
In my perspective as a screenwriting enthusiast, I wholeheartedly agree that giving heroes personal stakes is crucial in Hollywood storytelling. Unfortunately, the latest installment of “Jurassic World,” titled “Rebirth,” seems to have overlooked this essential aspect. As my colleague Alison Willmore pointed out in her review, it appears that very few characters in this movie exhibit any genuine fascination for dinosaurs.
The protagonist, Zora Bennett, portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, doesn’t seem any different. Her motivation to venture onto an isolated island inhabited by genetically modified dinosaurs isn’t a deep-seated love for these prehistoric creatures but rather financial gain. There’s a brief mention of how Zora and her team aim to extract blood from the largest land, sea, and air dinosaurs to create a miraculous drug capable of curing heart disease – a disease that claimed her mother’s life. However, at its core, it boils down to money.
Zora hesitates for barely a moment before the prospect of a $10 million paycheck swiftly alters her decision. Money, they say, can make people do extraordinary things, such as descending a 300-foot cliff face while engaging in a fierce battle with a Quetzalcoatlus – as the script so vividly describes, “a flying carnivore the size of an F-16.