Trying to get an animated series based on the 'Jurassic Park' franchise has been a long one with many failed attempts and some radical ideas that never got off the ground. Now streaming on the online platform Netflix, we have 'Camp Cretaceous' which consists of 8 half hour episodes.
The show is set back in 2015 just before the events of 'Jurassic World' where a group of kids arrive to experience Camp Cretaceous, a summer camp in the progress of being completed. The group consists of Darius our main protagonist who's a dino expert, Kenji a spoiled kid who seems bored of his now multiple trips to the theme park, Ben the hypochondriac who seems to be here against his wishes, Brooklyn whose hoping the trip will raise her status in the online world, Yaz the athletic and quiet type, and Sammy who has her own personal motives for arriving at Jurassic World. Being a prequel to the 2015 film, it's not long before the events of that story begin to mix and the kids are soon put in mortal danger as the Indominus Rex and a recently escaped Carnotaurus begin to pursue them.
The show moves at a faster pace than most programs aimed at kids which is nice for binging a series but it does cause issues with the show's plotting and development. I know that plot and characters aren't usually a big deal in these kind of shows but when it comes to 'Jurassic Park' you have nearly 30 years of lore to keep up with not to mention that the show has to sync up to the current film series to maintain continuity, which it does surprisingly well with no visible plot holes or inconsistencies that I could see. My biggest gripe with 'Camp Cretaceous' is that we really don't get to know anyone that well because of this seemingly hurried plot. The show has 8 episodes to really set up something deeper but chooses to rush through everything.
For most kid shows character development isn't necessary nor common but you do have shows like 'Avatar' which fall into the same category as 'Camp Cretaceous'. These characters are not given enough time or material to develop but merely establish themselves as tired tropes common these days. Only when the show nears the end does it really pick up for me, with the last 3 episodes giving me that same exciting dinosaur action and 'Jurassic' tone I'd been wanting. I am surprised that while the show does tone down some of the more gruesome elements of the films, it goes further than some and we do get some people getting munched on, though off screen of course.
So overall, I liked watching 'Camp Cretaceous' as a whole, but It feels like the show is running before it has learned to walk. It's trying to establish everything all at once so that future seasons won't have to which isn't a great way to tell a story in my opinion. I still recommend the show for fans and for kids but hopefully they'll get the kinks worked out in season 2.
C+
