Jurassic World 4’s “New Era” Can Fix An Original Steven Spielberg Jurassic Park Mistake

Although Jurassic World 4’s story is not clear yet, the reboot’s promised “New era” could allow the franchise to make up for one mistake that Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park made. Although Jurassic Park is a near-perfect blockbuster, it is far from faithful to its source material. There are a lot of differences between Michael Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park and Steven Spielberg’s movie of the same name, from the character of Donald Gennaro to the fate of John Hammond. By Jurassic Park’s ending, the two stories have diverged completely and have only a premise and some major characters in common.

Despite this, Jurassic Park became an iconic blockbuster hit and spawned a successful franchise in the years following its release. The Jurassic World trilogy strayed even further from Crichton’s original book, eventually unleashing dinosaurs on human civilization in one of the most far-fetched twists in recent sci-fi history. Jurassic World: Dominion’s ending never explained just how humans and dinosaurs managed to make cohabitation work, but, fortunately, the franchise will never need to justify this choice. The upcoming Jurassic World 4 is set to reboot the series entirely, dropping existing characters and starting a ‘New era” according to Deadline.

Jurassic World 4 Can Undo Jurassic Park’s John Hammond Changes

Steven Spielberg’s Blockbuster Turned Michael Crichton’s Villain Into A Hero

Now that the series is rebooting its continuity wholesale, Jurassic World 4 can make its new version of John Hammond a villain again. Hammond’s unambiguous villainy is central to Crichton’s novel, which can sometimes surprise fans of the movie upon their first reading. Crichton’s Hammond is an arrogant, miserly millionaire with delusions of grandeur and his God complex eventually results in his undoing. A rich show-off lacking in empathy, the book’s version of Hammond ends up being eaten by dinosaurs after wandering off alone and blaming his overworked employees, rather than his relentless cost-cutting, for the park’s failure.

By making Jurassic Park’s John Hammond a more heroic figure, Spielberg’s movie made the story more family-friendly. As played by Richard Attenborough, Hammond is a kindly figure who falls victim to predatory figures like Gennaro and Dennis Nedry. He is almost blameless in Jurassic Park’s failure and practically saintly in his behavior, doting on his grandchildren while acting as a real-life Willy Wonka to the astounded scientists he invites to the island. The implicit critique of uber-wealthy philanthropists and their expensive, ill-fated follies is thoroughly defanged in this depiction, which lays the blame for Jurassic Park’s failure on corporate subterfuge.

Jurassic World 4’s New John Hammond Can Underline The Novel’s Message

Jurassic Park Was Originally A Cautionary Tale

Rereading the original novel, it is clear that Crichton’s Jurassic Park is a story about the terrible consequences of unchecked wealth and power. In contrast, Spielberg’s movie is about not trusting Dennis Nedry with anything valuable. By centering Jurassic Park’s minor antagonist Nedry, who appears in the original novel but plays a smaller role, Spielberg’s movie gives Hammond’s plan a pass. There is little reason to think that the theme park would have been a disaster without Nedry’s antics, so any implicit critique of corporate power and wealth is undone. Luckily, Jurassic World 4 can fix this mistake.

Jurassic World 4’s version of Hammond can revive the character seen in Crichton’s novel, who plays a pivotal role in his own undoing. In the process, Jurassic World 4 could become the first movie in the series to criticize the idea of a dinosaur theme park. Even though it seems like the entire series is about this on the surface, a closer inspection reveals this isn’t quite true. Hammond is exonerated in Jurassic Park, while The Lost World is about an unrelated second island. Jurassic Park III is a survival thriller with little to say about corporations and their power.

Jurassic World 4’s “New Era” Can Solve Dominion’s Biggest Issue

The Human Villains Of The Final Movie Fell Flat

Jurassic World criticizes the creators of the titular theme park, but, notably, their undoing comes about because of the Indominus Rex. Jurassic World’s attempts to invent new dinosaurs are the issue, not the theme park cloning dinosaurs for public display in the first place. Thus, the public is to blame for wanting new attractions, instead of the irresponsible InGen. This resulted in Jurassic World: Dominion having some of the dullest human villains in the entire series, as the franchise didn’t know who to critique. Dominion’s dinosaur smugglers were laughably silly, while BioSyn was simply an evil InGen.

Making Hammond and InGen themselves the villains as they are in the novel would be much more interesting in Jurassic World’s upcoming reboot. Jurassic World 4’s new era has a chance to redefine the franchise, and the best way to start this would be by bringing back Crichton’s version of Hammond. This way, Jurassic World 4 could be a more pointed satire than its predecessors and the movie could make sharper critiques of the power structures within InGen. Without these changes, it will be tough for Jurassic World 4 to emerge from Jurassic Park’s large shadow.