STACK #167 Sept 2018

DVD & BD FEATURE

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The dino-sized franchise continues to evolve in JurassicWorld: Fallen Kingdom .To paraphrase Dr. Alan Grant, you won’t have the slightest idea what to expect… Words Adam Colby

F ollowing the calamitous events of Jurassic World , what does the future hold for raptor trainer Owen (Chris Pratt), operations manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), and the menagerie of dinosaurs now roaming free across the island of Isla Nublar? Jurassic World writers Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly pondered this very question during a road trip from LA to Vermont and decided to “just get weird with what the future could be.” ‘Weird’ certainly sums up the direction taken in sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom , but more on that later. The pair wanted to delve deeper into the paradox of the dinosaurs existing in a time millions of years after their reign – a point briefly raised by Laura Dern’s character in the original Jurassic Park (1993). “I thought there was a way we could tell a story that would identify the human angle,” says Trevorrow. “How would you feel if you were brought back into a world that you didn’t belong to, just for the satisfaction of others? That was a realm we hadn’t gone to before, and it was

something we knew these movies would benefit from.” With Jurassic World no longer viable and a natural disaster threatening to destroy the island and the dinosaurs, Trevorrow saw an opportunity to explore the consequences of that destruction. “Fortunately, there were a lot of clues we planted in the first movie: in the film itself, on maps and on the website – in places people wouldn’t think to look for hints about the next two movies – there’s information embedded in all of them,” he offers. “At the start of Fallen Kingdom you will feel very comfortable; you are in known territory, and it’s like a warm, cosy, Jurassic blanket,” adds VFX supervisor David Vickery. “But it quickly changes. We take the dinosaurs into

Director J.A. Bayona (Right)

new environments and spaces they’ve never been, and explore how they would react to their unfamiliar surroundings.” Having directed Jurassic World , Trevorrow passed the reins to Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio ‘J.A.’ Bayona, who had been offered the opportunity to helm the sequel by Steven Spielberg. Bayona had already directed the acclaimed ghost story The Orphanage (2007), true-life drama The Impossible (2012) and

It’s not science fiction anymore

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SEPTEMBER 2018

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