Scene Analysis #5: Opening Scene of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom · 10:48pm Feb 4th, 2023
Scene Rating Scale:
9/9: Flawless! Outstanding scene!
8/9: Great scene! Totally Rewatchable!
7/9: Pretty good. Not as perfect as I expected though.
6/9: Decent. Doesn’t ruin the movie/episode.
5/9: Mid.
4/9: Pretty bad. One of the weakest scenes of the movie/episode.
3/9: You hear that? It’s the wind of lameness.
2/9: One of the worst scenes of the film/episode.
1/9: Horrible, unwatchable, and unacceptable.
Hello, hello, hello, my wonderful friends. Mr. J is in the house with another scene analysis for you today. This evening, I will be reviewing the opening scene of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”. To be honest, this was a very impressive way to begin a Jurassic movie—especially a Jurassic World film, to be precise. It had the score, the theme, and a thrilling, dark atmosphere (figuratively and literally) to establish the tone thereof. However, I wouldn’t say it was the best scene in the film (the climax is my personal favorite). Anyway, let’s talk about this.
After the events of the first JW film, we see two men successfully searching for the remains of the Indominus Rex—the genetically-engineered dinosaur responsible for the carnage that took place in the Jurassic World Park. Once they extracted one piece of its bones, they safely retrieve it to their comrades. However, the lurking Mosasaurus swims by whereas the legendary Tyrannosaurus Rex stands by…waiting to grab a bite.
Now, there really isn’t much to say about this, but I’ll just comment on the parts that stood out the most to me as well as some moments that didn’t make sense.
First off, they did a great job displaying the classic stupidity of the humans in being completely unaware of the danger right behind them as they are deep beneath the ocean. Like, how come the submarine didn’t detect any life signatures while they were down there? Did they at least hear any sort of beastly noise at all to let them know not everything was as dead as they thought? Because there is no way the Mosasaurus swam by undetected.
On the other hand, the cinematography was done flawlessly in this scene. The acting, the display of fear, the severe weather, everything. Wait, why did they perform this operation under bad weather again? Anyway, flaws aside, the prologue did a good job reminding us how terrifying these dinosaurs are if they were dangerously roaming around in the streets. Especially if it’s in the dark, you are alone, you hear thunderous steps from afar, and then you stare at the face of death…it will already be too late. You…RUN.
The last bit was a little hilarious in a messed up sort of way. The poor guy tried so hard to run for his life and avoid being eaten by the T-Rex. As he finally got hold of the ladder, the beast grabs it with its teeth. And then when the guy is cheering in victory for his survival—with the helicopter flying away—the bigger fish (see what I did there?) silences his premature celebration and eats him up. That…is what I call an unintentional comedic moment.
So remember, folks, if the danger starts to seemingly fade away, don’t celebrate too early until you are in a completely safe place. Make sure you are mindful of your surroundings, maintain your distance, and watch where you are going. Also, don’t look back as you run. Never let fear overtake you. I’ll give this a 7/9.
🎵 Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming! 🎵
Crazily enough, the main cast of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous bore witness to all this happening near the end of season 3!
This is still one of my favorite scenes from the film, but I can see where you’re coming from in terms of the Mosasaurus being undetected. It did feel strange that, somehow, the sonars couldn’t detect any trace of her.