Colin Trevorrow On Rebooting The Jurassic Franchise: 'Best Of Luck'
"Jurassic World Dominion" is hitting theaters this coming weekend, and it's the end of the second "Jurassic Park" trilogy. There could certainly be more films in the future, but whether or not it would be better to reboot the franchise or continue the story is up for debate. Giving away no spoilers, there could certainly be a continuation of what we see in "Jurassic World Dominion," but a reboot? To be fair, I'm not a huge fan of reboots, particularly with something that's been out since I've been going to the movies. In this case, it seems ridiculous to reboot something that is still very much in the public consciousness. We still quote the very first film, and many people have been rewatching the first trilogy with each new "Jurassic World" film that comes out.
"Jurassic World Dominion" director Colin Trevorrow doesn't seem to think it's a good idea either, according to an interview with Collider. I can't imagine anyone would. It would be like rebooting the "Harry Potter" films right now. (There are other reasons for not doing that, but I won't go into that here.) It's far too soon for the originals to have faded enough from everyone's memories to start it all up again.
No reboots, I'm begging you
In the Collider interview, Trevorrow was asked about whether or not the franchise should continue with its forward motion or be rebooted. He said:
"This is just my own personal opinion. One of the challenges of this franchise is that to reboot it, you have to remake 'Jurassic Park'. And I weep for whoever takes that on, because that is one of the greatest movies ever made. And so I think in a lot of ways, our only choice is to move forward and to expand. Because going back there and redoing Spielberg and Crichton, best of luck."
Look, you are not going to be able to capture the wonder of that story in the same way again. One of the things that made "Jurassic Park" so spectacular was the impact of the groundbreaking effects. The shock of seeing dinosaurs in that way was all part of the charm. We can do so much more with effects now, and that can be a dangerous thing when trying to recapture the appeal of a story like this. It's just too tempting to put in every little effect that you can. Part of the draw of Spielberg back then was the simplicity of what he did. He grabbed your heartstrings and yanked. The effects were stunning, but they were also kept simple.
I'm not trying to encourage hate mail here, but there is a reason the first trilogy of "Star Wars" films is still often held up as better than the prequels. (I'm ducking, so you can't hit me with those rotten vegetables.) The prequels shoved so many effects in because they could. It went beyond enhancing the story and just overstuffed it.
Hollywood, I beg you not to reboot "Jurassic Park." Just don't. Make more if you wish, but don't mess with something so beautiful.