JADAR

Jurassic World and its predecessor Jurassic Park are incredible films exploring what would happen, in today’s consumerist climate, if dinosaurs could be brought back to life and exploited. My first introduction to the series was the original, with John Hammond’s starry-eyed perspective, the unfolding wonders, and the eventual realisation of nature’s unpredictability. It’s a cautionary tale consistently ignored by the people that keep recreating the parks, but Jurassic World: The Exhibition promises a less lethal exploration of the park and its dinosaur residents.

Having previously toured America and visited London, it’s safe to say that demand for a roar-some cretaceous experience hasn’t fizzled out, but did it try-ceratops too hard, or was the attraction dino-mite?! (Sorry in advance for the pteroble dinosaur puns).

After following the ominous weather-eroded dinosaur prints to the exhibit, guests are ushered through a photo opportunity (£15) before queuing in a corridor of illustrated posters and banners teasing some of the attractions ahead (although some are purely references to the movies that never appear in the exhibit, i.e. the Mosasaurus and the Indominus rex).

We’re ‘shipped’ to the infamous island on a little ferry boat ride to Isla Nublar with projected screens and a cute introductory video to boot, before disembarking at the grand gates of the park. A gorgeously realistic Brachiosaurus is one of the attraction’s most engaging centrepieces.

Surrounded by patches of dense jungle foliage, trodden dirt paths, and a couple of information booths, the gentle giant gracefully arches its neck towards oncoming guests in one of the most heart-warming dinosaur encounter experiences I’ve had to date. While you can’t touch them, the feeling of immersion and the way some of the dinosaurs react to guests is genuinely entertaining. My only note with the Brachiosaurus is that I wish invisible wiring had been used, but that small grumble was nothing in the face of its fluidity and grandeur.

Another cute example of this was “big bumpy” the Ankylosaurus, who was rather calmly sniffing the ground until I got my phone out to take a picture… turning right towards me with a hilariously glum expression before later swinging his tail excitedly and calling out.

While his “baby bumpy” counterpart was not in his meet and greet area, the previous science lab area offered the opportunity to meet another baby dinosaur (which I’m presuming was a Pachycephalosaurus from its hard-shelled head). Guests can gently stroke the dinosaur with the back of their hand as it gently coos and rubs up against them for the cutest and most intimate interactions of the experience.

I also loved the triceratops and its baby but it felt a lot less intimate since it was fenced off and had less dynamic articulations.

One of the star attractions of the exhibit is the velociraptor “encounter” that talks you through how they train “Blue’”. She comes running out with a T-rex droopy arm effect in her rubbery costume that had me giggling despite the ominous music, but aside from that, the dinosaur model was really interesting. I only wish I could have seen more of it as the thick bars meant to keep us separated also made it incredibly difficult to see the interaction.

The acting in a lot of the exhibit is a bit flat but it works well enough in these moments. Previous criticisms of the exhibition pointed to the poor lip-syncing in this moment but that has been resolved with darker lighting.

One thing that could have fleshed out the other dinosaur interactions and made them more immersive would have been taking a leaf from this moment and having a handler interacting with them (even from afar) to add a bit more dimension or even educate us on key facts about the dinosaurs and their personalities.

I also would have loved a few more dinosaurs and for them not to feel so segmented, maybe by having a less linear path to follow since the ferry ride describes the “park” like a free-roam area to explore around and learn (a jungle zoo of sorts).

Perhaps my taste has been spoiled with the immersion of Universal’s Jurassic World but it just felt like there were quite a few missed opportunities in terms of immersion and world-building.

Aside from the animatronics and puppetry, there were also bits of set dressing added, from a jungle jeep plonked next to the curious Parasaurolophus to patches of vegetation and a photo-op gyrosphere.

Immediately upon seeing the poster of the gyrosphere, I presumed we’d have a short ride in smaller groups to see the triceratops or other herbivores (perhaps a conveyor belt slowly taking us through one section). Sadly, this did not happen, but I did appreciate the opportunity for a well-lit and free photography moment.

This is also the case for the Indominus Rex who, despite appearing on posters, being the main dinosaur of the Jurassic World movie. and having a feeding segment at previous exhibitions, is surprisingly never used.

There was also a darkly lit dig pit for kids to find fossils, a few displayed skulls, bones and very basic descriptions and dinosaur facts scattered across the exhibit walls. I wish that these sections were better themed or packed with more to see and do.

The previous science lab had egg incubators (with bar codes that didn’t work), sleeping baby dinosaurs, poop samples to feel (but a bit too obscured to see), and samples of amber with mosquitos from across the world. There were several things to look at, feel, learn about and interact with here – but less in the other rooms. 

And now for my greatest gripe… the waiting. A lot of the attraction feels like it’s fleshed out by queuing for the next area. While I don’t mind waits, it becomes rather tedious when the waiting time far exceeds how long you need to explore that room and the scattered points of interest.

However, if you want a spectacle, the exhibit’s finale delivers. After a rather quick escalation from the calm Ankylosaurus room, we’re told there’s been an “incident” on site; we’re taken past these large fail fences to a passcode fence.

While the handlers try and recall the pin (a task it could have been cool to tease with info around the exhibit and try to have the audience help with), the Carnotaurus slowly creeping up on the audience from the side before an incredibly ferocious T-Rex enters on the opposite side with menacing lighting and a surprisingly supple range of movement. The Carnotaurus eventually runs away, leaving us with the T-Rex, an incredible and surprisingly immersive dinosaur presentation, although a bit much for a lot of the younger kids at the attraction.

Then we got some hilariously poor advice to run in front of a T-Rex, a creature that the movie’s point out can only see through movement. After getting slightly crushed by a few over-eager and terrified kids running away, the audience is led into the gift shop (a place that the adults might start running and crying from instead)! There’s some adorable things in there, including a cute shoulder plush of blue that I was incredibly tempted by, but a warning to all parents that the prices, like the exhibition itself, aren’t particularly cheap.

In a sense, I am left wondering who exactly the attraction was aimed at. While the Jurassic Park films are very much aimed at young adults and above (with their violence and scarier dinosaur attacks), the attraction seems to cater itself towards young families, with sand pits, the tamer dinosaur interactions and meet-and-greets, and the lack of in-depth storytelling.

Yet, simultaneously, the show has a few moments where kids might find it hard to see, while the raptor and T-Rex experiences scared quite a few.

As a dinosaur lover, I can safely say that the fluidity and realism of the animatronics is the star of the show here (much like it was at Dinosaur World Live!). The attention to detail in creating these creatures and their interactive movements are awe-inspiring.

However, it often felt like areas needed padding out a tad more, whether it be with information, optional talks, more dinosaurs, or interactive dino-related objects. 

While I wasn’t as enraptured with the exhibit as I’d hoped, the gorgeous care and attention given to recreating these dinosaurs and the sheer scale of them was enough to satisfy and amaze me, despite some of the exhibition’s flaws. I ardently hope that a little more depth and intractability is added to future instalments of the exhibition, as well as keeping in mind which audience it’s trying to target. With a little refinement and a more explorative vibe, the exhibition could be a roaring sensation.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition runs at the Trafford Centre (Overflow Carpark 7) until January 12 2025.