 

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