Steven Spielberg's dinosaur thriller Jurassic Park was groundbreaking when it hit the theaters, and while the story and visual effects still hold up today, there have been some missed opportunities in the original movie and its sequels. Jurassic Park sparked a six-movie franchise, which includes the original three movies and the Jurassic World reboot, with a seventh Jurassic World movie due out in 2025. Each Jurassic Park movie has introduced at least one new dinosaur or prehistoric creature to the franchise, but many species have, so far, been left out and might appear in a later movie.
Although many of Jurassic Park's original characters became franchise icons, they were not always given the screen time they deserved in the sequels. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ends with the dinosaurs fleeing into the wider world, teasing a more expansive storyline and potential new locations. Still, the franchise took an unexpected and unpopular direction in Jurassic World: Dominion, missing the opportunity to give viewers something different. Jurassic World: Dominion received a 29% positive rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but it is not the only Jurassic Park movie that misses opportunities.
10 The Indoraptor Has Virtually No Screen Time
Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom Barely Showed Its Newest And Scariest Dinosaur
Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom's main storyline centered on teasing the eventual reveal of the Indoraptor - a weaponized hybrid dinosaur that was designed for biological warfare. The Indoraptor was created using a mix of Jurassic Park's two most terrifying dinosaurs: the Velociraptor and the T-Rex, and it looked like a sleeker, faster T-Rex with long arms. However, despite the Indoraptor's potential for destruction and its role in the terrifying mansion scene, it was barely seen.
The scene where the Indoraptor stalks Maisie through the mansion looks straight out of a horror movie rather than the dinosaur action of the original Jurassic Park movies. This scene sets the Indoraptor apart, making use of its fear factor and intelligence, but it is killed by Blue shortly afterward. The Indoraptor could have been shown much more, with this horror movie style as its signature in the same way that the T-Rex's signature is its heavy footfall.
9 The Original Jurassic Park Movies Had No Marine Reptiles
The Mosasaurus Was Cut From Jurassic Park III
The Seaworld-inspired scene in which the Mosasaurus breaches to take a great white shark as a meal was heavily featured in the Jurassic World promotional material, and is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie. Though the Mosasaurus is technically a marine reptile, it has still been called one of Jurassic Park's best dinosaurs. Its impact suggests that perhaps that the franchise shouldn't have waited until after the original trilogy to bring the monster into the picture.
Jurassic Park III was originally going to feature a Mosasaurus, and the concept art featured a breeding tank, while the original script had mentioned the formidable animal. However, the Mosasaurus was later cut from the draft, which was a missed opportunity to explore more of the creations living on Isla Sorna. If the tank had been connected to the sea, the Navy and Marines who arrived to rescue the characters could have mentioned seeing something bizarre, hinting at its survival.
8 Including Few Other Prehistoric Animals
Smilodons Could Have Been Great Jurassic Park Candidates
Similar to the Mosasaurus, several of Jurassic Park's prehistoric creatures weren't really dinosaurs but marine reptiles, hybrids, and other prehistoric animals. Jurassic Park III introduced Pteranodons, and Jurassic World had a Mosasaurus, but these are just two of many other prehistoric animals that could have been shown. Jurassic Park: Dominion's Leonard the Lystrosaurus had a small role in a memorable scene, showing that even the smaller and less dangerous animals in the Jurassic Park franchise could be interesting to watch.
A great candidate could be the Smilodon (sabre-toothed tiger,) as it is such a recognizable prehistoric creature, with the potential to be extremely dangerous. As cats move and hunt differently from most of Jurassic Park's dinosaurs, there was an opportunity for a new kind of chase or hunting scene involving characters trying to escape a Smilodon, perhaps using their knowledge of domestic cats to help them, if the scene called for a funny moment.
7 Lex & Tim Did Not Return For Jurassic World: Dominion
The Fan Favorites Could Have Played Key Roles
Lex and Tim each had significant roles in helping the characters escape Jurassic Parkand leaving them out ofJurassic World: Dominionwas a missed opportunity to find out what they did next. Tim's dinosaur knowledge could have led to him becoming a paleontologist or researcher. Lex single-handedly hacked into Jurassic Park's cybersecurity system, allowing them to regain control of the park, and this interest could have taken her character in some interesting directions.
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Lex could have pursued a career in cybersecurity, allowing her to either destroy the Biosyn system or strengthen it if she was also working for Biosyn. Most characters would not know that Dodgson was behind Dennis Nedry's betrayal, so this could be plausible. Lex could have become a more dangerous hacker, which would be an interesting angle to explore. Of all the Jurassic Park characters that Jurassic World: Dominion ignored, Lex and Tim had the most potential.
6 Dodgson's Sinister Backstory Was Not Explored
Dennis's "Nobody Cares" Line Could Have Been Wrong
Jurassic Park immediately established Dodgson as being paranoid about his identity being revealed. This is played for comedy when Dennis Nedry yells to the entire restaurant that "we've got Dodgson here," tells him that nobody cares, and asks him if he's trying to look like a secret agent in his hat. If Jurassic World: Dominion had established Dodgson as a very dangerous and wanted character, this could have been a throwback to that line, revealing it to be wrong.
