If you come from my website and thought this would be a Jurassic Park shrine; you were wrong, I fooled you. If you got to this page bc I shared the link directly; hi, and I'm sorry for your loss.
I'm here to take a look (and big emphasis on "look", mmh) at Dr. Henry Wu in all the movies. I'll likely come back to this site once in a while to add on, or remove, some things.
As much as I would love to, I do not have a PhD in Dr.Wuism -- neither did I go to college to major in it -- so, if I wrote something that pisses you off beyond belief, you can either tell your therapist about it or send me some hate mail addressed to >ratzzz173@gmail.com< where you can insult me, wish unspeakable things upon me, and most importantly correct me on something inexcusable I said about him and I might fix it and even repent my sins. You can also just reach out to me via e-mail to give your 2 cents.
... ANYWAYS
Starting with the movie where it all began...
JURASSIC PARK
1993
| List of Appearances |
|---|
| 27:10 - 27:35 |
| 28:10 - 31:33 |
Fist time he showed up. Not nearly enough, far less compared to the novel. All he did was erase notes and be too cocky for his own good. Very cute though, he was still so young. I could think about him all day.
He's cocky, immature, inexperienced and too sure of himself, but well-intentioned and attentive.
It's great to see him around a dinosaur in a tender way and thrilled to be here, since his few interactions with them change in the future.
His outfit reminds me of those single-use onesies hospital personnel sometimes have to wear when handling specific patients, but I actually don't know what it is called in this case. He looks sweet regardless.
One can only speculate what he wears underneath, but it's a collar shirt with what seems to be either a dark sweater on top or just very harsh shadow. He also wears a watch.
A 3.5/5
... which stands for "A-very-special-place-in-my-heart".
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
1997
No Dr. Wu??? Wtf, what kind of sequel are you
F 0/5
Jurassic Park III
2001
No Dr. Wu??? AGAIN??? C'mon, don't piss me off...
...
Wait a minute, is that Dr. Morgenstern from ER on that island--
D 1/5
Jurassic World
2015
| List of Appearances |
|---|
| 7:33 - 8:39 |
| 50:15 - 52:32 |
| 1:39:09 - 1:39:49 |
| 1:40:55 - 1:41:16 |
A roaring applause!...
... for the introduction of the black turtleneck!!
If Jurassic World did something right, it's the inclusion of Dr. Wu. It's the movie that gave him the iconic turtleneck look.
All the scenes add more to Wu's character, who he is, compared to what we knew about him solely based on his rather short moment in Jurassic Park. While he didn't completely lose his cockiness, the traits that are being focused on here are a more serious and collected side, that tends to come off as distant.
In this movie the viewer learns that Dr. Wu doesn't care as much about staying true to the original form of a dinosaur than he cares about testing his limits. He won't scare away, if it means a new breakthrough in science. It also gives the impression he doesn't mind how outrageous a client's request might be, as long as he sees value in the process of creating.
The scene where he calmly drinks tea in his office, despite the uproar, and offers a cup as well, is a nice touch to his character.
The dire escape via the helicopter makes it look like he himself is a highly important and delicate asset to be taken care of. Like a fair maiden...
Sorry, Wu, in the first movie you were denied of your moments, and it turned out to be a great classic -- now you finally got more screentime and the movie turns out to be kinda shit.
S 4/5
Welcome back, Dr. Henry Wu...
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
2018
| List of Appearances |
|---|
| 1:04:39 - 1:06:07 |
| 1:18:54 - 1:20:38 (part of the Audience) |
| 1:24:13 - 1:26:55 |
| 1:34:22 - 1:35:40 |
And just like that, 3 years later, he stuns once more in the deserved spotlight he was denied of in the past!
He's directly working for a bad guy this time, since Mr. Masrani and Dr. Hammond weren't portrayed as such, but at least he can continue with his passion of creating dinosaurs, although with restraint in his freedom.
In comparison to the last movie, where he almost seemed void of morals, this one gives a first tiny peek into his rather complicated understanding of them. He's also very emotional and reactive.
I like to see it as that with each iteration of him from 2015 - 2021 he came closer to his eventual Dominion appearance -- and with the shift in what type of person he worked for right here, it isn't as random or sudden of a change as some frame it to be, in my humble opinion.
He appears a little more as a comedy relief character, compared to his scenes in the first World movie. A cute and somewhat refreshing take that I do not mind. The more sides of his they show, to make up for the great lack of scenes with Wu in Jurassic Park, the better.
It's clear that to Wu the creation of a dinosaur isn't only an act of science, but that he sees more in it to the point of viewing himself as an artist. It gives his cocky attitude and sudden emotions a motivation other than the "unexplainable behavior of yet another mad scientist" trope (which would've been a horrible path to go for this character after everything the viewer has seen of him). Fallen Kingdom isn't the first movie to show the more artistic side of Wu, since he's been poetic in the first World movie with his analogy about canaries, cats and monsters as well.
In this movie he ditches the lab attire completely, in favor of a new, fifth, outfit, ultimately stealing the show (or should I say "movie" :-)) in his fashionable gray blazer. The black turtleneck is still part of his signature, and thank god it is. The turtleneck doesn't make him look good; he makes the turtleneck look good.
Dr. Wu doesn't manage to escape from the situation without a scratch this time. Instead there's some fanservice... Still, they rescued the sleeping beauty from yet another dangerous situation -- all hail the reappearing character armor.
S+ 4.5/5
Biting my fist, Dr. Wu was at his hottest in this movie
Jurassic World Dominion
2022
| List of Appearances | Extended Cut |
|---|---|
| 43:20 - 45:26 | 52:40 - 54:46 |
| 1:05:31 - 1:09:29 | 1:16:10 - 1:20:08 |
| 1:11:43 - 1:13:09 | 1:22:23 - 1:23:48 |
| 2:03:50 - 2:04:56 | 2:17:31 - 2:18:37 |
| 2:05:10 - 2:08:20 | 2:18:51 - 2:22:01 |
| 2:09:26 - 2:10:00 | 2:23:07 - 2:23:41 |
| 2:11:00 - 2:11:12 | 2:24:41 - 2:24:53 |
| 2:11:50 - 2:12:37 | 2:25:31 - 2:26:18 |
So, in this one Tim Cook made him make a bunch of pre-historic monster bugs starting a famine, because apparently everyone wanted to see a movie about that.
I sure did.
Wu is very beautiful in this movie. He made melancholy a warm and desirable state. Everything from the defeated way he speaks, to the gray streaks in his shoulder-length hair, and choice of loose-fitting soft clothes and earthy color palette is perfect. What a beautiful path it all went down.
He feels a little freakish, almost predatory for a loss of a better word, with how thrilled he has been talking about Charlotte, but he was turned into a Biosyn basement dweller and last time he's seen the sun was 6 months ago, so I'll overlook it.
Who doesn't want to see a confident know-it-all end up a pathetic old man who eventually finds peace in the end?
Thanks to Dominion we've also gotten two new Wu outfits, making it a whooping 7 different outfits total.
SS 5/5
Almost was an S+, but I can't let this boyfailure go unnoticed...
Jurassic World Rebirth
2025
No Dr. Wu at all -- and none in the foreseeable future -- so why do they keep going?
F 0/5
S01 E02: Secrets
S03 E04: Clever Girl
