6 Reasons Camp Cretaceous Is The Best Jurassic Park Sequel

The problem with a lot of the Jurassic Park sequels is that the main characters are either returning heroes, or pros who've been dealing with dinosaurs for a while. There is something about a cast of fresh eyed characters who don't expect trouble, and can't deal with it well when it comes, that brings back some of the magic and terror of the original film.

In the first film nobody expects the s**t to hit the fan the way that it does. You have some scientists, an old man and two kids who are enraptured by the magical experience of sharing an island with dinosaurs and totally unprepared for the nightmare to come. This makes the terror all that more gripping when the tone of the film shifts and the disaster begins.

Compare this to the sequels in which the main character is always either someone who has survived the initial film and knows how dangerous these dinosaurs are - or, in the case of Jurassic World, an expert who has been specifically trained to work with them. True, there is always a kid thrown in who can go ooh and ah and scream and panic, but it's not the same as when the entire main cast is caught by surprise.

In the case of the series we get a kind of return to innocence. These are characters who again are touched by the majesty of living dinosaurs without the cynicism or caution that comes from experience.

While it is true that there is danger from episode one, it is the kind of avoidable danger that comes from teenage recklessness. The campers have every reason to trust in the inherent safety of the park when they listen to the adults, and it is when that security is ripped away in the fourth episode that we get that same kind of shift as in Jurassic Park. The horror of the situation is sudden and seems much more real than in the other sequels.