Jurassic World revived a beloved franchise with updated thrills, fresh characters, and a terrifying new dinosaur. Though packed with spectacle, the film is grounded in time-tested storytelling mechanics, most notably the three-act structure: setup, confrontation, and resolution.
Let's find out together how Jurassic World uses the three-act structure to deliver a satisfying, if cautionary, tale about control, chaos, and survival. Knowing structure is essential if you're writing a novel.
Act I: The Setup (0:00 – ~0:35)
Opening Scene and World-Building
The film opens with two brothers (Zach and Gray Mitchell) being sent to the fully operational Jurassic World theme park on Isla Nublar. This immediately establishes a key difference from the original film: the park is no longer a theoretical idea: it’s open, profitable, and seemingly under control.
We’re introduced to Claire Dearing, the park’s operations manager. She’s cold, efficient, and more concerned with numbers and investors than the creatures themselves. To boost declining interest, the park’s geneticists (led by Dr. Henry Wu) have created a new hybrid dinosaur: the Indominus Rex.
We also meet Owen Grady, a former Navy man who trains Velociraptors. He has a philosophical respect for the animals. He sees them not as attractions, but as dangerous, intelligent beings.
Inciting Incident
Claire’s nephews arrive at the park. At the same time, the Indominus Rex shows early signs of high intelligence and aggression. Claire asks Owen to inspect its enclosure.
Owen finds troubling signs: the Indominus is not only intelligent but manipulative. In the inciting incident, before security measures are solidified, the Indominus escapes its paddock. This escape is the catalyst for everything that follows.
Plot Point One
The Indominus disappears into the jungle, killing everything in its path. Claire's nephews, who are off exploring, are now in danger. The park's carefully controlled environment begins to unravel.
Act I ends with the monster unleashed and the stakes established: a rogue predator, two boys lost, and a park full of innocent guests in the crosshairs.
Act II: The Confrontation (Approx. 0:35 – 1:20)
Rising Tension
As the Indominus wreaks havoc, Claire and Owen team up to find the boys. Along the way, we see Owen’s practical understanding of animal behavior clash with Claire’s corporate mindset.
Meanwhile, Hoskins, the head of InGen security, sees the crisis as an opportunity to test military applications for the raptors. He believes they can use the raptors as weapons, particularly to track and kill the Indominus.
B Story – Family and Humanity
As Zach and Gray navigate the jungle, their relationship deepens. Their estranged bond begins to heal as they rely on each other to survive. Similarly, Claire’s detachment erodes as she begins to care not just for her nephews, but for the animals and Owen.
Midpoint
Owen reluctantly agrees to lead the raptors to hunt the Indominus. For a moment, it seems like this plan might work. But in a major twist, the Indominus communicates with the raptors, revealing it shares Velociraptor DNA.
The raptors turn on the humans, killing several soldiers and scattering into the jungle. The park's last line of defense has failed.
Reversal and Consequences
The Indominus is no longer just a rogue dinosaur: it’s a predator that can strategize, manipulate, and command. Claire, Owen, and the boys reunite amid the chaos. Meanwhile, Hoskins takes over the lab, trying to secure embryos to continue his weaponized dinosaur program. But he’s killed by a raptor, his arrogance sealed his fate.
Act II ends with the characters at their lowest point, their darkest hour. The Indominus is unstoppable, and their efforts to control the situation have only made it worse.
Act III: The Resolution (1:20 – End)
Climax
The surviving heroes regroup. Claire has an idea: if the trained raptors once followed Owen, maybe they still will. In the climactic battle in the park’s main street, the raptors turn back to Owen’s side, attacking the Indominus in a spectacular showdown.
But even the raptors aren’t enough. In a last-ditch move, Claire releases the park’s original apex predator, the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The T-Rex, aided by the surviving raptor Blue, fights the Indominus in a massive, city-leveling brawl.
The battle ends when the Indominus is dragged into the lagoon by the Mosasaurus, who delivers the killing blow.
Falling Action
The next morning, survivors gather. Zach and Gray reunite with their parents. Claire and Owen, now bonded by shared trauma, walk off together, unsure what comes next.
Denouement
Order is restored, but the damage is done. The park is in ruins. The final shot shows the T-Rex atop a helipad, roaring over her reclaimed domain. In this Man vs Nature conflict, nature has taken back control.
Act III completes the central theme: man’s attempt to control nature will always fail. Only respect, not domination, can coexist with such power.
The Three-Act Structure in a Monster Movie
Jurassic World is a slick, high-concept blockbuster that still honors the basic rules of story. Here's how each act contributes:
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Act I introduces a world in denial, where hubris and profit override caution.
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Act II tears that illusion apart, as the consequences of synthetic control emerge.
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Act III is about survival and redemption, with humanity learning (again) that nature cannot be tamed.
While the film trades some of the philosophical depth of the original Jurassic Park for spectacle, it still asks vital questions: What happens when science outpaces ethics? When we exploit nature without understanding it?
PLOT STRUCTURE WORKBOOK
