The title of this film may remind you of works like Piranhaconda and Dinocroc vs. Supergator that have aired on the SyFy channel, and that you may have switched over to for a laugh before quickly becoming bored.
Surprisingly, this was not my experience with The Jurassic Games, and despite its low production values, corny dialogue and absurd conceit, I did find myself having a genuinely alright time watching it. Well, for the most part.
The Jurassic Games
The premise behind The Jurassic Games is essentially exactly what it sounds like. Ten death row inmates compete for survival in a dinosaur based virtual reality broadcast internationally, in which if they die in the game they die in the real world, and in which only one character can survive.
However, despite the, putting it kindly, somewhat derivative story-line, I did find myself genuinely surprised at some of the twists within the story involving character motives. They may not have been groundbreaking, but it showed some forethought on the part of writer and director Ryan Bellgardt, usually uncommon in films of this type.
Whilst the film’s cack-handed satire on violent media and desensitisation can be entertaining – the cruelty of Perrey Reeves‘ character Savannah borders on Saturday morning cartoon villain – it tends to just contradict itself. Bellgardt delights in frequently depicting a variety of viewers laughing at the horrors they’re shown onscreen, without addressing the fact that most people tuning into The Jurassic Games are doing so for the excessive violence that the title promises, hugely weakening this motif.
Unless he created the film for the audience to themselves reflect on the movies and entertainment they consume, which frankly, coming from a man who has also directed Gremlin and Army of Frankensteins, seems unlikely.
As well as the obvious, The Jurassic Games also takes ideas from Death Race, The Matrix, Maze Runner, and Battle Royale. Unfortunately, rather than featuring any attempts at parody or acknowledging to any extent the source material of the many stolen concepts, Bellgardt chose to just straightforwardly rip them off, and make his film seem like a cheaper, lazier version of each. Out of the many movies the viewer is constantly reminded of, I’d rather be watching any one of them over this.
Characters and Performances
On occasion, Bellgardt does manage to nail a certain corny charm, in no small part due to the performances of several of the main cast. Ryan Merriman has an unreasonable amount of fun as the sadistic host, stealing every scene he’s in and managing to make some of the worst lines in the script genuinely funny and delightfully ridiculous. His black dinosaur helmet and sharp suit give the character a camp feel in a film that would benefit from as much camp as possible.
Katie Burgess gives a similarly over-the-top performance as teenage psychopath Joy, her character introduction subverting ideas of white teenage girls in action movies being innocent, weak, or in any way good-natured. Regrettably, this doesn’t carry through to many other characters, the film having some issues with race in particular.
The only Latinx character runs a drug cartel, the only Asian inmate is inexplicably incredible at offensive martial arts despite seemingly having no predilection for conflict, and the only black character dies in the first ten minutes of the movie, immediately after being established as a woman-beater. I can forgive the laziness in other aspects of the film to an extent, but the number of racial stereotypes feels highly questionable, particularly for a film made in 2018.
The remaining actors range from dull to painfully bad. Andrew Tucker’s children seem remarkably calm and unbothered when watching their father being hung almost to death on international television, and the newscasters, instead of having a calm cruelty like Merriman, just come across as uncomfortable and giggly, though not intentionally. The movie could have benefited from a few more extras also; despite constantly being reminded of the gargantuan viewing figures for the show, only around 10 people are ever really shown watching it.
Visuals
Unsurprisingly, the weakest element of the movie is the poor visual effects. Whilst I’m not a stickler for perfect CGI, if the central conceit of your film is dinosaurs attacking humans in a virtual universe, it’s reasonable to expect some level of quality.
Instead, the creatures all seem completely without weight, floating onto the screen without reaction from the environment and mauling various characters despite hardly touching them. This removed all sense of threat and tension from the action scenes and somehow made them the weakest aspect of the movie.
The cinematography is also fairly uncreative, Bellgardt using almost entirely mid-shots and close-ups to tell his story visually, despite the resulting effect of making the vast virtual landscape seem like a small room. Say what you may about Tom Stern‘s cinematography for the first Hunger Games film, he at least managed to make the arena feel expansive and overwhelming through camerawork.
Having said this, he had a far more interesting environment to work with; the settings in The Jurassic Games aren’t exactly worth displaying for extended periods, most of them being bland desert or jungle areas with an overwhelming artificiality.
Conclusion
Although I did at points have a good time with The Jurassic Games, this was assisted by my rock bottom expectations and my frightening ability to find a good amount of humour in even some of the worst movies.
If you heard the title and laughed or exclaimed in joy, this is the film for you. If you sighed or rolled your eyes, it is not. And if you thought this was a Jurassic Park or Hunger Games film and ordered it on DVD, I am deeply sorry.
What do you think? Is this film any better than the usual Sharknado type fare? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
The Jurassic Games was released in the US and UK on DVD on May 21, 2018.
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.