Editorials
[Editorial] ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ Succeeds at Making Dinosaurs Scary Again
Since it opened weeks early overseas, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has gotten mixed reviews, many negative (including Bloody Disgusting’s own). Perhaps as a dinosaur adventure it falls short of Jurassic Park, or even the first Jurassic World. But cut it some slack. Even Steven Spielberg couldn’t maintain the Jurassic Park momentum with The Lost World (although it’s my personal favorite of the series, for what that’s worth). And maybe Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom wasn’t ever supposed to be another epic island adventure anyway. Because as a smaller, more contained film that’s instead more focused on how scary dinosaurs would actually be if they existed here in 2018, Fallen Kingdom hits its mark.
The Jurassic movies were always monster movies anyway, at their core. A giant T-rex chasing a jeep was downright terrifying, even if it did eat that A-hole lawyer we all hated. And no matter how gentle the Brontosauri were, they were giant creatures that could pulverize you with a single step. Still, there’s a bit of a safe distance in the other Jurassic Parks and Jurassic World. After all, in those movies, you’re only really in danger if you buy a ticket to the theme park.
So Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom asks you to confront something much scarier: What if dinosaurs broke into your home?
The script by Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow sets the second half of Fallen Kingdom indoors. Considering how giant dinosaurs are, that’s miraculous in itself. Sure, it’s an enormous mansion, but it’s confined to four walls, a floor and a ceiling. Director J.A. Bayona seems at home with this.
Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) has orchestrated a rescue of the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar before a volcano erupts and re-extincts them. Turns out, Mills is not a humanitarian. He wants to sell the dinosaurs to the highest bidder. Everyone thinks they can control John Hammond’s experiments, but it’s up to Owen (Chris Pratt), Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) to contain this mess and escape the mansion.
There’s a reason siege movies are a tried and true subgenre of horror. What works for zombies can work just as well with dinosaurs, especially in the hands of a director like Bayona (The Orphanage). The principle is you’re trying to keep the monsters out, but you’re still trapped. It doesn’t matter how big or small the monsters are, they’re relentless.
The dark corridors of the mansion lead to a lot of reveals of dinosaurs lurking in the shadows. Bayona knows how to build suspense to keep you waiting until the dinosaurs step out into the light. There are hiding places for the humans too, but what good is hiding when an Indominus Rex/Raptor crossbreed can smell you?
They sort of did this in Jurassic Park with the kitchen scene with the raptors. The kids were hiding, and the raptors learned how to turn doorknobs. This is the kitchen scene on a much bigger scale. There are more hallways and elevators in the mansion, and lots more (and bigger) dinosaurs on the loose.
Fallen Kingdom gives you sympathy for the monsters too. Like King Kong, Godzilla or Frankenstein, the dinosaurs didn’t ask to be created.
They’re just living their lives, doing what giant prehistoric animals do. By the time they’re loose in the mansion, they’ve been dragged off their island, shot with tranquilizers and bullets in some cases. And they’re not happy about it. Maybe they don’t know that Owen, Claire and Maisie are on their side; maybe they don’t care. The heroes don’t want to hurt the dinosaurs. They’re still dinosaur advocates at the end of the day, but that only makes it harder to survive the nightmare scenario. How do you defeat a monster you don’t want to kill?
I get why Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is maybe a misfire to audiences used to Spielbergian dinosaur epics. The size and scale of dinosaurs necessitates wide open spaces and the franchise has firmly established tropical locales as main settings. Asking those viewers to now get excited about dank, dark, wet interiors, well, that’s maybe a tough sell.
However, I hope the audience that loves movies like Dawn of the Dead, Assault on Precinct 13 and From Dusk Till Dawn appreciate what Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has given us. They made a Jurassic sequel that’s really just people trapped in a house with monsters, and it totally works.
I realize that even among horror fans, the audience for Jurassic World may not want the franchise to stray too far from the epic monster movie roots of the series. That’s fair, but Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is here anyway. If you’re worried it’s going to be a letdown, I hope you can at least consider watching it in the context of a housebound horror movie and see if it satisfies you as much as it did me.
From where I stand, dinosaurs are scary again. And that’s a win for Fallen Kingdom.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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