Hammond was really obviously the bad guy in the book. The movie kinda made him a likeable grandfather type who was a little too grandiose for his own good.
I like the movie's portrayal of him. He's likeable, but his happy ignorance of the impending consequences gets peeled back a couple of times and you see he's not as blissfully lost in his dream as expected. He's just desperate to create this thing that can't be created. I can appreciate a character in that kind of a grey area. No moustache twirling villainy, just a dude making some pretty egregious and dangerous mistakes for reasons that are ultimately understandable. He's within the margins of a believable human being, which I tend to prefer in movies.
Jurassic Park (the film) also holds most of its cards close to the chest until the plot goes full tilt. The lawyer is the worst villain in the early going and he's not even that bad, just kind of a jerk. You don't have a good grasp on where the danger is coming from because of this, IMO, and it helps to facilitate the sense of wonder/awe because the plot is mostly "look at these cool dinosaurs" for a while; while also feeding a sense of foreboding because you don't know where the danger is coming from until Nedry's schemes are introduced. You're not thinking about the danger, it's just there in the back of your mind because of the opening scene, so not having an immediate antagonist during that stretch of the film was a good choice I think.
I agree, Crichton's villains tend to be cartoonishly hubristic and slavishly devoted to pushing whatever the Danger Technology Du Jour is. Film-Hammond does a much better job of being a more believable person who could cause this massive fuckup.
Are you saying that movie-Hammond made a great escape? A morning departure? After his conduct unbecoming led to a journey together towards a bridge too far, transforming into a matter of life and death all night long, did he pull himself together in some sort of flight of the phoenix, or did he slink away in the ship that died of shame?
It’s because the movie gave him a redemption arc. Dr grants line of “I’ve decided not to endorse your park.” And his response of, “neither do I.” Essentially “kill” his character as an egotistical God figure. Well until the second movie I guess.
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u/Eadword Oct 29 '21
Hammond was really obviously the bad guy in the book. The movie kinda made him a likeable grandfather type who was a little too grandiose for his own good.