Jurassic World echoes Jurassic Park quite closely: The ‘monster-in-a-box’ gets loose. The narrative then becomes an exercise in escape and survival then defeating the ‘monster’ — Todorov: equilibrium/disruption/recognition/resolution/new equilibrium.
Characters
Teenage heroes – Gray and Zach need to lose their caretaker Zara, then take off on their own in order to get into trouble. Why? To create high interest stakes in the characters whose trip to the park is shown and with whom the typical teenage audience will most identify.
Adult leads – Aunt Claire’s desperate need to find the boys. This leads her to Owen for help, cementing together this “opposites attract” pair of characters. A bit of romance helps to sell tickets to adults. The damsel in distress is actually not that incapable – she’s a gutsy modern women who wears high heels while fighting dinosaurs! But, having a brave man allows her to act to save the boys.
The plot services the “showy” bits, the 3D dinosaurs. The audience really wants to experience thrills and frights in a safe environment.
