Sam Neill: Moviegoers No Longer Accept Spielberg’s Slow-Burn ‘Jurassic Park’ Action Pacing

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Sam Neill is returning to the “Jurassic Park” franchise as paleontologist Alan Grant in the upcoming “Jurassic World Dominion,” but there’s a huge difference between the new installment and Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original. Neill recently told The Sunday Times that “Dominion” is nearly wall-to-wall action, which stands in direct contrast with Spielberg’s slow burn. The 1993 original takes 45 minutes to build up to its Tyrannosaurus rex reveal. The 2022 sequel has a dinosaur action scene from the moment it  starts.

“I have never seen action like this,” Neill said, noting Spielberg’s slow burn approach is its own dying species in Hollywood. “An audience 30 years later wouldn’t find that pace acceptable. As a result this has action from the moment the lights go down. Though of course it has quiet moments.”

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As popularity for the “Jurassic Park” franchise endures, so to do the criticisms about Neill’s wobbly accent in the original movie. Neill’s character, Alan Grant, has an accent that sounds American at times and then slightly New Zealand at other times. Neill blamed the mix-up on none other than “Jurassic Park” director Spielberg. Neill spent a month prepping for the shoot by perfecting an American accent, which Spielberg told him to throw out on one of the first days on set.

“He came up to me halfway through the day and he said, ‘Hey, Sam, you know the accent we were talking about?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’ve been working on it for four weeks.…’ He said, ‘Don’t worry about it, just use your own voice,’” Neill told Vanity Fair last month. “I said, ‘That’s great, Steven, thank you so much.’ And then four days later, he came up to me and said, ‘You know that voice you’re using now?’ I said, ‘Yeah, my voice?’ He said, ‘Somewhere in between.’”

“It’s an actor’s nightmare!” Neill added. “So that’s why I get a lot of flak to this day: Sam Neill’s American accent in ‘Jurassic Park’ was a load of T. rex poo.”

“Jurassic World Dominion” opens in theaters June 10 from Universal Pictures.

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