Jurassic Games

Describing a movie’s plot as ‘X meets X’ is pretty darn lazy when you get right down to it. For example, stating Equilibrium is like The Matrix meets Fahrenheit 451 doesn’t get convey the unique look of the future society nor the stylized action of the Kurt Wimmer directed cult classic very well. Even if a story feels like a mashup of two better-known properties, it belittles that movie’s specific take on the material to only discuss its similarities to other works. Nonetheless, it can a convenient and accessible way to get the tone of the movie across. With that being said, The Jurassic Games is like The Running Man meets Jurassic Park.

To be more specific, Anthony Tucker (Adam Hampton) is convicted of killing his wife and is sentenced to execution via lethal injection. He is given a chance at freedom, as a contestant on the most popular game show on Earth, The Jurassic Games. Be the last one alive and the prize is freedom. But surviving isn’t as simple as beating the other contestants, who total 10. True to its name, in the virtual reality setting the game takes place in, Dinosaurs Roam. They are not the only enemies nor the only goal of the 4 stages of the game but are the deadliest. If a contestant dies by any means they are given a lethal injection in real life.

The show is emceed by The Host (Ryan Merriman), while live from the studio offers backgrounds on the death row inmates who agree to play the game. When in the VR setting, he wears a dinosaur skull mask and tells the players their next goal and offers hints or useful items. Aside from Tucker, the other contestants are Dr. Franklin (Sidney Flack), Ren (Tiger Sheu), The Wasp (Dylan Cox), Big Brother and Little Brother (Rett Terell and Kyle Penington), Joy (Katie Burgess), Albert (Luke Wycoft), Stephanie (Cate Jones), and Billy (Gary Frazier). Between each section or after someone is killed, a little bit of background information is dished out about the players.

“…he wears a dinosaur skull mask and tells the players their next goal and offers hints or useful items.”

In the real world, some protesters believe the games are cheating the players out of a chance for appeal or a retrial. There is a resistance that is attempting to thwart the games from within. There is mounting evidence Tucker is innocent, despite a jury’s verdict. This information spurs these agitators to set the stage for a showdown at the same time as the players reach the apex of the game.