By Sophia Madeb, Arts and Culture Editor
Today, the world is primarily powered by technology. Its electric currents surge across the globe, rapidly providing everything from light to sound, to the transportation that swiftly moves us from one place to another, and most notably, to the masterpieces of film that captivate and inspire. Since the creation and continued advancement of modern technology, society has undergone a dramatic transformation, reshaping the way humans operate and relate to creativity in all aspects. This is especially prominent in the film industry, with computer-generated imagery (CGI) and other innovations being relied on more and more. In this case, where should the line be drawn between simply using technology as a helpful tool and solely relying on it at the expense of originality?
Released on July 2, Jurassic World Rebirth exemplifies what happens when technological progress overtakes a film, leaving little room for human creativity.
Bluntly speaking, Jurassic World Rebirth is the film that broke the camel’s back, proving once and for all that this storyline has been overdone. The film picks up five years after the last Jurassic World movie left off. It drops the audience back to a time of chaos; dinosaurs on Jurassic Island are being genetically engineered with futuristic technology, mutating into dangerous new forms before breaking free and running rampaging with a passionate urge to kill anyone or anything in their path.
Despite the attempt to show the progression of time, the film felt redundantly stuck in the past, rehashing a stereotypical group of characters, such as the dinosaur-obsessed nerd, the greedy rich man, the overachiever spy woman, and more, getting stuck on the island with these out-of-control dinosaurs. This reliance on franchise stereotypes was truly surprising to see, especially considering the exceptional cast, featuring notable stars like Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali. In that sense, most fans and audiences expected better than what was poorly served on screen.
In an awkward attempt to recapture the magic of earlier films, it was as if there was no chemistry between the actors, who tried to mimic the typical, exaggerated acting style of the past films, making the performances feel extremely forced. Instead of the experience being thrilling and gripping, audiences were met with the heavy tension of discomfort between the actors.
To understand why this disappointment hit hard, it’s worth remembering what made the franchise so impactful in the first place. Jurassic World Rebirth is the latest addition to the Jurassic Park / World series started in the 1990s by Steven Spielberg. Although Spielberg is acknowledged for his innovations in films like Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park is still his biggest box office hit. The first Jurassic films collected just under 2 billion dollars. Whether interested in science fiction or not, people were excited to see one of Spielberg’s masterpieces: films that brought things not humanly possible to life in a way that felt so real, the only thing separating the audience from that world and this one was the big screen itself.
Moreover, people went to see these films simply because they were the blockbuster events everyone was talking about, at that time. Theaters were once packed, toppling with people sitting over each other for the Jurassic experience.
On the one hand, Jurassic World Rebirth, surpassed its 180 million dollar budget, successfully making 719 million dollars at the box office. On the other hand, one could not help but notice the total emptiness in the theater. There was a lack of excitement in the air, and this vacancy was almost louder than the roars coming from the terrifyingly realistic dinosaurs, leaving one thinking: Should this series come to an end, fading into history, mirroring how the once great dinosaurs were left behind after the Big Bang, the catastrophic asteroid that wiped them out.
It cannot be denied that the special effects in this film were outstanding. They were so amazing they left the crowd speechless, but perhaps this was not a suspenseful, awe-inspired silence but the quietness of an unusually empty, slightly chilly movie theater. The effects masked the ammature acting and stereotypical themes. In fact, it seems like the main draw of the film was the special effects, likely created using both CGI and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Current technological advancements should push creators to make movies that feel so real it is as if the audience is transported to a parallel world. However, this film proves that creators are falling back on unoriginal ideas, propping them up with CGI, AI and other innovations.
A film is supposed to instill a genuine feeling of fulfillment in viewers, but there is nothing fulfilling about a movie that feels so artificial. In this jaded, impatient society, the general public desires something fresh. Maybe it’s time to put the remakes and the sequels on the back burner and give the audience new ideas aided by but not made entirely of the gift of new technology.
Spielberg created worlds with the fresh technology of his time; he never let technology build his worlds. Yet it felt as if Jurassic World Rebirth only shined in places that had no human element at all. Rather than pushing creative boundaries alongside technological ones, the film seemed to rely on spectacles alone, leading to a loss of originality and imagination. Ironically, the idea displayed in the film — the dangers of the radical use of technology — follows a similar theory about the underlying risks technology poses to the creative sphere.
If one is not deeply invested in the franchise, I would not recommend Jurassic World Rebirth. There was nothing memorable and no wow factor, as the entire film itself simply felt uninspired. In a technologically advanced era, where nearly every major film delivers remarkable special effects, visual spectacle alone is no longer enough to carry a storyline or leave a lasting impression. Harshly, at that point, if you want a good action film with dinosaurs, it might be best to just stream the first Jurassic films at home.
Photo Caption: Dinosaurs
Photo Credit: Unsplash