I’ve just finished re-watching Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. My opinion on it has not changed much since my first time watching it in theaters: it wasn’t perfect but it was still fun and in my opinion better than The Lost World: Jurassic Park. I still think there could have been some tweaking here and there. Here are some moments I would have changed had I been in charge of directing the movie or writing the script. Please note that I will be going over important plot points so this is your...



SPOILER ALERT





First thing I would change is the opening scene, but only slightly. I will not omit or try to rectify the fact that the Mosasaur lagoon was moved to the coast of the island. We can just assume that this was a backup lagoon originally built closer to the coast but they built a second one further inland when there was concerned the Mosasaurus would jump the rocks “Free Willy” style. For whatever reason the original lagoon is connected to the new one by a tunnel big enough for the Mosasaurus to swim through and the original lagoon is connected to the open ocean by giant gates. Anyway, the biggest change for me would have been that it was not the Tyrannosaurus (T-Rex) that would have ambushed Jack and Eli Mills’ mercenaries, but the Carnotaurus. JWFK could have had a fake out dino-villain that would have given chase and failed to take down the helicopter. This would trick audiences into truly believing that the T-Rex had died on Isla Nublar.



Next scene that would need an update would be when Claire Dearing and Franklin Webb were attacked by the Baryonyx in the communications center. First of all I’d switch the Baryonyx with the aforementioned Carnotaurus. This would be an opportunity to show that JW’s Carnotaurus were flexible and opportunistic predators that would hunt alongside brush fires and its thick back scales were fire proof, which would explain why lava did not deter it.



All these swaps with the Carnotaurus would add up to a reveal that the specimen seen in the communications center is the same one attacking the gyrosphere during the stampede. Again, the Carnotaurus would be shown taking advantage of the panic during the eruption to attack prey rather than run. Essentially the Carnotaurus had escaped the control room and now has a minor burn scar, making it look like the devil or something. It would first try to pry Claire and Franklin out of the sphere but its attack would have been interrupted by a Sinoceratops (which I would have just replaced with a Triceratops). After recovering from fighting off the ceratopsian it would charge the Gyrosphere again (like in the trailer) but then would be killed by the T-Rex, now revealed to viewers to be alive, and that would generate a massive cheer from audiences. The T-Rex would be like “hey I’m the star of this movie!” The Carnotaurus species would then be forced to remain in the T-Rex's shadow, being fend off later when another one tries to steal the Mills scraps.



One more dino swap; I would have omitted the Allosaurus from the movie altogether and replace any scene with them with the Baryonyx. Baryonyx has always been a denizen of Isla Nublar according to Jurassic Park promotional content, but Allosaurus just magically appeared in JWFK. If anything they should have also kept the Dilophosaurus. They were part of the franchise since the first movie too and the Gyrospheres were partly built to help protect visitors from their spit, so where did they disappear to?



Gunnar Eversoll, the auctioneer, should have mentioned to the audience that future Indoraptor will have the ability to camouflage just like the original Indominus Rex. Indoraptor did not camouflage in JWFK but I would have liked to hear that this was in the works and not a one use gimmick.



I would have kept the “forced twist” that Maisie was a clone. What needed some fixing up was the reason that Eli Mills had to reveal this detail to Owen and Claire. Maybe earlier in the film Maisie would be told that she had to take insulin for her diabetes. Later when Mills is demanding Owen and Claire to release her, he would explain that Maisie’s medication is not insulin but Lysine: when Lockwood used the same tech that cloned dinosaurs to clone Maisie, he did it too accurately and Maisie is also affected by the Lysine contingency. So without the lysine that he keeps on his person, Maisie will die. This will make us more concerned for Maisie’s future with Mills’ death, though would not work if she becomes absent in the third Jurassic World film.



JWFK should have taken one more opportunity to show off Maisie’s cleverness. When she went to her bedroom, we could have been left to believe she was hiding under the bed but the Indoraptor would have torn at it and revealed pillows. Maisie would have hidden in a closet but the Indoraptor could have easily sniffed her out and started walking towards her hiding place. This could have still created a good marketing poster with the Indoraptor reaching for the closet door handle while Maisie sits helplessly in the corner.



Owen still comes to rescue Maisie by shooting at the Indoraptor but I would have like to see the Indoraptor use tools to defend itself, something even as simple as throwing a heavy toy at Owen to knock him to the ground and his gun out of his hands. Rather than him backing up against the wall he would be trying to maintain consciousness only to be saved by Blue just before the Indoraptor deals the finishing blow.



This next change may not be necessary because I may have misinterpreted the scene but I’m adding it in here just in case. When the Indoraptor had Maisie and Owen corned on the glass roof, it looked to me like it would have charged whether Claire had used the acoustics gun or not. I would have liked to see that Maisie was hanging onto a pillar while Owen was further away. The Indoraptor would have realized that going after Owen was too risky as it would fall through the glass but it would be possible to catch Maisie as long as it stayed on the metal beam. Claire’s use of the acoustics gun would force the Indoraptor to lunge for Owen who would then slide underneath the dinosaur, making it crash through the glass like in the final film. Blue would again return to tackle the Indoraptor, causing it to plunge to its death.



Finally there’s Eli Mills’ death and I had a lot of people criticize that he should have seen the T-Rex come in for the kill. This could have been rectified by showing that Eli could not see without his glasses which we previously damaged partly by Claire’s punch. Through his POV we could see a blurry case containing the Indominus’s rib but also a very blurry T-Rex's foot which he would not have acknowledged.



That’s a wrap, what are your thoughts? Are there any other scenes that should have been modified? Please comment below.