Dodgson is an unethical scientist and genetic engineer and is willing to test on humans (including children) as well as the dinosaurs. He is killed by the baby T-Rex in the original novel but survives in the Jurassic Park movies, with Dodgson reappearing as the Biosyn CEO in Jurassic World: Dominion. However, the movies miss the opportunity to explore his sinister backstory and business practices in more detail.
5 Leaving Out One Of The Jurassic Park Novel's Most Foreboding Scenes
This Scene Showed The Cover-Up At Isla Nublar
Early in the Jurassic Park novel, a character arrives in a hospital as his boss claims he had an accident with building machinery. However, he has deep claw marks, defensive wounds, and whispers what the doctor hears as "lo sa raptor." Nobody in the book would guess that he is trying to tell the staff that a Velociraptor attacked him. However, for the reader, the chilling scene hints at the horrendous potential danger of Jurassic Park.
While the early Jurassic Park movie has scary and disturbing scenes, the book's focus on the cover-ups involved in Jurassic Park's creation is left out. Though the Jurassic Park movie and novel are very different, with Steven Spielberg's adaptation changing many key scenes from the novel, the scene in the hospital is so creepy that it could have been an opportunity to build tension before the dinosaurs appeared.
4 Muldoon Having No Opportunity To Show His Strength
The Game Warden Was Killed In Jurassic Park
Most of the original Jurassic Park characters had the chance to demonstrate their areas of expertise at some point in the movie. However, while Robert Muldoon had the potential to be a formidable Jurassic Park character when the dinosaurs broke out, the game warden was underused despite many moments that appeared to build up to Muldoon having a key action scene. Muldoon's death by Velociraptor might be Jurassic Park's best death scene, but the movie could have done more with his character.
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Muldoon spends most of Jurassic Park telling Hammond that the dinosaurs should be destroyed, and as this is his area of expertise, it was a missed opportunity not to show him hunting. As a former professional hunter who understands the danger posed by the dinosaurs, Muldoon could have taken on and shot down a dinosaur by himself. This could have been an iconic moment in Jurassic Park, even if Muldoon eventually met the same end.
3 Claire Was A Tired "Career Woman" Stereotype
Claire Never Lived Up To Her Iconic Jurassic World Potential
Claire, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, spent the entirety of Jurassic World wearing a pair of skyscraper heels, which was heavily criticized. However, Howard defended her Jurassic World character's heels, saying they fit Claire's personality and made her feel "empowered". Claire had the potential to be completely different from any of Jurassic Park's previous female characters, but she was portrayed as cold and shallow, while her disinterest in becoming a mother was shamed.
Claire becomes a more sympathetic character throughout the movie. However, likability and professionalism are not mutually exclusive traits, and Jurassic World could have made Claire an ethical and caring but efficient businesswoman in the first place. Claire's detachment towards children was clichéd, unnecessary to the plot, and undermined later when she becomes Maisie's adoptive mother. More interesting character development could have made Claire one of Jurassic Park's best characters.
2 Few Scientifically Accurate Dinosaurs Were Included
At the time it was released, Jurassic Park was groundbreaking, with the movie sparking an extra interest in paleontology. However, while Jurassic Park portrayed some details more accurately than other dinosaur-themed movies, many other Jurassic Park dinosaurs were wildly inaccurate compared to real life. The movies even addressed these errors, explaining that the dinosaurs had been engineered to appeal more to the park's visitors, who cared more about teeth and scare factor than accuracy.
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Jurassic Park's Dilophosaurus was less scary in Jurassic Park than in real life, even though the movie gave it an additional, dangerous attribute.
As scientists have more insight into the way dinosaurs looked and behaved, there was room for the Jurassic World reboot to address the mistakes in the original Jurassic Park movies. This could have been done obviously, with rival geneticists promoting scientific accuracy by recreating dinosaurs as they would have appeared, or by using Easter eggs. A Jurassic World movie could have shown plans for new dinosaurs, with sketches of the real-life versions onscreen as "inspiration."
1 Dominion Did Not Explore Enough Of The Wider World
Jurassic Park: Dominion Could Have Had Several "Muldoons"
Jurassic Park: Dominion's dinosaurs were set up to thrive while clashing with humans, but the movie made the mistake of returning most of the action to a laboratory and casting locusts as the most threatening species. The movie's biggest missed opportunity was wasting its global premise, where it could have introduced interesting characters, cultures, and visuals. Jurassic Park: Dominion could have shown humans hunting dinosaurs for food, trying to domesticate them, or escaping them in falling cities.
Characters like Jurassic Park's Muldoon would likely have thrived in an environment where dinosaurs were plentiful and threatening enough for people to need hunters. Introducing a group of hunters like Muldoon would have been the perfect opportunity to give audiences the fight he should have had. Seeing how people in different cultures and environments across the world reacted and adapted to the presence of dinosaurs would likely have revived the Jurassic Park franchise.
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