Fallen franchise

Back in the mists of prehistory, when I was eight, dinosaur films followed a set pattern. The dinosaurs themselves would be cheerfully unpalaeontological; women would wear improbable outfits; volcanoes would explode. Then, in 1993, courtesy of Steven Spielberg, came a sea-change. Jurassic Park was that cinematic rarity: a science fiction film that succeeded in influencing the science it was fictionalising. The story of a theme park populated by resurrected dinosaurs, it offered a portrayal of Mesozoic fauna that was as close to authentic as could then plausibly be achieved. For the first time, computer-generated imagery was used to portray dinosaurs as scientists had come to envisage them: agile, bird-like, smart. The impact was profound. A whole generation of palaeontologists who were inspired by Jurassic Park as children has now come of age. The result has been a golden age of dinosaur discoveries. That our understanding of how these long-extinct creatures looked and functioned has changed considerably since Jurassic Park is — at least in part — a tribute to its original impact.

It is unlikely that Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will inspire a similar palaeontological boom. It is, much like the genetically enhanced dinosaur that stalks and skitters its way around the central section of the plot, a hybrid. In certain ways, it is true to the inheritance of Jurassic Park. The special effects are predictably competent; a species never before seen in the franchise, the dome-head Pachycephalosaurus, is introduced to delightful effect; a brachiosaur perishes in a scene of unexpected pathos. In other ways, though, it is all frustratingly retro. Velociraptor, so chic and abreast of scientific fashion back in 1993, is now frumpishly out of date, since she lacks the feathers that are the signature of the great revolution that has taken place in our understanding of dinosaurs since Jurassic Park.