It's been over a week since I
re-watched Jurassic Park, and I've spent much time since then
trying to figure out what to say about the film horror-wise. What
strikes me about the movie though is not its horror value, but the
fact that it shows how incredibly lazy most blockbusters are in terms
of writing, effects, and acting. Because in defiance of the usual
low standards, this was a movie that had real effort put into it.
There's a real build-up to the action,
and that build-up never once feels like padding. All of the actors
seem to actually care about the project. Even the children, usually
the worst part of any film with kids in it, manage to give acceptable
performances.
However, that's not what I'm supposed
to be talking about, is it? In terms of horror the biggest problem
with this film is that almost every shot that could be considered
even slightly chilling has become so well-known through pop-cultural
osmosis that the shock is lost. Indeed, the only film I can think of
which I can confidently say has been parodied more than Jurassic
Park is The Godfather.
The obvious scenes are the original
T-Rex attack (if I need to explain why being attacked by a
Tyrannosaurus is scary, then something is wrong), and the Raptors
hunting the kids. Both of these scenes get credit for making the
predators act more-or-less like real predators, thus not breaking my
suspension of disbelief. In far too many dinosaur films (including
the sequels to this one) gigantic predatory dinosaurs were willing to
put far too much effort into trying to kill and eat humans, who would
have been little more than a snack to them. Here, though, the T-Rex
does little more than run a short distance to kill humans and poke
some glass with his nose. The Raptors, on the other hand, are small
enough to justify a very enthusiastic hunt. Even the Raptors, the
classic villains of the franchise, are clearly no more malicious than
any other hunter.
Beyond that, I have very little to say
other than “Jurassic Park is awesome!” It's a film that
should be enjoyed not simply by horror movie buffs, but by anyone who
is capable of enjoying films.
No comments:
Post a Comment