Please note this review, whilst non-spoiler, does reference some of the events shown in the trailer for Camp Cretaceous Season 2 – so read at your own discretion.
I think it is safe to say that, for many of us, Season 1 of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous was the new kind of Jurassic World material that we have been craving for many years. Whilst the first season ran parallel to the events of the titular Jurassic World film, it took the time to explore some new and interesting locales with a whole new group of characters. Whilst Season 2 follows much of the same format, the pacing and set pieces sometimes leave a little bit to be desired without the ongoing Indominus Rex rampage to strengthen them.
Season 2 picks up right where the first season ends, and it allows us to explore more of the fallout of the Jurassic World incident. Indeed, the series does take the time to pause and show us a few instances of how the dinosaurs who inhabit this island are beginning to adapt to life without containment – with a couple of cool moments adding nicely to the continually expanding lore of the InGen dinosaurs within this universe. Much like Season 1, Camp Cretaceous aims to once again explore some adult themes within the confines of a story which is more orientated towards younger fans – and there are a couple of twists and turns throughout the story which did have me gasp aloud as I watched events unfold.
The story of the second season is obviously influenced heavily by the events of the first series – with the campers now stranded on the island and desperately trying to survive an island infested with animals which want to kill them. During the earlier half of the season, we explore how the kids are going to attempt to escape from the island, with the group quickly uncovering a way which they can get a signal off of the island to hopefully trigger a rescue operation. After these events unfold, we take the time to explore how the kids are going to survive on the island – and whilst these elements can, at times, feel as though they push the boundaries of reality a little bit too far, they do provide a couple of interesting opportunities to flesh out more of the details of how Jurassic World operated when it was a functional park. The story then takes a twist in the second half of the season – where we learn that the kids aren’t alone on the island, and we begin to explore how this ultimately impacts upon their chances at an escape. Whilst the story felt decent, it did re-tread a lot of ground from prior entries in the Jurassic franchise and ultimately didn’t feel as though it had any real consequence – acting more as filler than as an engaging narrative which will continue in future seasons. This is something which we will remark on more within our full spoiler breakdown of the second season.
The characters who return from the first season have some interesting arcs here – with different developments across the board for them. It is fair to say that the events of the first season have had a psychological impact on many of the kids (as you would expect!) and this is touched upon in an interesting sequence, whilst it also becomes a key motivation for one character throughout the story. At times, some of the writing made it feel as though the characters had perhaps slipped back into their personalities at the start of Season One – negating the development which occurred in their first outing, but overall they continue to be a group of characters who are likeable enough to drive the story forward. There are other characters introduced within this season too, and whilst we don’t want to spoil whether they are in current sequences or flashback sequences, it is fair to say that they are a mixed bag of characters – with some perhaps playing into their stereotypes a little bit too much, causing some of their actions to again, become a little bit over-exaggerated and unrealistic when compared to the wider story of the second season.
As you have already seen, a plethora of dinosaurs return for the second season – including new dinosaurs in the form of the Ceratosaurus and the Baryonyx. These animals are given their time to shine, although we spend a lot more time with one group then we do the other. The rest of the cast of animals present are consistent with the first season for the most part – with animals, like the Tyrannosaurus Rex, also getting more screen time now that they are not confined to the events of the film. These ‘iconic’ animals do not feel overused throughout the story, however – which is nice, as I think it would have been easy for the writers to depend too heavily on the characters which fans already have relationships with, instead of giving them the opportunity to develop new ones. As mentioned before, we do get some interesting insight into the behaviours of some of the animals, too – with interesting nuggets of information peppered throughout the show to perhaps hint at how these animals would behave in the world they were unleased into at the end of Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom. I also want to note that the CGI models for many of the dinosaurs feel as though they have had a major upgrade – with some scenes featuring the Baryonyx, in particular, looking incredibly crisp. You can’t have a Jurassic story without the dinosaurs, and they continue to be the stars here.
The second season also takes the time to explore a few locations, akin to the way the first season swapped between them – but it is worth noting that we do spend some time in locations which are familiar, and so this limits the amount we feel we got to ‘uncover’ this time around when you compare it to the first season of the show. The canon of the show also takes a little bit of a hit within the second season – with some elements adding more questions to why certain things occurred after the events of this season. Whilst these aren’t world-breaking per-say, and could easily be explained away, you may find that you will be asking yourself more and more questions as you think about things more – so it may be better to take the second season more at its face value. There are a few nods here and there which were nice little callouts to other parts of the canon – but they are much fewer and farther between here, meaning that there is likely to be a little less appeal for adult fans during the second season of the show.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with the second season of Camp Cretaceous, but I feel as though it didn’t quite hit the highs that Season 1 of the show was able to achieve. Some of the sequences felt a little bit more bombastic during the second season, and some of the story telling, whilst engaging, didn’t really pick up on the threads from the first season in the ways which I was perhaps anticipating and hoping for. Whilst the second season of the show does tackle some interesting subject matter, and indeed has some moments which cause for pause and reflection, I don’t quite feel as though it has as wholesome an over-arching story as the first season did – leaving me with more questions and less answers than beforehand. With that said, there are some fun sequences throughout the series, and Jurassic fans are bound to enjoy themselves regardless as the dino-heavy sequences are fun – but just be prepared for your questions from the first season to perhaps go unanswered for a little bit longer than you may have anticipated.
That’s it for our advanced review of the show – and our big thanks to Universal Studios, Netflix and Dreamworks Animations for allowing us to check out the series in advance. Stay tuned to Netflix, where you can catch the full series on January the 22nd.
Written by:
Tom Fishenden