Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, the sequel to Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, arrives on Netflix on May the 24th – and we were given the opportunity to check the show out ahead of time thanks to the team at Dreamworks Animation. Hold onto your butts – because we have a lot of thoughts to share on this new show!
As shown in the first trailer for the show, Jurassic World: Chaos Theory is a story which revolves around the death of Brooklynn – and explores both how the characters deal with this, and what Brooklynn may have been on the cusp of uncovering before her fateful encounter with a dinosaur. To this end, this is a story which once again revolves around the self-proclaimed ‘Camp Fam’ – and I have to admit that I loved spending more time with them in this season. The dynamics we have between characters – both with call backs to their experiences during Camp Cretaceous and how they respond to new situations – is really the heart and show of this series, and the performances which bring this crew to life were rock solid. There were a few moments where Darius, in particular, really stood out to me. It’s great to have Paul-Mikél Williams back!
What I love most about the time we spend with the campers this time around is that the story we embark on dives into several narrative themes which felt especially relatable to me as a young adult. We have the characters dealing with relationships with friends and family, exploring how distance changes the dynamics with people they were once close to, and also tap into some particularly deep themes around mental health and trauma. I don’t want to spoil more details here (there will be a spoiler review published on release day!), but it’s fair to say that this show thrives with the emotional beats it hits this time around. These characters are more mature and rounded people than when we last spent time with them – and that means the trials and tribulations they face speak to so many of us and our own life experience. The writing here feels incredibly strong, and I would argue that it presents some of the strongest narrative themes we have had with these characters to date.
Now, we all know that you can’t have a dinosaur tour without dinosaurs – and I’m delighted to report that Chaos Theory is packed full of dinosaurs! Camp Cretaceous struggled at times with what felt like a recurring roster of five or six creatures in each series, but here, nothing is off the table – with new or re-appearing dinosaurs present in every episode of the show. As the trailers have shown, we spend time with the Atrociraptors, Pachyrhinosaurus and Becklespinax (now known as Altispinax), but there is also a wide roster of animals which appear episode to episode, including some great Nublar animals which we haven’t got to spend quite so much time with. There’s even a couple of recurring appearances from Camp Cretaceous here – something which is great in further driving home how connected these shows are. If you’ve been hungry for Jurassic to do its own take on a ‘monster of the week’ type show, then Chaos Theory will certainly fill that desire!
Hands down my favourite element of Chaos Theory is the way it tackles world building. People who checked out my Monarch Legacy of Monsters review will know that I loved how that series handled integrating Titans within its world – and I’m happy to report that Chaos Theory is another fantastic example of this. There are some great moments throughout this show where there are encounters with dinosaurs in otherwise mundane scenarios, or humans who are using dinosaurs in cruel ways to exploit them and profit from them. The show does a really good job of exploring several different scenarios over the course of its ten-episode run, giving a real feel for where the pressure points of a world filled with dinosaurs may lie. I’m really excited to talk more about some of these points after the release of the show as I really enjoyed how the producers of the show handled their world building. It certainly filled a need which I feel many of us felt was present after the release of Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom.
One final thing I feel is important is the conspiracy-focussed storytelling of this series. I have to admit, I really enjoyed how the story of Chaos Theory unravels over the course of its ten-episode run. There are lots of twists and turns, and whilst the key beats of the story are relatively predictable, it does some interesting things which I think will make fans question some of the wider ramifications for the Jurassic universe we know. I was really impressed with how they handled this mystery element of the storytelling, as coming into the story, it certainly felt like a weird direction for this story to go in. Luckily, the final result is a story which is as compelling as it is engaging – and I think adult fans, in particular, will feel quite rewarded by some of the more revelatory moments throughout this story.
Chaos Theory is the Jurassic story we needed. This is the world-building we have been craving since Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, and does a wonderful job of painting a broader picture of the world our characters now occupy whilst also embarking them on a compelling and meaningful narrative adventure. I’ll admit this isn’t necessarily the direction I wanted a story like this to go in, but I am much happier with the end result than I anticipated – and genuinely had a good time with this show. If you’ve been craving more ‘dinosaurs in the wild’, then Chaos Theory is the show for you. Jurassic Fans – do not miss this one when it releases. You’re going to have a lot of fun.
Huge thanks to Dreamworks Animation for giving us early access to screeners of the show. Look out for more spoiler content here on The Jurassic Park Podcast once the show releases on May the 24th.
Written by:
Tom Jurassic