Palaeontologists have nothing but praises for Steven Spielberg's original Jurassic Park films, since he was able to depict dinosaurs accurately and in line with science's discoveries. However, the same cannot be said of Colin Trevorrow's upcoming Jurassic World film, which stars Chris Pratt, and they have already deemed it as a "dumb monster movie."
Since the 1993, 1997, and 2007 films have been shown, there have been a lot of developments when it came to dinosaurs. The prehistoric creatures have often been shown as lizard-like with leathery skins, but palaeontologists said that many dinosaurs actually had feathers.
According to The Daily Mail UK, fossils found in North America, China and Germany in recent years have proved that the dinosaurs - including the popular Tyrannosaurus rex (T-Rex) and velociraptors - were in fact fluffy and possibly even brightly-coloured.
And while Trevorrow acknowledged the discoveries made by the scientists, he decided not to incorporate these newfound facts into his film. The director even tweeted back in 2013 that there will be "no feathers" in the fourth Jurassic Park film.
Trevorrow added that Jurassic World is really scientifically inaccurate since it is a science fiction film, and not a documentary.
"I think one reason people attach Jurassic Park to science is that Steven Spielberg was so successful in taking a sci-fi idea and presenting it like it was real," he told the Sunday Times.
Trevorrow's decision earned him the ire of several palaeontologists, including Darren Nash from Southamptom University.
"The original film showed dinosaurs that were not simply roaring, scaly monsters, but were active, social, bird-like animals with dynamic bodies," he said. "Now, Jurassic World is simply a dumb monster movie, and there has been a deliberate effort to make its animals look different from the way we think they should."
Meanwhile, Professor Julia Clarke from the University of Texas at Austin laments that youngsters who will watch the latest dinosaur film will sadly get a misinterpretation of what dinosaurs really look and act like, since they will only see them as "scaly and aggressive."
At the same time, Trevorrow told Slash Film that there is no way his movie can even compete with the ones produced by Spielberg. "And to me, it feels - I think when you see this movie, it makes Jurassic Park - I don't want say it feels like a prequel because it's an incredible movie and this movie can't be better than that movie. It's just literally impossible because you can't ever see that for the first time again," he said.
Aside from Pratt, the rest of the Jurassic World cast includes Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, BD Wong, Judy Greer, Vincent D'Onofrio, Omar Sy, Brian Tee, and Irrfan Khan.
Jurassic World will hit cinemas on June 12.
