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Reviews
Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (2024)
Season 1 Review: From a Camp Cretaceous Fan
Season 1 of Jurassic World: Chaos Theory is hard to review personally, because I loved the original series, Camp Cretaceous. This is despite the fact that I am not a fan of the Jurassic World trilogy, particularly the last 2 entries. The characters introduced in Camp Cretaceous have become some of my favorites, not just in the Jurassic Park franchise, but in film/TV shows on the whole. It's no secret that there's been a decline in writing quality in Hollywood over the past decade or so, but Camp Cretaceous' character writing felt like a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of what's come out in the big-budgeted franchises and series (i.e. Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Game of Thrones, etc.).
So how did they do with said characters? The first 9 episodes to me were better than I could've expected. Darius dealing with the loss of one of his closest friends, withdrawing from his family. Ben is a blend of his previously anxious self and his more assured confidence he gained during his time on the islands. Kenji was similarly withdrawn, and the emotional impact of his relationships with Brooklynn, Darius, and his father in particular, were really felt throughout the show. Sammy was a more evolved version of herself, where we saw more insight into why she keeps her bubbly persona. Last but certainly not least, Yaz had her prior trauma and PTSD explored further while keeping her a strong-minded character, which is something I praised the previous show for immensely.
The animation has taken a step up, as expected with time, and some of the dinosaur scenes were genuinely terrifying, something the latter two seasons (as much as I still appreciate them) were certainly lacking. The overall production quality as well had a more cinematic feel than CC, with shifting aspect ratios to indicate flashbacks, more intense musical scores, and higher detail on the dinosaurs all being improvements from the predecessor.
So what are my criticisms? Well first, the finale felt a little weak. I understand it's a show meant for kids that features dinosaurs, however the previous 9 episodes did a great job of balancing fun dino action with complex character moments. The finale simply did not, and it felt more like watching the ending of a Jurassic World or Kong V Godzilla movie than the Camp Cretaceous follow up. There will be more seasons to go through the characters, of course, but I hope the writers understand what makes these shows stand out. These two series have higher ratings on this site than any Jurassic Park sequel movie for a good reason, not just that they have dinosaurs.
Additionally, I didn't love the reveal that Brooklynn was alive the whole time. Again, I understand it was unlikely they were going to kill off a main character in this series, but there appeared to be little evidence throughout the runtime that she was actually alive. Perhaps if Ben had mentioned he had someone on Dark Jurassic mention to him they were being hunted, that could have been a clue that she was alive and trying to help her friends. I'll give the writers the benefit of the doubt because they've continued to impress me ever since season 1 of CC, but we shall see.
Overall can't complain much, especially after the trainwrecks that were Fallen Kingdom and Dominion. I'm curious to see where they go with these characters and how they'll tie Brooklynn back into the main story.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
George Lucas Didn't Want This
I know George Lucas made $4B off of selling this franchise but it has to pain him in some way to see characters he built for decades get treated as nothing more than props for Disney's machine. The 3rd episode is an absolute farce and defecates on everything Lucas built in his original 6 movies as well as The Clone Wars animated series. Absolutely disgusting. I won't say "true" Star Wars fans can't enjoy this because the fandom is so vast that who even knows what being a "true" fan means anymore? All I will say is if you love the characters of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader for more than just the fact they have cool lightsabers and use the force in various ways you will find this series incredibly frustrating and frankly insulting.
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous: Rude Awakening (2021)
How to challenge your characters
I wish other writers in blockbuster franchises (i.e. Marvel, Star Wars, DC, even within Jurassic World) would take notes from a lot of aspects of Camp Cretaceous, mostly concerning the characters and their developments. If there was one I had to emphasize though it would be the way they continually push the envelope on how deep they can go with each character. Yaz's PTSD arc is the best example of this, as it's subtly introduced the episode before this and works well with what we've already known about her character. She's an extremely competitive introvert that doesn't like to show vulnerability, even to those she's closest to, such as Sammy. The fact that she has a nightmare including the Scorpius Rex and hallucinates a mosasaurus attack is consistent because she's the only one of the campers that took on those two animals by herself. Overall this episode is a great example of how to expand on a character in a natural way, rather than simply teasing that there may be a "darker" side to them, the writers and director showed Yaz's trauma without holding back.
Jurassic City (2015)
This definitely qualifies for "So bad it's good"
If you like shlock or just dinosaurs eating people with awful effects, then please watch this movie it is incredible.