Jurassic World Gave The T-Rex Revenge On The Spinosaurus

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

After Jurassic Park III put the Spinosaurus front and center, Jurassic World proved that no one beats the T-Rex and lives to tell the tale.

Jurassic World gave the T-Rex an act of well-deserved revenge over its infamous defeat by Jurassic Park III's Spinosaurus. In 2015, Jurassic World kicked off a new era of dinosaur mayhem fourteen years after Jurassic Park III got the poorest critical and financial reception of the franchise. Apart from the return to the touristic premise of the original Jurassic Park, the fourth installment upgraded the visual effects and raised the stakes with the Indominus Rex - a brand new, slaughterous, completely man-made dinosaur. But the prodigal son always comes home, and the sneaky addition of a clever reference to the film's climactic moment signaled the heroic comeback of the franchise's original icon when the Tyrannosaurus Rex enacts her revenge on the husk of Jurassic Park III's Spinosaur.

Jurassic Park III tried to shift the concept of the first two movies with a bigger focus on thrilling dinosaur action. The colossal Spinosaurus then became the movie's main antagonist, but instead of the instinctive ferocity of nature that was so gracefully represented in Jurassic Park's iconic T-Rex, this sadistic monster was hellbent on hunting down the main characters with the determination of a serial killer. To drive the point home, the movie pits its favored killing machine against the franchise's beloved mascot. In an infamous scene, the Spinosaurus brutally kills the T-Rex, prompting a feud among the most devoted dino-fans that still endures to this day.

In reality, the Spinosaurus was most likely the largest, deadliest carnivorous dinosaur to ever live, towering over other behemoths like the Giganotosaurus and casually snacking on sharks and crocodiles. However, no physical advantage can outshine the popularity of the fan-favorite T-Rex after it starred in the most memorable moments of the whole Jurassic Park franchise. That's why Jurassic World snuck in a nod to the infamous "Spinosaurus vs T-Rex" faceoff when the T-Rex from the first movie comes to help out in the film's final battle against the Indominus Rex. After the Indominus corners Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) in a souvenir shop, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) decides to open the T-Rex's gate as a last resort. She guides the emblematic dinosaur with a flare until it smashes through a Spinosaurus skeleton. Having obliterated it, the Queen of the Dinosaurs lets out a triumphant roar over the bones of her former contender.

Jurassic World's return to Isla Nublar reinforces the theme of human interference over the forces of nature for the sake of entertainment. This time around, the dinosaur-centered amusement park is even less worried about coming off as greedy since the previous catastrophic attempt to capitalize on the captivity of dinosaurs is a known failure. Still, the high probability of spilling human and animal blood for money is no hindrance to exhibits like the Spinosaurus's skeleton. But nature always prevails, and there isn't a clearer symbol than the T-Rex to prove it.

Jurassic World had plenty of callbacks to the original trilogy. Jurassic Park's cartoon mascot Mr. DNA and the statue of the late John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) are some of the most evident, but other details like the hologram of the Dilophosaurus - which alluded to the dinosaur who killed Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) in the original film and to the iconic kitchen scene - serve the story as metaphors for the movies going back to basics in a modernized sequel. After Jurassic Park III killed off the T-Rex in such a disappointing way, destroying the Spinosaurus' skeleton in the most spectacular fashion was the least the movie could do to compensate.

Source: https://screenrant.com/