The Jurassic World Scene That Went Too Far
The "Jurassic Park" franchise can essentially be divided into two different sections. There's the original "Jurassic Park" trilogy, which began with the release of Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" in 1993. That film was a massive success (via Box Office Mojo) and spawned two direct sequels, 1997's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and 2001's "Jurassic Park III," both of which received pretty negative reviews (via Rotten Tomatoes).
Following the release of "Jurassic Park III," the franchise more or less went dormant for 14 years before it was finally revived in 2015 with "Jurassic World," which acted as a kind of soft reboot. The film revisited the same technology and world that was introduced in the original three "Jurassic Park" films but followed an entirely new cast of characters. Three years later, its sequel, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," was released in theaters, and work on the franchise's planned sixth installment, "Jurassic World: Dominion," is currently underway.
While the series has undergone its fair share of transformations over the years, one thing that has remained a consistent part of the franchise has been its ability to find new and inventive ways for its human characters to be killed (or eaten) by various species of dinosaurs. That being said, there's one death scene in 2015's "Jurassic World" that most fans think went too far.
Zara's death in Jurassic World feels like a major misstep
Zara Young (Katie McGrath) may only be a minor character in "Jurassic World," but she's at the center of one of the film's most divisive scenes.
As the personal assistant to Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), Zara is tasked with watching over Claire's nephews, Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins), during their visit to the titular park in "Jurassic World." Zara's job gets complicated when Zach and Gray ditch her during their tour of the park, and she's only seen again when she runs into the boys later on in the film during the chaotic attack on the park (and its visitors) by the released Pteranodons.
Unfortunately, Zara's return doesn't last long. Almost immediately after finding Zach and Gray again, she's grabbed by a Pteranodon and lifted into the air, where she is repeatedly dropped and picked up by different Pteranodons. Eventually, she gets dropped into the Mosasaurus enclosure and is roughly juggled in and out of the enclosure's water before she and the Pteranodon holding her are brutally killed in the jaws of the Mosasaurus. It's a long and protracted death scene, one that feels entirely unexpected considering the otherwise lighthearted and family-friendly tone of the film. Zara is also the first female character to die on-screen in the entire "Jurassic Park" franchise, which just makes the length and brutality of her death feel that much more unwarranted.
It's a scene that continues to be derided by even die-hard fans of the franchise as the one moment when "Jurassic World" explicitly engages in gratuitous, unnecessary violence.