Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J.A. Bayona revealed in a new interview that Bryce Dallas Howard's character Claire will not, in fact, run while wearing high heels in the sequel. As you may expect, the much-anticipated follow-up to Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World remains one of the bigger releases of the 2018 summer movie season. It's been long-teased as a darker and much different story than the one presented in Trevorrow's blockbuster revival of the dormant franchise.
Although Jurassic World succeeded mightily with both critics and at the box office, the movie didn't escape without criticism. One of its most hotly criticized elements involved Howard as Claire constantly running from dinosaurs (including the T-Rex) in ridiculous high heels. Though ultimately inconsequential to the movie, the bizarre (and unintentionally hilarious) decision to have Claire run around in heels took on a life of its own.
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But thankfully, Bayona confirmed in a new interview with the Brazilian website CinePop that Claire won't be running in high heels or exhibit similarly bumbling behavior in Fallen Kingdom. He confirms what the promising heel-less set photos indicated. He described the sequel version of Claire, who will begin the movie trying to convince Chris Pratt's Owen to rescue the dinosaurs from Isla Nublar, as different and better-prepared than she was in the first film. It also sounds like she will solve some of the franchise's problems with female characters in the process. Here's what Bayona had to say (go to 1:24 in the video above for the comment):
"No, no. Definitely, she's more prepared in this one. In the first movie ... it was more like she was caught by surprise. But in this one she's totally ready and prepared for the adventure."
Clearly, in Jurassic World Claire didn't go to work expecting to have to outrun escaped dinosaurs. Howard defended the decision to keep the character in high heels, describing her as "ill-equipped to be in the jungle" and not someone who would "choose to be barefoot" in her situation. Though she made logical points, Claire's high heels running endured as a detail many fans simply couldn't get by when watching the film.
Still, if you're one of those fans then you can rest assured that Claire has learned from her experience. That she's evolved and will be ready to run much more efficiently this time. And as you can see in the first teaser trailer, she's wearing some kind of boots while running away from a dinosaur stampede and volcanic eruption. So, crisis averted.
At the end of the day, the decision to have Claire run around in high heels throughout Jurassic World had little effect on the movie's overall success. It's just an amusing nitpick. But it goes to show how much Trevorrow's choice still sticks out in fans' minds, that Bayona is still asked about it to this day. Fans may ultimately find more minor problems with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, but high heels won't be one of them.
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Source: CinePop
