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Side note: This is a prequel/sidequel to Jurassic World, while seeing Jurassic World isn't required viewing to enjoy this show, it does help to have knowledge of that movie's events.
Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous is a well made adventure series that takes the established Jurassic Park franchise and tackles it from a unique perspective, but it doesn't make the best first impression. The show follows 6 teenagers who all get the opportunity to test out the neighboring survival camp area to Jurassic World, Camp Cretaceous. The kids consist of gamer/"dino-nerd" Darius, livestreamer Brooklynn, neurotic multiphobic worrywart Ben, pompous rich kid Kenji, enthusiastic and outgoing country girl Sammy, and athlete Yaz, who all get the chance to test out the soft opening of Camp Cretaceous through either having won a contest or familial connections to the Park. However when the Indominous Rex is unleashed and cuts a swath of destruction across Jurassic World and Camp Cretaceous the fight for survival begins.
Universal has been trying to make an animated series out of their lucrative Jurassic Park franchise since the mid 90s but it's always been trapped in the development stage and ultimately cancelled. The first season Escape from Jurassic Park got the furthest along in development before being aborted by Spielberg for reasons that vary depending on who you ask, another one came into development in the late 90s and early 2000s called Jurassic Park: Chaos Effect that would've focused on genetically engineered dinosaur hybrid but this was cancelled even further from development despite a line of toys and action figures already having been approved and released to retailers for sale. Now we see third time really is the charm as we get Camp Cretaceous which is good, but it makes a less than ideal impression in its opening episodes.
The biggest problems with the show in its opening is in its writing and its characters. If you've seen the reviews of this show, comparisons have been made between it and Willy Wonka and to a degree I understand the comparison. Each character more or less fits a "type" and very little is done to develop them beyond that "type" in the opening. The writing for the characters is also pretty sloppy as in the opening episodes we see them make monumentally dumb decisions just so the show has an excuse to have an action scene because it doesn't have the patience to build character before it moves into action set pieces.
Around episode 4 the series begins to find its footing and build its situation, intrigue and its characters. Without giving too much away we see a lot more meaningful interactions between the group that do lend themselves to pretty good character moments as well as genuinely thrilling ones. Since this is a sidequel to Jurassic World certain set pieces from that film are seen again here, but luckily they are viewed from a new angle and the show is smart enough to use portions of the park previously only hinted at in the movie but used to decent effect for some unique moments in the series(standouts include a scene on the monorail as well as beautifully animated scene with the kayaks).
The animation on the show is very well done with the dinosaurs conveying the same level of menace and weight they conveyed in the films. The humans are also quite well animated and are appropriately expressive and detailed without falling into the uncanny valley. The film actually had its production interrupted by the recent COVD pandemic and from the end product you couldn't tell this was completed via virtual working environment so hats off to the animators for finishing a full season of television under less than ideal conditions.
Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous is a flawed but welcome addition to the Jurassic Park franchise. Despite a clumsy opening act the series does find its footing and manages to give a rousing adventure that should be enjoyed by most.
score 8/10
IonicBreezeMachine 19 September 2020
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6109172/ |
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20-9-2020 11:40:11