Summer movie season is heating up, and things are about to get bigger and more dino-namic. Jurassic World: Dominion is set to hit this weekend, and another upcoming movie will join the box office fun soon. Paramount’s Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank ties the two very clearly in its latest trailer, as it drops the perfect Jurassic Park joke linking to one of star Samuel L. Jackson’s iconic lines. You know exactly what to hold onto as you watch this tease.
OK, in case you haven't seen the Spielberg classic in 20+ years, it’s “your butts” you should be holding onto. This latest look at Paws of Fury from Paramount plays the Jurassic Park card with its title cards that use Jackson's infamous words in full effect. That’s only after a play on the famous rippling water moment from Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster opens things up, with text that’s even appropriately formatted with a Jurassic style font.
As we saw in Paws of Fury’s previous trailer, the legacy of Samuel L. Jackson’s "bad mother" attitude precedes him in this furry family free-for-all. His character Jimbo (trainer to Michael Cera’s titular hero, Hank) does get that “mother-father cocker-spaniel” joke that pokes fun at Jackson’s trademark cinematic profanity. It still gets some solid giggles with its return, and one can only wonder if there’s more where that came from?
Jurassic Park isn’t the only Samuel L. Jackson-involved blockbuster that gets referenced in Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, as the Star Wars saga is also present. A quick moment from a battle between Hank and the villainous Ika Chu (Ricky Gervais) involves Darth Vader’s infamous father twist from The Empire Strikes Back. It’s a quick diversion from the action at hand, but it’s still a bit sly, despite having no Mace Windu context at all.
Paws of Fury has already shown how literate it is with pop culture, and that it’s not afraid to use that knowledge for gags aplenty. Maybe there is some sort of Jedi speech that Samuel L. Jackson’s Jimbo will get to give. Or perhaps he talks about walking the earth after completing Hank’s training, giving us a beautiful reference to what’s arguably Quentin Tarantino’s best movie, Pulp Fiction?
For a movie that’s a loose Blazing Saddles remake, nothing should be considered off the table for Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. Provided, of course, that whatever is suggested doesn’t branch out past the PG-rating the film has earned. This is, after all, a family picture.
We can all gather round to see and hear Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, as it’s set to arrive in theaters on July 15th. This is just the latest in Samuel L. Jackson’s upcoming projects, which span the worlds of TV and movies. Let’s see how many more include Jurassic Park jokes, as Jurassic World: Dominion opens in early showings tonight. (Samuel L. Jackson not included, sadly.)
